Deep Sky West (Midlands)

[Tomatobro]

so far from the hole we have a piece of coconut shell, A stone that looks like it could be a meteorite and a stem from a clay tobacco pipe.

Time Team eat your heart out

[fwm891]

Great stuff - another builder of concrete blocks...

[JamesF]

I reckon it's all a cover for a secret fracking operation.

James

[tomato]

A one cubic metre hole has generated 3 big bags of spoil, need to hire a skip!

[tomato]

The hole is now at the required depth (1 metre) sides just need to be made vertical. I now struggle to climb out of it. Conduit trench also dug, hopefully concrete mixing and filling later this week.👍🏼

[JamesF]

Shhh.  I think I can see Australia.

[Gina]

It's a lot deeper than mine!

[tomato]

6 hours ago, JamesF said:

Shhh.  I think I can see Australia.

Myself and Mrs Tomato are planning a trip down under next year, it’s my cunning plan to save on the flights.

Edited September 2, 2019 by tomato

[DaveS]

On 01/09/2019 at 14:15, Davey-T said:

You realise if you strike oil you can't keep it 😂

Dave

Nah, he's just after mining all that iron in the earth's core 😆

[tomato]

Cable ducting, block ballast and rebar installed, initial fill of concrete completed today.

[sloz1664]

Thats a damn fine hole & I like the Feng Shui layout of the blocks as well

Steve

[tomato]

6 minutes ago, sloz1664 said:

Thats a damn fine hole & I like the Feng Shui layout of the blocks as well

Steve

Thanks Steve, they ended up like that to support the ducting, plus some other off cuts from making the shed warm room base. They significantly reduced the number of mixes needed to fill the base section. 

[sloz1664]

11 hours ago, tomato said:

Thanks Steve, they ended up like that to support the ducting, plus some other off cuts from making the shed warm room base. They significantly reduced the number of mixes needed to fill the base section. 

Absolutely, I did similar, any old rubble I had lying around went into "the pit"

Steve

[Gina]

Best to give any concrete blocks or stones etc. a good soaking to get the new concrete to stick to them.  As I recall, I just used poured concrete, with plenty of prodding during the process to get rid of bubbles and ensure the concrete filled all gaps.

Edited September 6, 2019 by Gina

[Dr_Ju_ju]

probably a little late now, but adding some PVA adhesive to the mix will aid in stiction to the blocks etc....

[tomato]

Pier base concrete fill now complete, will leave alone for 2-3 days before starting the dome plinth.

I have a quote from a certified(?) electrian of £460 to provide power from the consumer unit (approx 15 m of 32A armoured cable) to the warm room shed, no trench digging involved. Does that sound reasonable?

[Rusted]

That seems like a lot of concrete for such a tiny pier?

[tomato]

Yup, keep the centre of gravity low I say.😜

[Dr_Ju_ju]

What is the sparks providing for the £460 ??  but doesn't sound too excessive, but then I just do all my own, as required.

[JamesF]

£460 is probably reasonable, depending on exactly what you're having done.  If the warm room end is just having a couple of sockets then it's perhaps a bit on the high side, but if you're having a second CU then it may be far more acceptable.

James

[PhotoGav]

Looks like great progress is being made!

I’ve just checked and I paid £565 for an electrician to connect up my obsy (about three years ago). That included a whole new consumer unit in the house, armoured cable to the obsy (20m ish) and three double sockets in the obsy attached to a piece of board that he fixed to the dome wall. So I reckon £460 is about right. 

Exciting times!

Edited September 7, 2019 by PhotoGav

[tomato]

Thanks for the replies and your comments regarding the electrician’s quote. There is a second little CU in the warm room shed, two double sockets and a lighting circuit, so you have reassured me re the price. I got a good vibe from the guy, he made a couple of suggestions on how to best run the cable from the house, so I think he will get the job.

I getting impatient to finish the obs with the dark nights well and truly back, but still want to do it right. Myself and Tomatobro will be setting up a dual rig for the first time, so will need a bit of time to get that sorted.

[tomato]

A bit more progress,  ground prepared for the dome plinth, and concrete mixed and poured.

[Laurin Dave]

Looking very good, how long till the twin Esprit 150s are in action?

Dave

[Rusted]

1 hour ago, tomato said:

A bit more progress,  ground prepared for the dome plinth, and concrete mixed and poured.

 

Here be dragons!