Popular Post angusw2 Posted August 17, 2017 Popular Post Share Posted August 17, 2017 Well I have finally got a home observatory! After living in light polluted Arnold for 15 years with a back garden surrounded by tall trees I moved with my new wife to the border of Derbyshire with a back garden looking west over fields. Obviously there were certain priorities on the house front before a dome could make its appearance like decorating, curtains, carpets, rugs, furniture etc. but eventually she was happy for the astronomy facilities to evolve beyond a dob and eq mounted refractor stuffed in the back of the garage. June saw the laying of the concrete base and early July saw Pulsar deliver and install a shiny new 2.2m full height obs. The first job was a wood false floor covered in rubber matting to protect anything that may be dropped from the concrete base and give a space to run power and data cables underneath and up the pier. Halfway through this carpentry chore I saw that the rain we were having (sorry, that must be my fault with a new dome!!) had seeped under the silicone that sealed (or so I thought) the obs to the concrete base. So it all had to come up, be dried off and a new better water seal applied. The base was covered with 2 coats of concrete/pave seal and the interior has been sealed with Sikaflex EBT. The exterior leaky silicone hasn't been replaced yet, I'm waiting for some drier warm weather but after last nights heavy rain the interior seal has ensured the obs in dry as a bone so the floor is going back in. After re-reading the Pulsar base laying instructions I can't see any mention of sealing the surface of the concrete before they come and install the dome, but in the instructions for doing the installation yourself they do mention that sealing is a good idea. Obviously after my experience I say definately SEAL THE BASE FIRST!! So far I have a pier bolted to the concrete and nothing else. I have a AZ EQ6 ready to go in and an getting a second hand Celestron C11 OTA hopefully in the next week or so when the seller comes back off holiday. I have had a test connection through EQMOD of my mount and laptop and can't wait for the lift off of dome observing at home. Lets hope we all have some good clear skies this winter! Bottletopburly, tuckstar, philjay and 7 others 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tweedledee Posted August 17, 2017 Share Posted August 17, 2017 That is going to be a great setup. Keep us posted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red dwalf Posted August 17, 2017 Share Posted August 17, 2017 enjoy, makes the hobby so much more enjoyable when your set up ready and out of the worst of the cold weather. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orion Posted August 19, 2017 Share Posted August 19, 2017 On 8/17/2017 at 13:43, angusw2 said: Well I have finally got a home observatory! After living in light polluted Arnold for 15 years with a back garden surrounded by tall trees I moved with my new wife to the border of Derbyshire with a back garden looking west over fields. Obviously there were certain priorities on the house front before a dome could make its appearance like decorating, curtains, carpets, rugs, furniture etc. but eventually she was happy for the astronomy facilities to evolve beyond a dob and eq mounted refractor stuffed in the back of the garage. June saw the laying of the concrete base and early July saw Pulsar deliver and install a shiny new 2.2m full height obs. The first job was a wood false floor covered in rubber matting to protect anything that may be dropped from the concrete base and give a space to run power and data cables underneath and up the pier. Halfway through this carpentry chore I saw that the rain we were having (sorry, that must be my fault with a new dome!!) had seeped under the silicone that sealed (or so I thought) the obs to the concrete base. So it all had to come up, be dried off and a new better water seal applied. The base was covered with 2 coats of concrete/pave seal and the interior has been sealed with Sikaflex EBT. The exterior leaky silicone hasn't been replaced yet, I'm waiting for some drier warm weather but after last nights heavy rain the interior seal has ensured the obs in dry as a bone so the floor is going back in. After re-reading the Pulsar base laying instructions I can't see any mention of sealing the surface of the concrete before they come and install the dome, but in the instructions for doing the installation yourself they do mention that sealing is a good idea. Obviously after my experience I say definately SEAL THE BASE FIRST!! So far I have a pier bolted to the concrete and nothing else. I have a AZ EQ6 ready to go in and an getting a second hand Celestron C11 OTA hopefully in the next week or so when the seller comes back off holiday. I have had a test connection through EQMOD of my mount and laptop and can't wait for the lift off of dome observing at home. Lets hope we all have some good clear skies this winter! Looks excellent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angusw2 Posted August 23, 2017 Author Share Posted August 23, 2017 Well I'm glad to report that the Sikaflex sealant seems to have done its job and the interior floor of my new Obs has been dry since being sealed. I'm getting the dried floor back in now and the next job will be to get some mains electricity through the underground ducting. One step closer to first light. BAZ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angusw2 Posted August 28, 2017 Author Share Posted August 28, 2017 Well I have finally got all the floor sections cut and down in the dome although the last two aren't fixed properly yet as there are cables to go under them. The last one I'm going to make removable. I've also got the outside dried and sealed after the last few days of warm, rain free and even sunny days on this bank holiday (how weird is that!?). Next job are to get the electrical power cables in and sockets installed and connected up to the power (by my qualified friend, Sparky) and cover the floor with rubber matting. A final clean and it should be ready for mount, OTA and all things shiny. Also a pic of the efforts of my good lady to make the patio and dome look more 'pretty'. Tweedledee, Smithysteve, red dwalf and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BAZ Posted August 28, 2017 Share Posted August 28, 2017 That look the business Angus. What's your LP like? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tweedledee Posted August 28, 2017 Share Posted August 28, 2017 That's looking great Angus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angusw2 Posted August 28, 2017 Author Share Posted August 28, 2017 1 hour ago, BAZ said: That look the business Angus. What's your LP like? Not too bad, fields to the rear of the garden looking west. A lot better than where I used to be in Arnold! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smithysteve Posted August 29, 2017 Share Posted August 29, 2017 Looking pretty as a picture Angus, glad you have sorted the water ingress problem! Looks like it will be ready for action soon, you will not regret installing the dome... so convenient and a boon to observing sessions! ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sloz1664 Posted September 1, 2017 Share Posted September 1, 2017 Fabulous purchase. I wouldn't be without mine for any price. Is your Pulsar motorised at all. I say this as I've just motorised my dome and it's made a hell of a difference. Look forward to your first light.SteveSent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angusw2 Posted September 1, 2017 Author Share Posted September 1, 2017 Steve,Yes I have the motorised dome setup, opted for the manual string for the aperture opening though. I'd like to do AP and set up imaging runs whilst I'm sat inside watching telly so the tracking dome is a must. Hopefully I can get the dome and scope to both sync through the laptop so it will good when using the old Mk1 eyeball. too :-)Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daz Type-R Posted September 5, 2017 Share Posted September 5, 2017 Oooooo that looks fantastic. Bet your well happy with that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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