2005 July 20 - Lots of wind and rain since April and most leaks are gone.
Temperature is now becoming an issue. We do have two 4" vents in each end of the
roof but no real cool air input. So we cut two holes in the floor in opposite
corners, for floor vents suitably shielded against bug instrusion with
nylon screen door material, to allow cool air to be drawn
in from beneath the floorboards. Added some outside decoration in the form of a metal
star on the southwest wall. We noticed that the roll off roof support section was
no longer parallel to the observatory walls themselves, as the ground
beneath the deck blocks holding up the 2"x8" rose up, creating a dip in the middle
of the 16' section. This causes only some of the teflon contact points to touch
which makes it harder to move. In addition, all of the formica on the outside
rails came off during the winter and needs replacing with something harder
than the pine wood 2"x8" surface.
2005 April 09
Taped up the rest of the bad roof joins and most of the rest of them as well using
a tar backed aluminum tape from RONA, 10 m x 15cm or so for $20.
2005 March 17
Added allsky camera to the observatory.
Some new images of it from the roof of the house. Added in red LED lighting
permanently on (about 4 watts) to allow for vision even when going into
the observatory in the dark.
2005 February 13 Sunday
Five good solid hours of work on the observatory.
We started by putting the 2nd pier into operation. Cut the pier off to 43"
in height, cut two 12" circles out of 3/4" hard plywood and 5" long
chunks of 2"x4" to brace it. We put the first circle on the pier and added
a 2x4 support piece, levelling as we went, adding the opposite side and then
the remaining two sides. Checked several times for level along the way.
Removed the circle, topped up with sand in the middle and discovered that the
peir was leaking sand along one edge. Added four more screws into that side joint
and that mostly stopped the leaking sand. Will add more glue when the weather gets warmer.
Attached the first circle to the top of the pier, centred. Sanded
down the edges and bottom and the 4 side supports. On the 2nd circle we drilled a 1/4" hole
through the centre, then a 3/8" hole about halfway down to allow a T-Nut to
be pounded in from the topside. A 3" carriage bolt, 1/4"x20 was threaded in from the bottom.
A little hole was dug on the top of the first circle to
allow for the carriage bolt head to fit in so the two circles would fit tight against
each other. The 2nd circle was then attached to the first and then sanded down.
We will have to varathane these once the temperature gets better. It was about -3
today.
Checking for level is a critical step for the future polar alignment and tracking step. We fine tuned the level for a few minutes before we were happy with it, checking mainly on the 90 deg across the supports.
Then we built an 8" circle (actually a square with the corners cut off,
to allow
for the mount to fit properly. It had a 1/4" hole drilled through the centre as
well and was mounted over the carriage bolt, then a large washer and wingnut was
added
to secure it. After it gets polar aligned, we will screw it into place, but for
now
we can move it around if necessary.
We then moved the computer from the northwest to southwest corner to allow
the monitor to be shaded from the sun better as it was impossible to view
in the daytime. Moved the wiresless antenna around as well. Moved a lot of the
structural
shelving, equipment and telescope over to the northeast side from the southwest
side. Cleaned the terminals of the battery and placed it inside the old wooden
battery box
to help protect if from cold weather better. Had to temporarily disconnect
the battery trickle charger until we get more power cords. We left the 110vac a
nd 12vdc
on the southern pier, intending to duplicate it on the northern pier.
The viewline from the northern pier is much better suited to solar observing.
Previously the southern wall got in the way.
And finally the after renovations views.
2005 February 06 Sunday
High winds combined with snow led to large amounts of snow piling up inside the
observatory, combined with melting snow, left water inside as well, over the last
few months. Today we also discovered that the formica track had come lose in
sections from the rail and will have to be reglued when the weather gets warmer.
It was warm enough however to add a new roof patch with the tar/aluminum tape,
expanding insulating foam was added all around the base of the wall where they
met the floor structure, as well as along the top walline between the wall and the
rail structure. Gaps had existed and allowed snow and rain to blow in through
tiny little cracks. In addition, we added some more weatherstripping foam
to the main doors and some pink styrofoam strips to cover exposed areas
in and around the doors. Lastly, a new garage door vinyl U shaped weather
stripping was added to the roof, so that when it closes it now seals better
against the rippled walls of the observatory.
2004 August 22 Sunday
Added two more 24"x24" concrete pads for use by Dobsonian mount scopes.
The roof was starting to become troublesome to open and close, so we added
some formica strips along the top of the roof runners (varathaned pine). Moves much
nicer now!
Removed soft foam from northeast roof gap and replaced with a 1"x6" wooden skirt
with blue hard styrofoam to help block blowing precip. Also added a 1"x4" skirt
to the southwestern wall to block the rood/wall gap from blowing wind precip.
2004 July 25 Sunday
Added two corner shelves,and another 14' of 6" shelving. Added 120vac and 12vdc
power to the southern pier. Added some more screws to pier as internal sand
was starting to leak out a bit.. need to inject something inside to stop it.
2004 July 19 Monday
We needed a spot for a dobsonian platform to go and the grass near the observatory
was not exactly level... so we got a 24"x24" concrete pad, excavated a little,
laid down a bed of sand and put the pad ontop, levelling and presto!
In addition, some more internal framing has been put into the observatory, in preparation
for shelving.
2004 July 09
We did a temperature study to see how hot it gets inside the observatory.
We put an indoor outdoor cabled thermometer sensor on the inside, put the readout
unit on the outside in the shade and took hourly indoor/outdoor readings as well
as notes on sun and cloud conditions with the intent of possibly adding an
exhaust fan or two (computer power supply 12vdc 1 watt). There are two exhaust
ports on the northwest and southeast roof gables, approx 4" round each. The walls are simply tin and the floor is a wooden deck covered in carpet with lots of little
areas where air can come in.
| time |
Diff C | inside temp C | Outside temp C |
Comments |
| 08:30 | 3.1 | 21.6 | 18.5 | sun&cloud |
| 09:30 | 3.7 | 22.0 | 18.3 | sun&cloud |
| 10:30 | 7.2 | 28.0 | 20.8 | sun&cloud |
| 11:30 | 3.9 | 26.4 | 22.5 | cloud |
| 12:30 | 1.5 | 25.1 | 23.6 | cloud |
| 13:30 | 2.2 | 26.8 | 24.6 | cloud |
2004 June 21
The summer winds are starting up again (see the weather station data)
and since we do daily solar observing, the roof is often in the fully open position
when these winds come through for several hours in the afternoon.
After seeing the roof blow off during the hurricane remnants, we were a little worried
about the roof (now fully exposed to a gust from underneath) going on another
trip. So we took the concept of slide-into holddowns that we use on the inside of the observatory
when the roof is in the closed position and applied it to the outside when the roof is open.
We added new holddowns for when the roof is open all of the way, consisting of
2"x4" pieces of wood and some 2"x2" pieces. New bolts were added inside
to hold the roof in position when the roof is closed. Ropes are no
longer necessary to hold the roof down (we hope!). Easily survived
40kph gusts with the roof open all the way.
Leading edge of open roof holddown detail (2 sides):
Trailing edge of open roof holddown detail (2 sides):
The new pieces were varathaned and the 4"x4' pressure treated posts holding
up the roof section are showing signs of cracking and were varathaned as well.
All of the track top surfaces were also varathaned again but we are still considering
a harder surface than plain old pine.
On reflection it isn't pretty but I have confidence that the 2"x4" will hold.
The alternative thought was to build a single piece hook shape by jigsawing
some regular pine board but we thought that would split fairly easily. Then it
was suggested to try plywood. We may look at that again later on.
It's been remarkably critter free and with the addition of some foamy bits
on the northwest wall, not a lot of blown snow came in over this past winter.
Power was added a couple of months ago with the burying of a standard 18m heavy
duty outdoor grade extension cord, wired into a GFCI receptacle and buried over
to the observatory. A cordless phone (with base station inside the house but
with a charging station inside the observatory) was added in the winter and
works fine. Data out to the observatory is the next project. Leading
contenders are wireless 802.11b Other projects will be roof status (open/close)
indicators for the house (on dark stormy nights you can't even *see* the observatory,
much less whether or not the roof is closed or blown away!).
Local chipmunk has taken up residence underneath the observatory but hasn't made
it inside yet.
We also added some hanging flower baskets to pretty it up a bit.
2004 February 09
Weight of snow/ice causing roof to bend in just enough to catch on the inside
lockdowns. Can be fixed by lowering the lockdowns a few cms.
Next observatory will have large emergency tiedowns
(we are expecting 90kph winds today but got only 46kph)
for high winds and hurricanes.
2003 December 07
First good snow with wind ended up with a lot of snow inside. So we added some foam
insulation along the northwest roof/wall interface. Blowing snow still getting
in through doors, added big heavy foam weatherstripping tape to one door
2004 January 18. Now closes tight. Roof harder to move with snow cover and
tracks are also covered. Added in late November lockdown guides (see photos
coming soon) when the roof isclosed, it can't lift up. Replaced
wooden dowel stops with steel eyebolt stops.
2003 November 11
Took apart 1/2 of roof, repaired and caukled holes, patched holes.
Replaced both 1"x4" roof side guides with 2"x4" roof guides... these won't break
and will weigh the roof down a little more.
Added 4 more teflon slides at the corners to imporve slidability.
2003 Oct 11
Big windstorm from the southeast blew off the roof around 23:30, weighed it down
for now, put it back up in the morning and tied it down.
2003 October 09
Added two pegs to hold the roof in the closed position, as
it seems everytime there is a wind, the roof moves. Added two 4" screened vents
in the roof gables to allow hot air out easier.
2003 September 22 Monday
Reinforced the southeast wall with a 2"x4"x10' brace.. just in time too.. a thunderstorm ripped
through that night with
maximum gust of 49kph! From the south! Also connected the
roll off roof frame for more stability, siliconed the northwest and southeast
roof frame, more to come later.
2003 September 19th Friday
Hurricane Isabel came through and did some major damage to the doors and south
east wall of the observatory.
Maximum gust 48kph from the southeast
im010296.jpg
2003 September 16th Tuesday
First Light with the Starlight Cascade Observatory. Kim installed her
SchmidtCas on the pier and discovered that the
wall height was perfect to block out all of the neighbouring neighbours
non full cut off, glaring, light trespassing lighting. The skies were clear,
a little hazy with some surrounding cloud and a light aurora about 10 degrees
off the horizon. Mars was the first target of opportunity and it was great.
Not very steady as it was still just off the horizon.
Milky Way was great. And if you stand near 6' tall the walls are not high enough to
block line of sight to the neighbours bad lights. Will have to come up with a portable
wall extension or something.
2003 September 15th Monday
Construction complete
2003 September 03
Construction Begins
Contact
webmaster (at) starlightcascade (dot) ca for information or comments on this page
http://starlightcascade.ca/observatory/build.htm
Whatsnew on the site?
20050724
A few days of use later and soft vinyl siding has much increased friction over
that of the pine runner. So now we either take the vinyl down or
put something harder on top of the vinyl.
Aerial View
24"x24" pad
Shelving
Shelving
Before
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Open
Step 1
Step 2
Closed and Locked
