Ray's Observatory Build

[RayD]

1 hour ago, Shibby said:

Looking fantastic! (*ideas stolen*)

Thanks Lewis much appreciated 

[RayD]

Progress has been fairly steady and concentrated mostly inside, with trunking and conduit being installed, lights fitted, and getting some CAT6 cable across from the house to the vicinity of the obsy.

Just need to get some 1.5mm and 2.5mm singles now to wire up.

The single outlet is for a super slim 750w flat panel heater which is going on the wall to the left of it, and the 2 doubles under the desk are for the power supplies, PC, UPS and switch.

There is a single CAT6 outlet on the top (middle) which is for a laptop or other device should it be needed, but mostly stuff will be plugged in to the 8 port switch going under the desk, including the POE WAP.

Power cables are through to the mount and connected at the supply end.  This is 3mm twin thinwall (double insulated), which is actually for boats, but ideal in this application.

Sockets are going to be wired on 2 separate radials, with the warm room (critical) ones on their own, and the scope room on a separate one.  Bit belt and braces, but don't want a small problem with an outlet in the scope room shutting everything down.

On a brighter note, picked the pier up this morning and am one happy bunny.  It's very well assembled and exactly as I asked for.  It does weigh a fair bit though, so took 2 of us to get it in and out of the car.

Going to get the chemical anchors set on this tonight, then out of action for a short while, so hopefully by the end of the weekend will be able to get back to doing a bit more and get the pier in and set.

 

[RayD]

I set the Mesu top plate in position and used my compass to align the pier with N, and then got the holes drilled and set with chemical anchors.  I'll leave these to set now and then will put some self levelling compound on top to give a nice smooth and flat surface for the pier.  All will become clear.

Flooring came today as well.  what a bargain, £31 delivered for 96 sq ft, more than enough to do the lot.  It's the stuff many use, the foam rubber stuff, which seems pretty good.  Put a few bits down to see how it looked but took it up again as I think it could get easily damaged.  That will be fitted when the pier and ROR is done.

Will be updating now after the weekend as I'm not able to work on the obsy for the rest of the week, but at that time the resin will have nicely set for the pier to be fixed.

[SonnyE]

Coming along wonderfully, Ray!

Fun to watch your dreams come true with you.

[RayD]

11 hours ago, SonnyE said:

Coming along wonderfully, Ray!

Fun to watch your dreams come true with you.

Thank you Sonny.  You're watching my bank balance shrink with me also 

[carastro]

That's some substantial Obsy Ray.

Carole 

[RayD]

32 minutes ago, carastro said:

That's some substantial Obsy Ray.

Carole 

Yes I wouldn't want to try to move it Carole, and it certainly won't be blowing over in a breeze 

[sloz1664]

Great build Ray. Just a point with the foam tiles, leave a gap around the external outside edges in hot weather they do expand and without a gap the tiles bulge.

 

Steve

[RayD]

14 minutes ago, sloz1664 said:

Great build Ray. Just a point with the foam tiles, leave a gap around the external outside edges in hot weather they do expand and without a gap the tiles bulge.

 

Steve

Thanks Steve.

Thanks also for the heads up on the tiles.  I'll be fitting them next week so will leave a gap.  How big would you say is enough, about 3mm all round?

[carastro]

Yes I have those foam tiles and they are great, but in the summer the whole floor lifts up like a balloon,  I have trimmed a bit off the edge from time to time. 

Carole 

[N3ptune]

Wow! RayD your project is fantastic, the craftsmanship and the engineering, really precise, premium work!

Thanks for sharing the building process.

[sloz1664]

21 hours ago, RayD said:

Thanks Steve.

Thanks also for the heads up on the tiles.  I'll be fitting them next week so will leave a gap.  How big would you say is enough, about 3mm all round?

I'd start at around  5mm and see how it goes, if they start to lift trim again. Once sorted you can fix a wooden trim around the edge for the foam to slide under when it expands and contracts.

Steve

[RayD]

22 minutes ago, sloz1664 said:

I'd start at around  5mm and see how it goes, if they start to lift trim again. Once sorted you can fix a wooden trim around the edge for the foam to slide under when it expands and contracts.

Steve

Good idea.  Actually I have some spare skirting left over from the house which is 12mm thick, so I could just fit that.

Thanks Steve.

[RayD]

17 hours ago, N3ptune said:

Wow! RayD your project is fantastic, the craftsmanship and the engineering, really precise, premium work!

Thanks for sharing the building process.

Thanks for the very kind words.  I'm really enjoying it, and hopefully if anyone can just get one or 2 ideas then sharing has been worthwhile for me.  It's been good getting some great tips form others also.

[MikeP]

Quote

 if anyone can just get one or 2 ideas

One or two ideas?  I'm going to be asking for blueprints.

Mike

[RayD]

4 hours ago, MikeP said:

One or two ideas?  I'm going to be asking for blueprints.

Mike

Lol I wish I had them Mike.

Seriously I have tons and tons of other pictures etc. with much more detail than I thought necessary to put on this thread, so if there are any details, dimensions or questions of a "what did you do there" nature, then I will almost certainly have detailed pictures and information on it.

[newbie alert]

 and then will put some self levelling compound on top to give a nice smooth and flat surface for the pier.

Ray,go carefull on what "self levelling" you use as most you wont be able to use in a outbuilding or under a dpm..and then make sure it has a decent compression strength to it..then use it in the correct manner..theres only 1 type that id use in that situation..take it's for the pier?

[RayD]

33 minutes ago, newbie alert said:

 and then will put some self levelling compound on top to give a nice smooth and flat surface for the pier.

Ray,go carefull on what "self levelling" you use as most you wont be able to use in a outbuilding or under a dpm..and then make sure it has a decent compression strength to it..then use it in the correct manner..theres only 1 type that id use in that situation..take it's for the pier?

I'm actually looking at using the Secrete deep Base which is good for 5-50mm. I'd be using 15mm so it should be good I hope. 

[newbie alert]

1 hour ago, RayD said:

I'm actually looking at using the Secrete deep Base which is good for 5-50mm. I'd be using 15mm so it should be good I hope. 

Is it secrete deep base from wickes or Travis Perkins?

It looks like it's made from ball..itsreal name is 600 base and don't think it's designed for external use... id suggest either ardex na or balls green bag as both have a pedigree for external use..but above 9mm it should be a filled mix with granite chipping for the compression strength..

I made a ramp in a neighbours garage as it had rainwater creeping in...its been there for about 8 years so far!

[RayD]

6 minutes ago, newbie alert said:

Is it secrete deep base from wickes or Travis Perkins?

It looks like it's made from ball..itsreal name is 600 base and don't think it's designed for external use... id suggest either ardex na or balls green bag as both have a pedigree for external use..but above 9mm it should be a filled mix with granite chipping for the compression strength..

I made a ramp in a neighbours garage as it had rainwater creeping in...its been there for about 8 years so far!

Yes from Wickes.  I'm not sure it's going to be subject to extremes such as rain etc. as my rain sensors will close the roof.  Points noted though I'll have a look at the ones you suggest as I can do 9mm no problem, it's only so that the base of the pier is sitting on a substantially flat surface rather than the current rough cast concrete.

Thanks for the advice 

[RayD]

Well it's been quite some time since I updated my build thread, so apologies for that.  I had some other stuff going on which meant just snippets of time available for the build, but not much time to update the thread.

I have the roof on, covered and rolling with the motor now.  I also have the Lesvedome driver and Velleman boards, so just need to connect this all up for it to be fully automated.  However, it does run via a fob remote, so I guess that's a pretty good second best.

I ended up not putting any self levelling compound on the base, and just used some shims to get it all nice and tight and upright.  It's really nice and solid and no chance of anything breaking up or cracking.  Filled the gap between the wood and concrete with some old loft insulation.

 

Also the warm room is pretty much done now.  I added another couple of shelves and some storage bins for all the little bits and bobs that need a home.  I've also now moved fully from the mini PC on the pier to a desktop in the warm room.  The mini PC is going to live permanently in Spain as I need to set up and tear down that rig each time.  I've put a Startech 7 port industrial USB hub on the pier now, and control the power to that, the PC and my peripherals by an IP connected switch, and the Mount Hub Pro.  Currently this is all working really well, and just needs some cable ends made off and tidying to be finished.

 

All the outside is now clad, and just awaiting the last coat of varnish, so I'll take some pictures of that and update further on how I got there so people can perhaps get some more ideas for their own builds.

I have a vibration analysis meter that I use at work which I am going to bring home so I have formal figures on isolation, but a basic test of watching a video on the screen in the obsy room whilst jumping showed no movement at all, which is a good sign.

 

 

 

[Astrokev]

Seriously impressive build Ray. Don't think I've seen another build that comes close to the quality of finish.

It's making me feel quite depressed about my build already, and I've only just started! I'll be pinching a few of your ideas I think.

Kev

[RayD]

1 hour ago, Astrokev said:

Seriously impressive build Ray. Don't think I've seen another build that comes close to the quality of finish.

It's making me feel quite depressed about my build already, and I've only just started! I'll be pinching a few of your ideas I think.

Kev

Thanks Kev that's really kind and very much appreciated.  I've been following yours and have to say I think you're going in the right direction with the work so far and the plans I've seen.  It's looking very good indeed.

If you get stuck for ideas anywhere on yours I have a ton of photos of every stage but haven't had time to update the thread in detail, so happy to pass any pictures or ideas on.

You'll be so glad you did it when it's up and running.  It's the best thing I've done so far in this hobby.