Relocation of Pulsar Dome.

[Nigella Bryant]

More block work today ready for the decking. The Phoenix Complex is rising from the ashes, lol.

 

 

 

Edited June 24, 2020 by Nigella Bryant
Pic added

[Nigella Bryant]

Last of the block work and timber for decking cut to size. All's left to do is drill timber for the bolt holes and ready for dome wall's.

[Nigella Bryant]

A  little progress today, to hot to work beyond midday.

 

Edited June 24, 2020 by Nigella Bryant
Pic added

[brit 50]

On 15/06/2020 at 15:23, Nigella Bryant said:

Repairs done today to the fabric of the dome. Revamped the bearings to the wheels while I was mending thing's. 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi, i swapped out all of my wheels on my early pulsar as they would get flat spots on a hot day or if the dome wasnt rotated for a while, went for solid nylon wheels.

 

Edited June 24, 2020 by brit 50

[Nigella Bryant]

Just provisionally put walls of dome in place to see if my calculations were good. It fits, lol. View of the Phoenix Complex in attached pic. RoR in background. 

[Swoop1]

Trim some of that vegetation back and it'll start to look like the top of Mauna Kia 😁

[Nigella Bryant]

58 minutes ago, Swoop1 said:

Trim some of that vegetation back and it'll start to look like the top of Mauna Kia 😁

Once it's all finished it's the garden that's going to be tackled, lol.

Edited June 25, 2020 by Nigella Bryant

[Gasman]

Need to get shears out near mine Nigella 😁. Great observatories though, I fitted mine about 14yrs ago and that was second hand. Good luck with the obs!.

Cheers

Steve

[Nigella Bryant]

5 hours ago, Gasman said:

Need to get shears out near mine Nigella 😁. Great observatories though, I fitted mine about 14yrs ago and that was second hand. Good luck with the obs!.

Cheers

Steve

Thanks Steve, nice to know they last a long time.

[Rusted]

There are plenty of GRP cars still going strong from the 1960s.

They are stressed far more than any dome at habitable UK altitudes.

[Nigella Bryant]

Dome put together today ready for social distancing lifting with friends tomorrow.

[Rusted]

Let's do the maths: Pi x 2.2 = 6.9124/4 =1.728

Can't be done with four people at 2m safe separation around the circumference.

Option A. Use 2x4s to extend the radius of operator participation. NO hugs of congratulation! 

Option B. Do the lift at night. Then kill and bury all participants in the garden to avoid discovery. 😱

Option C. Buy a 2.7m dome and bribe one more lifter? 

Three rugby players and/or weight lifters might do it for the price of a few beers/sweaty sweety bag of steroids.

It's a shame that Pulsar does not publish weights for individual panels nor for a complete dome.

This would be valuable information for typical amateur owners gathering mugs volunteers for dome lifting.

Hope this helps?

 

[ollypenrice]

12 minutes ago, Rusted said:

Let's do the maths: Pi x 2.2 = 6.9124/4 =1.728

Can't be done with four people at 2m safe separation around the circumference.

Option A. Use 2x4s to extend the radius of operator participation. NO hugs of congratulation! 

Option B. Do the lift at night. Then kill and bury all participants in the garden to avoid discovery. 😱

Option C. Buy a 2.7m dome and bribe one more lifter? 

Three rugby players and/or weight lifters might do it for the price of a few beers/sweaty sweety bag of steroids.

It's a shame that Pulsar does not publish weights for individual panels nor for a complete dome.

This would be valuable information for typical amateur owners gathering mugs volunteers for dome lifting.

Hope this helps?

 

Actually you only need one astrophotographer to lift the dome but it does need to be Mike Sidonio (AKA Strongmanmike on the astro forums.) In this link he's only carrying a 150 Kg round stone but there is a pic somewhere of him carrying an observatory on his shoulder...  http://mstecker.com/pages/appsidonio.htm

Paradoxically, perhaps, Mike's astrophotos are of exquisite delicacy and are certainly among the best in the world.

Olly

[Rusted]

Thanks Olly. Interesting bloke! A real all-rounder.
I could imagine him lifting an obsy foundation slab like a doormat.

He has some nice kit as well as producing some excellent images!
Using a corrected 12" Orion Newt. That NJP Tak mounting is a beast!

[Nigella Bryant]

3 hours ago, Rusted said:

Let's do the maths: Pi x 2.2 = 6.9124/4 =1.728

Can't be done with four people at 2m safe separation around the circumference.

Option A. Use 2x4s to extend the radius of operator participation. NO hugs of congratulation! 

Option B. Do the lift at night. Then kill and bury all participants in the garden to avoid discovery. 😱

Option C. Buy a 2.7m dome and bribe one more lifter? 

Three rugby players and/or weight lifters might do it for the price of a few beers/sweaty sweety bag of steroids.

It's a shame that Pulsar does not publish weights for individual panels nor for a complete dome.

This would be valuable information for typical amateur owners gathering mugs volunteers for dome lifting.

Hope this helps?

 

Funny rusted, lol. Do we have to use facemasks? All happening at 12noon today. 

[andrew s]

A dome is only half a bubble so you should be ok. 

Good luck this afternoon.

Regards Andrew 

[Nigella Bryant]

19 minutes ago, andrew s said:

A dome is only half a bubble so you should be ok. 

Good luck this afternoon.

Regards Andrew 

We should all be in our own bubble when it's on, lol.

[Nigella Bryant]

All sorted, dome went on a treat with no issues with rotation. 

Edited July 7, 2020 by Nigella Bryant
Pics added

[sloz1664]

That looks grand and I bet you can't wait to get it up & running. That's if the weather let's you....

Steve

[carastro]

Brilliant.  Just a little confused about the platform though, presume it's going to stay like that, I was expecting it to be turned into decking.  So presumably you'll board it inside which means it will be a little higher than the wood outside and at least that way there will be no rain run off I guess, so perhaps it is a better idea than decking.

Carole 

[Rusted]

11 minutes ago, carastro said:

Brilliant.  Just a little confused about the platform though, presume it's going to stay like that, I was expecting it to be turned into decking.  So presumably you'll board it inside which means it will be a little higher than the wood outside and at least that way there will be no rain run off I guess, so perhaps it is a better idea than decking.

Carole 

Rats, mice and rot will soon move in. It is wide open to wildlife at present.
The stone ring doesn't seem to have a DPM. Nor does the timber framework.
Pressure treated timber might last a year or two longer than plain timber.
I've never had much luck with pressure treated on the ground so went over to oak.
If more height was wanted then a second ring of stone or bricks, with a DPM would have been better.
It would probably have been cheaper, quicker and easier too!

[Nigella Bryant]

43 minutes ago, carastro said:

Brilliant.  Just a little confused about the platform though, presume it's going to stay like that, I was expecting it to be turned into decking.  So presumably you'll board it inside which means it will be a little higher than the wood outside and at least that way there will be no rain run off I guess, so perhaps it is a better idea than decking.

Carole 

Higher floor going inside and decking on the exposed outside.

[Nigella Bryant]

26 minutes ago, Rusted said:

Rats, mice and rot will soon move in. It is wide open to wildlife at present.
The stone ring doesn't seem to have a DPM. Nor does the timber framework.
Pressure treated timber might last a year or two longer than plain timber.
I've never had much luck with pressure treated on the ground so went over to oak.
If more height was wanted then a second ring of stone or bricks, with a DPM would have been better.
It would probably have been cheaper, quicker and easier too!

I've done the same as I've done my RoR which was ten years old and no rot so figured using the same method was good. There is going to be a damp proof membrane going on the outside timber and the inside before the inner timber floor and flooring are put down. Thanks for your input thoughts, always good to have other opinions for others reading the posts. Also got two cat's who already go under the timber, lol. 

Edited July 7, 2020 by Nigella Bryant
Pic added

[Rusted]

Wrap some marine ply around the edges of the timber framework to exclude the wildlife and provide a neat skirting board?

[Nigella Bryant]

2 minutes ago, Rusted said:

Wrap some marine ply around the edges of the timber framework to exclude the wildlife and provide a neat skirting board?

Hi rusted, I'm decking the edge's so should be fine but I want the cat's to be able to go under and evict anything, lol.