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Astrokev's ROR - The Build


Astrokev

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26 minutes ago, wimvb said:

Only after you drop that one little screw down there, you realise how important it was. ?

I'd also avoid rockwool in that gap. It's itchy and generates dust when handled.

Yes I thought that too, but this stuff seems fine. I used it in the warm room and have been handling it without gloves with no adverse reaction at all. 

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Actually, I've just remembered. I have a huge box of foam in the cabin (the stuff that's partially cut into little squares for storing fragile equipment in drawers/boxes - a useful unwanted item from work ?).  I'll probably use some of that; easy to work with and very soft so no risk of transmitting vibration. 

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One day, alien archaeologists, will rebuild our entire <cough> civilisation from the stuff which went down the gap between the pier and the floor of amateur astronomical observatories.   :biggrin:

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7 hours ago, Astrokev said:

Actually, I've just remembered. I have a huge box of foam in the cabin (the stuff that's partially cut into little squares for storing fragile equipment in drawers/boxes - a useful unwanted item from work ?).  I'll probably use some of that; easy to work with and very soft so no risk of transmitting vibration. 

Lucky devil!  The only thing we were allowed to take home were colds and 'flu. :crybaby2:

I'd use a continuous strip of something like good quality, self adhesive draught excluder.

Otherwise you'll be wasting valuable observing time constantly re-dressing the pier gap.  :huh2:

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5 minutes ago, Rusted said:

Lucky devil!  The only thing we were allowed to take home were colds and 'flu. :crybaby2:

I'd use a continuous strip of something like good quality, self adhesive draught excluder.

Otherwise you'll be wasting valuable observing time constantly re-dressing the pier gap.  :huh2:

Yes that's a thought. I have loads of that as well!

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8 hours ago, Rusted said:

One day, alien archaeologists, will rebuild our entire <cough> civilisation from the stuff which went down the gap between the pier and the floor of amateur astronomical observatories.   :biggrin:

I have a small gap in the front of my telescopic pier and any small object dropped within 10 feet of it throws itself  in the gap, too small for a hand so have to use one of those telescopic grabby things to retrieve stuff :grin:

Dave

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A little more progress today. Managed to hang the inner door without too much problem, then spent ages hacking out a slot for the lock. Just need to fit the handles tomorrow and I have two working doors. Woo-hoo! 

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Had a pretty good day today. Weather held up, which was a bonus, although there's definitely something brewing. The wind was starting to pick-up by the end of the afternoon, so I locked down the roof with the turnbuckles, just in case.

I finished fixing the door handles on the inner door, then completed bits of ply above both doors that I'd missed when I lined the walls. Then I fixed door stops on the inner door, and architrave around both sides of the inner door and around the inside of the outer door. So, at long last the walls and doors are now complete!

Before packing up I measured up for simple shelving around the scope room, which is the next job. Not sure the weather will hold up tomorrow, but if it's dry I'll try and get out to buy some timber battens and make a start on this.

So, my to-do list is now pretty short -

1 - Make and fix shelving in scope room

2 - Paint scope room walls

3 - Put down foam tiles in scope room

4 - Paint warm room

5 - Fix door seals around the inner door to help insulate

6 - Put down carpet tiles in warm room

7 - Make desk-of-sorts in warm room (and possibly shelving / cupboard)

8 - Install electrics

1-6 should be easy to do over the next few obsy-days. Haven't given any thought to the desk yet, and the electrics may take a little longer :) 

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Blimey! Real door handles, locks and posh mouldings for the architraves? ?

I feel so inadequate. I don't even have any architraves!  :blush:

I went for the rustic, sawn finish, 4x4s and an untidy gap. :huh2:

Do you think anybody will notice? :biggrin:

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1 hour ago, Rusted said:

Blimey! Real door handles, locks and posh mouldings for the architraves? ?

I feel so inadequate. I don't even have any architraves!  :blush:

I went for the rustic, sawn finish, 4x4s and an untidy gap. :huh2:

Do you think anybody will notice? :biggrin:

I doubt it. And even if they do, would they care? Probably not.

This is just the perfectionist in me. I'm certainly not doing it to impress anyone. 

If it concerns you, you may be pleased to hear I won't be filling any of the screw holes. Shock, horror, what will the neighbours think! ?

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1 hour ago, Astrokev said:

If it concerns you, you may be pleased to hear I won't be filling any of the screw holes.

Shock, horror, what will the neighbours think! ?

I'm telling!!  :biggrin:

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1 hour ago, Gina said:

  Mine works - nuff said!!

...…and that's all that matters Gina :) .

As I've touched on a few times in this thread, in addition to finally doing something I've been promising myself for decades, my build has been a project to help keep me focussed after going through a tough few years in my personal life. This is not the right place to expand, but building my observatory has helped provide some momentary distractions to help me deal with life's challenging (probably the most challenging) events. My love of practical astronomy had fallen by the wayside over the past umpteen years, mainly due to work pressure I think. Since opting for early retirement, that pressure has gone, enabling me to re-engage with the practical side of the hobby (before I'm too old to do so!). My wife was very supportive of me doing this crazy hobby, and always encouraged me to build an observatory, but I never did. Well, now I have, and although she's not here to see it, it gives me some small comfort knowing that it's what she wanted.

Sorry for this rather self-indulgent post. The weather's lousy, my kids are away today, and I'm stuck inside on my own - I guess feeling a bit sorry for myself. The world will be a happier place once the sun returns and I can finish building the thing. Although this will be a shame in a way, as I'll need to find something else to challenge my mind, hopefully once I can start using it in earnest this will continue to provide the focus and distraction I need. Mastering digital imaging is on the list! :) 

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I think it's fun that people go to the lengths of putting up architrave, or having wallpaper and plant pots as I believe Lee does in his.  For many/most of us it is, after all, a personal space, so doing what makes us happy is what counts.  Perhaps even more so because modern lifestyles can make it very hard to find the time to do some of the bigger things like this that you really want to do.

James

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So sorry to see you lost your wife Kev ?  If it would help you to post me your problems in PM I'll be happy to reply.  I think I'm known as a good pair of ears/eyes.  But if you would rather not I respect that too.  I wish you the best of luck - life has a habit of throwing nasties at us!!

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On 03/03/2019 at 15:28, Astrokev said:

I'll need to find something else to challenge my mind, hopefully once I can start using it in earnest this will continue to provide the focus and distraction I need. Mastering digital imaging is on the list! :) 

Oh if my little foray into imaging is anything to go by, you will be WELL distracted by understanding digital imaging, let alone mastering it Kev! ???

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1 hour ago, Stargazer33 said:

Oh if my little foray into imaging is anything to go by, you will be WELL distracted by understanding digital imaging, let alone mastering it Kev! ???

Thanks!  I'll keep you posted ?

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Well, it's not much, but it's a start - on the shelving that is.

It was pretty miserable out there with blustery showers. I did as much as I could inside the observatory with the roof closed but, for the longer lengths that needed cutting, I got a bid fed up with being rained on so called it a day. The basic method and sizes are worked out though, which is good, so shouldn't take me long to finish the shelving off the next dry spell we get. The plan is to put a single ~6" shelf around three sides of the scope room to put the paraphernalia we seem to need in the middle of the night; bit safer that putting them on the floor and stepping on them!

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