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Inside
the Dome
Ready
for go !
 wideangle
view of working observatory
18
November 2006The
working area of the dome is quite spacious and the above image shows
how it is all laid out. There is a workstation with foldaway
shelf, whiteboard and pinboard for skymaps, notes, data, etc., and an
adjustable height stool for use either at the workstation or scope.
The laptop is plugged into my home network and internet via
an
ethernet socket. You can see the red-white
changeover lighting at opposite sides of
the observatory. The hatch fits snugly against the inside base wall so I
devised a simple way of stowing it by hanging it on two S-hooks
suspended from two of the dome support braces. It prevents
the hatch being damaged, is easy to attach and remove, and doesn't
present a tripping hazard when observing. A
radio-controlled clock is tuned into the Greenwich signal and
the internal temperature is also displayed. The handles to
assist
with rotating the dome can be seen on the dome base ring. In
addition to the
generous floor space you can see that there is also plenty of
headroom.
Keeping
out the elements
 hatch successfully fitted to dome 15 October 2006 The hatch is very easy to open by angling it then taking it inside the dome and simply reversing the
operation to re-attach
it.
The thin rubber weather seal on the inside surface of the lip
and
the door-stop wedges between the support blocks and adjacent
handles ensure a
weather and watertight seal.
Keeping
on track
 base
rail improved
15
October 2006
The
internal diameter of the dome base was too wide at the "corners" and,
combined with the flex in the running circle, caused the base to
frequently run off a caster. This was easily sorted by fixing
wooden triangles into the corners, using two woodscrews and PVA wood
adhesive, thereby reducing the internal diameter at the
corners. This brought about a significant improvement in
the operation of rotating the dome making it much smoother and easier
to turn. These have since been painted chocolate brown in
keeping with the rest of the internals.
The
dome itself is held in place against Scottish Highland gales,
with
an
added improvement in overall security, by the use of four gate hook
& eye sets which are attached to the dome base and rail after
each
observing session.This'll
grab you
 dome
internally secured to base
07
january 2007
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| Windproofing Open
says me!
 fitting
a draught excluder to dome support rail
07
january 2007Seven
sections of domestic door draught excluder were trimmed to size and
fixed to the dome support rail using plastic fixing blocks.
The
brush of each section was installed about 10cm into its neighbour to
ensure there were no gaps at the joints.
A
neat fit
 the
gap between the dome support rail and dome base ring is now windproof
07
january 2007
Successful windproofing and very little additional
friction so that I can still rotate the dome easily.
Nae
mair beasties
 the
gap between the floor and plinth is now windproof
07
january 2007A
single piece of draught excluder brush tacked in place with 2cm nails
and sealed with silicone sealant completes the observatory
windproofing. The piece of rubber on the floor allows power
and
USB cables, etc. to be run from the workstation to the plinth and
eliminate tripping hazards.
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| Utilities Red-white light circuit  The 20W 12V DC halogen bulbs were coloured red
using four coats of red Rimmel "Dancing Queen" nail varnish
and a diffuser made from the bottom of a red plastic Tesco Apple
& Strawberry juice drink bottle glued on to the bulb.
The light intensity and colour is perfect. One of
the red lamps has its own on/off switch so I can control the amount of
red light when I am observing. The two 35W 12V DC white bulbs were
connected to a single switch with the view that when I need
white light I want it to be as bright as possible.
Workstation and Control Systems  Foldaway
worktop & shelving, thermostat for controlling internal
temperature
via 120W tube heater or 700W oil-filled heater (frost &
moisture
protection - 700W heater required for very cold periods), red-white
changeover lighting (on-off-on switch at left of image), ethernet
socket (slightly hidden by shelf & laptop), 240V 13A
mains
socket outlet. Not shown is a local alarm system which was
amazingly easy to link into the house alarm system.
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Costs £ 593 |