Observatory update

I'm really not good at blogging. The observatory as been working very well for me since my last update. I am getting ready to update my mount and add additional telescope. I've removed my Orion mount and am preparting to install a EQ6-R Pro. I need to make a top plate for the pier that will support the EQ6 and I hope to do that tomorrow. Once everything is in place, I will try to do another video tour. One rig will be my observatory rig and the other will be portable.

Still under construction, but functional.

I still have more to do, but I'm at a point it is usable.

Houston, we have a rolling roof.

 Just a quick update.

http://bruceg333.blogspot.com/2021/04/still-under-construction-but-functional.html

Observatory, update two

 It's been a month since my last update.  I've had a few good weather weekends and a few terrible wet ones.  But, I am making progress.  Here are a few photos of the progress.  As you can see, I have the four walls up, the posts and beams for the roll off section, including the garage door track.  I pre-wired the pier for both electrical and USB.  The roof is framed and sheathed with Solarboard.  The metal has been delivered and now I just need some time to cut and install it.  Then I need some extra hands to lift it in place.  Once it's up there, I can build the "sled" for the roof and but the rollers in the track.  When that is complete, I'll install the siding and build a door.  Then it's just trimwork and paint.  Clear Skys.

Test fitting my Sirius EQ-G mount with my Sharpstar 76.

With the floor secured, I starting making walls and running conduit for the power to the pier and for the USB cable.

Four walls are up and stormy weather is in the forecast.

After the weather cleared up, I decided to test fit my RC 6 inch as well.  Clearance will be good I think.

Back to construction, I got the beams for the roll off section put together and installed.  I forget to get a shot with the posts installed, but the post and garage track are both installed.

The roof is ready for metal.  I'm building it on the ground, then will have some help lifting it up where it goes.  Once it is in place, I'll get the rollers installed.

Observatory constructing is underway

 If you have read any of my blog posts before, you may notice that I have a lot of hobbies.  I do and I don't apologize for it.  I wish I had time and resources to just pursue my hobbies all the time.  But alas, I don't, so I am a serial hobbyist.  Most of them don't warrant a blog post, but I decided that it was time I brushed off the ol' blog site and document this one.  

Lately, I've rediscovered my childhood love for astronomy.  And since I already have a passion for photography, I've started becoming an astrophotographer.  So after a summer and fall of hauling equipment in and out of the house every clear night I could, I decided that building an observatory would make life a lot easier on me.

It started with a hole in the ground.  I started digging into the red clay of my backyard a few weeks ago.  right before we had 10 straight days of rain.

Using these post hole diggers I was able to get down about 40 inches before it became too difficult to operate the handles unless I made the hole wider.  It's roughly 14 inches square and I didn't want to go expand it any more, so I stopped there.  Hopefully I'm far enough below the frost line here in upstate South Carolina that it won't be an issue.

The idea here was to set a concrete footing with rebar then to pour a concrete pier on top of that upon which I could attach a plate that would support my telescope tracking mount.  That plate is actually a brake drum just the right size to support my Orion Sirius EQ-G mount head.

In this photo you can see that I've already laid out the perimeter of the building.  This will be an 8 foot by 8 foot shed with a roll off roof.  The pier is placed as near to the exact center as I could manage.  The cardboard tube is a little over 8 inches in diameter and is filled with concrete, rebar and the anchors holding the break drum mounting block in place.  The building will be constructed around the pier an no part of the building will be in direct contact with it.  This is to prevent vibrations from the structure from interfering with the long exposers needed for astrophotography.

I have looked at lots of other people's observatories and there are a lot of different ways to design and build them.  I really love the dome style construction that I'm sure most people think when they hear the work observatory.  I just don't have to stills to build a dome and the professionally made domes are outside of my budget.

Here are a few more photos of where I am so far.  Floor joist are in and I've made cuts for the subfloor to leave space for the pier to be independent form the rest of the structure.  I will end up using some sort of foam sealer to file the gaps, but nothing that will transfer vibration.

This is where I am today.  I'm going to let the concrete in the pier cure for at least a week before I put any weight on it.  Right now I'm just covering it at night to keep the dew or frost off of it.

Once it has properly cured, I'll remove the form and install the floor.  When I do that I'll run some conduit from a space on the pier to carry electrical and data cables to the telescope mount.

I will have my old laptop installed in the shed and connected all the equipment, I will be able to remotely control the system from the comfort of my home.  But, all that is down the road.

Coming out of hibernation

It's been years since my last update, so I thought it was time to start posting again.  I'll probably start posting soon about my adventures as a new beekeeper.

That's all I have for now.

Vertical Drum Smoker - Part 4

I took a couple of weeks off from working on my smoker to get some other work done.  I did manage to cook a small Boston butt as a test before my break.  It turned out really well, but I also learned a few things to improve upon for next time.  I don't have a custom fire basket yet, I simply put a small Weber table top grill in the bottom of the can and used it as my firebox.  It worked pretty well, but I think a basket with an ash catcher would allow for a more even flow of air and better cooking.

I resumed work on it today by putting a coat of semi-gloss black on it.  I also installed a single valve and 2 caps on the bottom vent holes.  I may replace one of the caps with another valve after a few more test burns.  It depends on how hard it is to control the temp the way it is now.  I also installed a second rack for holding a water pan, or for extra cooking space.
 I still need to paint the lid and maybe make a vent system for the top.

I may work on the improvements later.  I'm not real happy with the thermometer I bought, it seems to read about 50 degrees too hot.  I've been shopping around and reading reviews, so I'll see where that takes me. 

I may put some pipe elbows on the two side vents and place valves closer to the top.  I've seen other design with this configuration, but I'm not sure it's worth the effort.  It's not like it's hard to bend down and adjust the valve at ground level.  I'm still considering custom paint options as well.  Hopefully the 3 coats I have on it now will keep it protected from rust, but I may spice it up a little bit.