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A Romanian Observatory


jimao22

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Hi,

Because I like very much astronomy but I do not like extreme sports (such as carrying the mount and telescopes in and out at odd hours in the night), I decided to build an roll-off-roof observatory.

This will help me in many ways - I know how to make an automatized remote set-up (actually my set up is functionally as a remote one) and I will spend much less time with installation, acclimatization and pole setting-up, which will be transformed in exposure-hours. Last but not least at all, I will do everything from inside my home, even if outside is -20 degree in the winter time.

The following posts will show you the steps I did make until now.

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First I should decide about the place where the observatory will be erected. Hard decision and after many changes in my plans, I decided to use a place where a inflatable pool was installed before. The materials I intend to use are some sandwiches panels from a demolished warehouse. from the same building I have some doors, PVC frames for windows and because I am in business with garage doors and automation, I have one motor for a garage door with broken shell but good enough otherwise, so practically everything is on stand by, awaiting to be put on stage.

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The pier is shown here :

final_cu_telescop_5_1600x1200_212.jpg

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It was made 2 years ago and it will be installed on the pier foundation. I posted here, somewhere, the whole pier story but I don't find it now...

So, because the soil in my area is very difficult, a contractile clay, The pier foundation was one of the most difficult problem to be solved. I should dig for a hole1x1x 2 meters deep, pour a concrete base for the pier foundation and then pour the rest of the concrete, reinforced, till the surface. The final shape for this foundation is like a mushroom up-side-down, as i the plan bellow:

fundatie_stalp_antena_951.png

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After few days, we took out the frame-work. This is how it look like:

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With huge emotions, I prepared the base plate for the pier installation, by drilling it and weld it some screws, as in the pics bellow:

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After that, I painted the metal plate with an anti-corrosive paint and I installed the mount on the pier, to see how it look like. The next step was to fill the gap around the foundation with sorted gravel to avoid capillarity and to take up the contraction of the soil when dry or humid.

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Sorry, I made some grammatical mistakes I just observed now. :iamwithstupid:

Thanks to all for replies. I look forward to see the job done... That meaning the whole observatory, working remotely. It will takes some time...

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The clay is incredible sturdy even if is cracked. We dig another hole in the same clay, 2 years ago, to 13 mtr deep, with no problem, believe me...

:eek: the health and safety brigade in britain would have you carted of to jail;
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An update from today. I succeeded to pour the slab.

An important stage is close with this. From now one I can manage by myself - with some intelligence and some tools I can finish the job.

I do not need muscles anymore.

placa_2_122.jpg

placa_3_110.jpg

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Because I don't think I can show you anything important happening with my observatory for a while (until the concrete will become hard enough to start building), I will show you the story of my pier you sow before.

I checked again and the story is not on this forum.

So...

First of all, the raw materials.

For the tube, I used an old gate pile, rusted and worth nothing. The wall thickness is 2...3 mm, 110 mm diameter and 1 meter long. Cost - 0 (zero).

For the upper side of the pier, I bought from a scrap yard, 2 high pressure flanges from a chemical facility 200 mm diameter, having 8 holes 22 mm diameter The flanges was a pair so the holes fit each-other. Cost - 7 euro.

Because the flanges were very thick, I lathed them on thickness until the weight was halved.

For the gusset plates on the pier generators I used a steel plate 5 mm thick, bought from the same place along with the flanges. Cost - 0.

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The flanges.

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The pipe, gusset plates and the steel base, ready to be welded together.

3_tub_pilon__2_1600x1200_165.jpg

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