DaveS's Obsy Build Thread

[DaveS]

We've had a horrible autumn / winter here, with one atlantic depression after another carried on the jet-stream. There has been extensive flooding in several parts of the country, river levels have broken all records (The Severn and Wye especially), and even "danger to life" flood warnings in Wales. Although I grump about lack of imaging time, this keeps it in perspective..

[JamesF]

35 minutes ago, DaveS said:

We've had a horrible autumn / winter here, with one atlantic depression after another carried on the jet-stream. There has been extensive flooding in several parts of the country, river levels have broken all records (The Severn and Wye especially), and even "danger to life" flood warnings in Wales.

There'll be warnings about reservoir levels and hosepipe bans by June

James

[DaveS]

Ain't that the truth.

[JamesF]

Turns out I was wrong with my guess at June.  This morning we have no water pressure

James

[DaveS]

Burst water main somewhere? Have you been on to the water company? As an aside, Wessex Water have been digging up the road (There's only one) in the village, I think to repair a broken main.

Thinking about roofing, I see that Wickes now have EDPM kits. I just need to work out how big I need. For my roughly 2.2m square roof, I think the 8' by 8' might be enough.

 

Edit; Looking again more carefully, I think it likely I could get away with 7'x7' and save some trimming.

Edited March 4, 2020 by DaveS

[JamesF]

Having a bit of EPDM spare is quite handy, to be honest.  If you'll still have offcuts from 7'x7' then I'd not worry as there'd presumably be a fair bit left over from 8'x8'.  I've used offcuts in a few places to make seals and suchlike though (I know it won't be the case for you, but for instance I used it to make seals between the suspended floor and the piers), to the point where I can't quite bring myself to throw the remainder away even now :)

James

[Gina]

I've found the offcuts very useful too.

[DaveS]

OK. The 8x8 kit is only £13 more than the 7x7 so might be worth going a bit bigger.

[Gina]

Yes, not worth risking finding out you haven't got quite enough.  I went for a size up on my rubber roofing.  Far better to have some over than not enough.

[Gina]

I'll add also that it's difficult to predict accurately all the extra you need for corners etc. and all to easy to underestimate how much you need.

[DaveS]

On 03/03/2020 at 17:49, RAR_MI_USA said:

Looking good. I hope the rain lets up and gives you more time to proceed.
By the way, your surroundings have a serene, natural beautiful about them., and I see some of the spring daffodils are already in bloom?
Personally, I am hoping for a better spring and summer for star gazing. The winter was terrible for it. Fingers crossed

You mentioned daffodils

The "main road" outside my house. Snowdrops too.

[Gina]

I have daffodils out and there are snowdrops on the roadsides too.

[DaveS]

Yes, my garden is a blaze of daffs, snowdrops and narcissus. I think the mild winter has brought them on.

[DaveS]

Since I'm bored, no imaging and nothing doing on the obsy (Maybe tomorrow) , palm trees (Well, Cycas revoluta) on Weymouth esplanade, just outside M&S

[RAR_MI_USA]

16 hours ago, DaveS said:

Since I'm bored, no imaging and nothing doing on the obsy (Maybe tomorrow) , palm trees (Well, Cycas revoluta) on Weymouth esplanade, just outside M&S

Beautiful. Those are close enough to and considered to be palm trees by me. The daffodils and snowdrops are a sight too. Actually, the snowdrops should be up here too (SW Lower Michigan, USA - I'll have to look back by the pond where they thrive), but not yet the spring bulb flowers, the daffodils, tulips and crocus. Soon, hopefully, depending on the weather. The coldest months of Jan/Feb for us here have been milder than normal, and the seasonal snowfall is down (we had about a 1-1/2 feet total, where normal is around 7 feet or more, so who knows? I am in an area of the country where we experience the extremes in weather within any given year. It can be -20 F (-29 C) in winter and then nearly 100 F (37 C) in the hottest part of summer.
But, it was clear out last night for a change and I was able to drag my Nexstar 8SE and test my new dew heaters, long enough to make my toes go numb. The heaters work well.
Looking forward to see your Observatory progress, as it comes along.
 

[Astrokev]

On 01/03/2020 at 18:32, JamesF said:

 If I recall correctly Astrokev used T&G for his and made a beautiful job of it.  Well worth a browse through his photos to see how he fitted it all.

 

James

Thanks for the plug James

Yes, I used 1" thick T&G. You have to shop around as process vary hugely, and most of the familiar outlets tend to only stock thinner boards. I'm pleased that mine are really solid.

I attached them with stainless ring shank nails (which, by design and experience, are a pain in the neck to remove if you need to!).

For roof material, I went for EPDM from Rubber4Roofs. No complaints at all. I got a sheet with plenty of spare as I had 2 sections of roof to cover and I didn't want to risk being short. Expensive but worth it as it shouldn't need replacing as long as I'm still around!

[Gina]

10 hours ago, Astrokev said:

For roof material, I went for EPDM from Rubber4Roofs. No complaints at all. I got a sheet with plenty of spare as I had 2 sections of roof to cover and I didn't want to risk being short. Expensive but worth it as it shouldn't need replacing as long as I'm still around!

Same here.

[laser_jock99]

On 03/03/2020 at 18:02, DaveS said:

We've had a horrible autumn / winter here, with one atlantic depression after another carried on the jet-stream. There has been extensive flooding in several parts of the country, river levels have broken all records (The Severn and Wye especially), and even "danger to life" flood warnings in Wales.

Up here in the Welsh Mountains the water went away very quickly (downhill) and off into the tributaries of the River Severn......

So yes- it rained a lot but didn't stay too long!

I'm looking forward to a slightly drier spring galaxy season.

 

[DaveS]

Yesterday morning to early afternoon it was chucking it down so much that there was standing or pooling water on the road outside my house, something almost unheard of.

[Gina]

The River Otter broke it's banks too!!  But others have suffered far worse.  The devastation I've see on the news is dreadful!!!

[RAR_MI_USA]

On 06/03/2020 at 17:41, DaveS said:

Yesterday morning to early afternoon it was chucking it down so much that there was standing or pooling water on the road outside my house, something almost unheard of.

Awful the rain you have been experiencing over there. Almost time to put on your life preservers and abandon ship!
You get all the rain, while we had less precipitation (snow) this past winter, although I am not complaining.
I am wishing for a much drier spring for you!

 

[DaveS]

I've not updated for a while, mainly because I wasn't able to get on, with the rubbish weather.

However, I've had contractors in blitzing my garden so a couple of them helped me get the pier up and onto the platform and bolted down. They also helped me with getting the DDM85 on the pier, in two parts. Their help was especially appreciated yesterday when I lost my balance while lifting the RA section and went sprawling, hitting several parts of my anatomy against the framing. Fortunately nothing was damaged though II now have a multitude of aches.

Because some of the 8 anchor bolts were a little off vertical I had to apply the Mechanics' Motto* in order to get the pier to settle on to all the pads prepared for it.

  

The pier is 1 metre high, the walls are 1.59 metres. I am currently constructing a box for the computer which will be fitted to the lower noggin in the middle of the east wall. Unfortunately my sparks is unwell so has had to put back his visit for a week or two, but the 4 double outlets will go in the plank that has the cable wrapped around it.

* "When in doubt, use a bigger hammer".

Edited March 13, 2020 by DaveS
Added photo and text.

[Gina]

That mount looks awesome!!  That pier does too.  And the observatory is looking good.

[MarkAR]

Lovely set up, looks like a real beast of a mount. Glad you survived the fall with only a few bumps and bruises.

 

[DaveS]

1 hour ago, Gina said:

That mount looks awesome!!  That pier does too.  And the observatory is looking good.

 

1 hour ago, MarkAR said:

Lovely set up, looks like a real beast of a mount. Glad you survived the fall with only a few bumps and bruises.

 

Thanks, yes that mount really is a beast, built like a tank. 85mm dia axes and the counterweight shaft is 60mm dia stainless steel. Just in case anyone was concerned that I might leave a £12k mount to get rained on, I dropped a big TG cover over it.