ASIGN Observatory II is back on track!

[bloodhound31]

Finally!!!

Wowee, the plan is coming together! A while back I sent my design concept and dimensions to a building engineer. A couple of weeks ago I received the engineer drawings for the structural support. The drawings look fantastic, hi-tech and very professional. And get this, the awesome guy did it for free! Last week I started buying steel and cutting, drilling, welding and assembling.

The very next day, I got a message from a company called Diversified Computing and Consulting. They have very generously donated $500 to get the observatory started and have pledged $500 every month for the next six months! Wow! I am blown away and was really lost for words. Such generosity is rare and I am sure that future patrons of this resource will be very grateful. I know I am!

I also got a $100 donation from a troop-commander of mine from my army days, two astronomy mates, a church friend, plus a pledge at tax time from my insurance broker! There’s a long way to go, but all this certainly helps! At any rate, it gets it all moving and that’s often the hardest part.

This week I have bought the bearers and cut them to size, cut the support studs and cut and drilled all the joining brackets. The welder is coming tomorrow to weld all the brackets on then I can start bolting it and erecting it!! WOOOHHOOO!!

To keep up with progress, Here's a link to the project.

[LookingSkyward]

Nice! Please keep us posted on progress!

[bloodhound31]

Nice! Please keep us posted on progress!

I'll be posting on the construction page as I go along mate. I hope you enjoy the journey with me!

Baz.

[bloodhound31]

Slowly getting little bits done at a time now. I only get about an hour of daylight after work at the moment, so it's frantic activity the moment I get out of the car.

Progress so far.

[bloodhound31]

WOOHOO! The Bearers are up! It took a few hours today and into the night, but the hardest part (heaviest) is done!

Progress report here.

[LookingSkyward]

Nice!

[bloodhound31]

It doesn't look like much, but I got a heap done today on the observatory. Tomorrow all the studs go up. I thought I would jump in the photo and stand still for 30 seconds tonight to give a sense of scale. (I'm 6'2)

[bloodhound31]

This weekend was a marathon of time available for building. By doing some extra cash work after hours and with help from some awesome people and generous givers, I managed to get together enough funding to buy the wall-framing.

Click here for construction update.

Below: Studs in place - with some minor plumbing (vertical alignment) to be done on each before they are screwed to the flexi-track top and bottom.

[LookingSkyward]

Nice!

[bloodhound31]

Nice!

Cheers mate!

[bloodhound31]

Article in the Canberra Times this morning, page three.

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-...805-23o7v.html

[LookingSkyward]

Awesome!

[bloodhound31]

[LookingSkyward]

Very cool!

[bloodhound31]

Floor support ring on and floor joists assembled!


The Southern Cross watches over the construction of ASIGN Observatory II.

[LookingSkyward]

Nice!

[bloodhound31]

Here's this afternoon's progress. External walls on! Latest update http://www.asignobservatoryii.com/ob...nstruction.htm

[LookingSkyward]

Moving fast now! Nice!

[bloodhound31]

Ta mate.

[bloodhound31]

Here's a video of the dome rolling.

[danscope]

Ah....... the Armstrong asimuth adjuster !!

[bloodhound31]

Ah....... the Armstrong asimuth adjuster !!

Onya!

One small task at a time. Today my goal today was to build a door frame and door to fit it, out of steel.

Done.

[LookingSkyward]

Spiff!

[bloodhound31]

Marking out the flooring for the top floor ready for cutting into a whopping big circle!


Swept and tidied, a bit of an idea of the space that will be available in the office downstairs.


Full story here.

[LookingSkyward]

Beauty!

[bloodhound31]

Got a heap more bows on the revolving dome and cross-bars on the slot.

[LookingSkyward]

Loogking great!

[bloodhound31]

Ta mate!

Finally got the last of the heavy bows on the roof. I've been at it for roughly two hours every afternoon after work until I run out of light. I've even come home at lunch times to get 30 minutes of labour in at times. Time is so precious.

The next step is to roll-form some lighter intermediate bows. Flat sheet to cover the dome will bend nicely one way, but not two ways, so trying to bend it over the large area between these heavy bows is likely to warp and distort them too much. Putting in some intermediate bows will mean thinner strips of sheet, reducing the need to bend them two ways.

Full-story here http://www.asignobservatoryii.com/ob...nstruction.htm

[LookingSkyward]

making compound curves tends to be difficult Looking great, and thanks for the update!

[bloodhound31]

One of the hurdles I've had to overcome is that the old pier is not high enough to mount the telescope on, as the new floor level is now much higher.

To solve this, I have built another wooden box like the one underneath, to be filled with reinforcing mesh along with some conduit to run electrical cabling. It will then be filled with concrete.

Full story here

1. Constructing the form-work for the new pier.


2. Form-work in position on top of old pier.


3. New pier extension topside.


4. While I was at it, I skinned the door with thick steel sheet.