New Observatory preps and build

[fwm891]

Hi. Well I put my thoughts down on this in: now the fun begins...

I have just ordered an 8-inch pier from Graham @ Astrotec (only just started making 8-inch piers) to be delivered to the new house in Devon later this month.

Will follow-up on this and the obsy build/kitting out over the next.... (asap)

[yesyes]

Good luck with the build, Francis!

[fwm891]

Thanks Chris - only a week to go....

Hows your house process going?

[yesyes]

paperwork, lots of paperwork.. ;-)

[Gina]

Bet you're looking forward to getting in Good luck both

[yesyes]

Oh yes, I am. Can't wait... and to get started with my own obsy, finally...

But I don't want to spam Francis' thread with my stuff... ;-)

[fwm891]

Hi Chris et al,

The move has now happened and there are boxes everywhere...

My pier has arrived along with Graham who delivered it in person, and humped it into the garage for me (thanks Graham). Graham also supplied some fixing bolts to cast into the concrete ready to accept the pier.

I have to tidy up the garden a bit before I can start digging for gold (well digging a 3' cube seems like a mine to me!), let alone mixing the concrete to fill it back up again afterwards.

Tidying up the garden means clearing the fence of overgrowth to get the best southern horizon possible. Managed to see the Helix Neb last night with a few degrees to spare bit different to Reading.

[Gina]

A BIG welcome to Devon Francis

[fwm891]

Thanks Gina, Despite the nearly full Moon last night it was great a) to be able to look and see a non orange sky and have a clear low horizon...

[fwm891]

OK. I've started to clear the garden in prep for laying out and beginning the obsy build. Strange what you find when clearing undergrowth have a job cooking these two though .

Did some damage to the fence clearing the ivy away which I need to repair (at some stage). The pier will be approx where the guineapig run is at present and a little closer to the south fence. (This view is to the south.)

Garden shed will have to be assembled first and placed at the other side of the garden to take some of the garden implements out of the garage so I can start to assemble the framework for the obsy.

[Gina]

Sounds good Francis Good luck with it all Here's hoping for some good weather. Not bad ATM actually

[fwm891]

View from near the pier position - still some pruning to do on left

[Whistlebare]

View from near the pier position - still some pruning to do on left

Nice view...Think I'd get out the bolt cutters and take that cable down too

[fwm891]

Don't think the school would be too happy (children might be )

[fwm891]

Made a start today by clearing the remainder of the debris left for me and taking out the plastic pond liner. I've lifted 4 of the original 450x450 paving slabs which conveniently gives me the outline of the 900x900 hole for the pier base and started the 'dig' by removing soil and filling in the old pond (digging one hole to fill another!). Sand and cement arrive this week so weather permitting the pier base should be down by next weekend.

I can then layout the footing for the walls and lay some blockwork foundations.

Only real problem at the moment is finding somewhere to supply the aluminium sheeting for the different roof sections....

[fwm891]

Hole is now complete, mixer has arrived along with all the sand, cement and blocks.

I've made the hole 900 x 900 at the top opening out to about 1200 x 1200 at a depth of 650-700 mm. I will be putting some formwork at the top to produce a small elevation to fix the pier on.

Need a few weetabix now!

My neighbour has just cut down the tree trunk that was blocking my view to the SSE. Probably the arrival of the sand etc... Great stuff :laugh:

[fwm891]

Right weather kind this morning and I have the concrete up to ground level. Need to add some woodwork now to cast the raised area.

Sorry no photo of the hole - it was up and get going this morning , photos just didn't spring to mind (that's a photographer for you!) but I have a shot now of the ground level slab...

I will leave this for a few days to partially cure, then start digging out the wall foundations.

[Gina]

I quite often forget or don't take the time to take photos and push ahead withl the job. Nice start Francis Bet it feels good to get something done

[fwm891]

... Bet it feels good to get something done

I'll let you know when I've recovered from carrying a ton of concrete in buckets from the mixer at the front of the house, through the garage and round the garden to the 'hole'. Feel slightly... (it begins with a K...d)

All covered over now and left to set

[fwm891]

Seems to have been raining here for... (a long time!). Ground is waterlogged and there's no way I'm getting the footings dug for the walls. Just sketched out the studwork for each of the walls (again). The conservatory roof sounds like its being shot blasted!

I've placed the pier on its slab in its final position in the hope that should I get any clear skies in the evening I can place the mount on it and rotate everything so I'm pretty well pointing at the pole. I can then mark the hole positions to anchor the pier to the slab.

The adjustment screws on the mount have been set to a middle position so I've got latitude either way with azimuth, alt adjustment should be fine. I changed my SW EQ latitude bolts for some Allen head machine screws, this made adjustments very easy before - the longer wrench handle of the Allen key made fine movement much easier.

[Gina]

I'm totally fed up with this weather In fact feeling very low ATM - we lost our doggie (border collie 13 yrs old) to an inoperable tumour at the vets yesterday

Had a phone call from an old friend this morning, who used to live near here and who moved north - talking to her helped a lot. I was sble to do a bit of astro construction this afternoon which also helped.

[fwm891]

Hi Gina, Sorry about your dog, never good news when pets get ill, we have a cat at the moment who like your dog is on borrowed time for the same reason.

I've even resorted to doing some decorating can't get much worse than that

[Gina]

Thank you Francis I've resorted to clearing up the house

[Aoraki]

Hi Chris et al,

The move has now happened and there are boxes everywhere...

My pier has arrived along with Graham who delivered it in person, and humped it into the garage for me (thanks Graham). Graham also supplied some fixing bolts to cast into the concrete ready to accept the pier.

I have to tidy up the garden a bit before I can start digging for gold (well digging a 3' cube seems like a mine to me!), let alone mixing the concrete to fill it back up again afterwards.

Tidying up the garden means clearing the fence of overgrowth to get the best southern horizon possible. Managed to see the Helix Neb last night with a few degrees to spare bit different to Reading.

Right weather kind this morning and I have the concrete up to ground level. Need to add some woodwork now to cast the raised area.

Sorry no photo of the hole - it was up and get going this morning , photos just didn't spring to mind (that's a photographer for you!) but I have a shot now of the ground level slab...

I will leave this for a few days to partially cure, then start digging out the wall foundations.

Looking at your last photo, it appears that you have not use the fixing bolts provided?

[yesyes]

Sorry to hear about your dog, Gina.