Helena Observatory (re)build

[KathyNS]

The paving blocks will support the corners of the building. I'd prefer to have it rest directly on the gravel, but then the crane operator wouldn't be able to retrieve the lift straps. Getting them level and coplanar was a pain, but it's done. I don't yet have a date from the crane operator, but it will be within the next week.

[KathyNS]

The crane was here today! The building is now on its pad. Let the fun begin!

[Graeme1858]

That's some view you have there Kathy!

[helicon]

That's amazing Kathy!

[StarBru]

That's so cool, Kathy! Congrats!

[JayTee]

Isn't that a great feeling when your Observatory building is set in place on its pad. Makes your brain silently yell [YEAH!]

[KathyNS]

Makes your brain silently yell [YEAH!]

What's this "silently" stuff?

[SparWeb]

More like:

[AstroBee]

Congrats. Looks like you will probably see first light before I do. Work is just not cooperating with me right now.

[JayTee]

More like:

That pretty much sums it up.

[KathyNS]

A brief progress report... It was a cold, dark, overcast day with a chance of flurries. But I was able to get the electricity connected. So I can have light and heat for the rest of the setup! Yay!

I got the pier installed on its footing. It worked well enough at the previous location, but I am happier with this installation. The plywood pier needs to be supported at its corners in order to be stable. Before I moved the building into place, I set a 2' square piece of 3/4" plywood on the bolts and shimmed it from underneath to level it on the imperfect surface of the concrete. Now that the building is positioned properly, I was able to lower the pier onto that piece of plywood and bolt it down. The result is a very stable installation. The vibration damping time right now with no payload on top is very, very fast, well under 1/4 second, and the amplitude is very low. So I am happy with this installation.

I need to restore electric (120v AC and 12v DC) and data connections to the pier, and re-install exterior lights and sensors that had been removed for transport. Then, I can start moving the equipment inside.

[AstroBee]

That's exciting news! Congrats!

[KathyNS]

It was a productive week. As I noted earlier, I installed the pier. (Pics included, so it did happen! ) I fitted floor plugs to fill in the space around the pier, making it safe to walk on. There is 1/4" space between the floor pieces and the pier.

Today, I finished an adapter that allows me to position the mount facing north with the new pier orientation. I also attached the front deck and levelled it, and I installed the exterior lights.

The new pier adapter sits on top of the old extension. Both are very rigid, so no worries there. If you are wondering about the odd openings on the sides of both the old extension (blue) and the new adapter (bare wood), they allow me to get a wrench in to access the mounting bolts. I am very pleased with the rigidity of the pier and mount. If I give it a good whack, I can just feel the vibration, but it is minimal and damps out very quickly. This is better than at my last installation, which nevertheless gave me excellent images.

External lighting, which had been removed for transport, includes a motion-activated white porch light, which can also be activated by the alarm system. There is also a red porch light. Red lights at the side and back allow me to safely access the field behind the observatory for visual observing. All the external lights are full-cutoff fixtures.

The red reflectors are to prevent the snowblower from accidentally eating the corner of the deck.

[JayTee]

Yowee! It looks awesome. You are now a fully-fledged master observatory user!

Congrats,

[yobbo89]

Wow, amazing pier and observatory. Balancing the scope must be a high wire circus act xd. I'll have a thorough read of this thread after work, it is a community remote access setup?

[KathyNS]

Balancing the scope must be a high wire circus act

It's not as tall as it looks. The photo was taken with a wide-angle lens and I was squatting down to get it all in the frame. For scale, the door is less than four feet tall. I do need a step-stool to set the scope on the mount safely, but it's not super-tall.

it is a community remote access setup?

No, it is mine, all mine. Bwah-ha-ha! It is remote access, but only from my house, which is just across the driveway.

[jrkirkham]

Wow, it is am impressive looking setup! As you mentioned, It was a productive week.

[helicon]

Excellent observatory Kathy. Looks really great!

[KathyNS]

Some minor progress yesterday and today. I pulled DC power and data cables through their respective conduits to the mount. I still have some re-connection to do: I had to cut the RS-232 cable to remove it prior to the move, so now I have to splice it back together.

Tips for pulling multiple cables through one conduit:
- Make sure it is a big conduit, especially if some of the cables are USB.
- Pull cables one at a time.
- Don't try to pull cable with a fish wire. Use the fish wire to pull a string.
- Attach each cable in turn to the string, then pull it plus another string through the conduit.
- Pull cables in decreasing order of plug size. USB before RJ45. Naked cables last.
- Leave the last string in the conduit for future use.

With all the tying of string, I had to work gloveless. It was cold. Note to self: use a heater next time!

[JayTee]

A tip I learned from my eclectrician when he was pulling my power cable through 150' of conduit: He used only string and a vacuum cleaner (shop vac) to pull the string all the way throught the 150' of conduit. I was amazed at how well and how quickly that worked. He just used light cotton string attached to the power cable.