strgzrSulli
sage
Reged: 03/04/06
Posts: 207
Loc: Jackson, MI 49203
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Jeff,
I've been following your saga for quite some time. I thought the third Earl of Rosse built a grand observatory, now I'll need another trip to Ireland for the new Leviathan. I am glad to see you can finally enjoy astronomy. Oh and I prefer warm scones with my coffee.
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Ó Suileabháin
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Nexstar 9.25 GPS XLT
Celestar 8 w/optical encoders
C5+ w/optical encoders
ST80 on EQ1
Celestron Reducer/Corrector-f6.3
Lumicon Sky Vector II DSC
Starbeam
Stellarvue MRF
no Televue eyepieces
no 2" eyepieces
no binoviews
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NeoDinian
Experienced Postmaster
Reged: 10/05/05
Posts: 14043
Loc: Rockford Illinois
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Great job Jeff!
Thanks for the pic of the power center... You're giveing me my ideas...
Oh, and thanks for the reminder for a "Semi" kitchen... At least an electric teapot! (Yeah, Another Tea drinker here!)
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Neo... (Jeff)
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10" LX200-GPS/SMT UHTC "Draco"
 Rockford, Il.
NeoDinian's Eye on the Sky!
Coming soon:
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Jeff Young
Post Laureate
Reged: 08/04/05
Posts: 4491
Loc: Ireland
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Rodney --
I believe they're actually restoring the Leviathan's optics as we speak (they did the mechanical structure a few years ago). Rumor is they'll have it up and running at the Whirlpool Star Party this year.
Did you see the earlier posts on this thread about the Armagh Observatory? (Our house was also built by Primate Robinson to designs by Francis Johnston.) Makes be sound like a real astro-buff, but it's really only serendipity: I wasn't into astronomy when we bought the place. 
-- Jeff.
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Nikon 18x70s / UA Millennium Colorado:
Solarscope SF70 / TV Pronto / AP400QMD Coronado SolarMax40 DS / Bogen 055+3130
APM MC1610 / Tak FC-125 / AP1200GTO Tak Mewlon 250 / AP600EGTO
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Jeff Young
Post Laureate
Reged: 08/04/05
Posts: 4491
Loc: Ireland
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Quote:
... Have you been finishing your kitchen in the meantime?
Dave --
No, the kitchen suffers the common malady of getting 95% finished years ago (with the final 5% languishing on forever).
Most of the past few months have been spent turing the field the observatory stands in into part of our garden. I stepped in one too many cow pie in the dark....
-- Jeff.
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Nikon 18x70s / UA Millennium Colorado:
Solarscope SF70 / TV Pronto / AP400QMD Coronado SolarMax40 DS / Bogen 055+3130
APM MC1610 / Tak FC-125 / AP1200GTO Tak Mewlon 250 / AP600EGTO
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Jeff Young
Post Laureate
Reged: 08/04/05
Posts: 4491
Loc: Ireland
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So I've had one issue with the tea kettle. The standard kettle over here is about 3000 watts. While that boils water quite quickly, it also results in a significant voltage drop on a 2.5mm² 150m-long cable (for those state-side, that's about equivalent to 12-guage). The kettle is just a resistive load, so it doesn't really care about the voltage, but I'm worried about the compressor in the dehumidifier.
For now, I just turn the dehumidifier off when I make tea. But I think I need to find a lower wattage kettle. (It's only a matter of time before I forget to turn the dehumidifier back on.)
For those still in the planning stage: 12V isn't the only thing you'll use in the observatory. Put in a bigger wire....
-- Jeff.
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Nikon 18x70s / UA Millennium Colorado:
Solarscope SF70 / TV Pronto / AP400QMD Coronado SolarMax40 DS / Bogen 055+3130
APM MC1610 / Tak FC-125 / AP1200GTO Tak Mewlon 250 / AP600EGTO
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IanMWatson
professor emeritus
Reged: 11/07/05
Posts: 729
Loc: Elgin, Bonnie Scotland
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Jeff,
That's it, I'm coming down to see it, you I mean. Mines a tea; white, one.
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Ian Watson
Berlebach UNI-18/CG5 Driven GPINT-DD1
Zenithstar 80 FD
C6-S XLT
Orion Optics 8" F6
TV Barlow 2x
Ethos 13
350D & EF 70-200mm F4
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upsguy
Uff da
Reged: 10/01/05
Posts: 3149
Loc: Schaumburg, il.
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jeff, well done, i think you have made any backyard astronomer very green with envy. i would love to have something like that, but i'll just keep dreamin'. how has the whole observatory been working out for you? any new problems?
just curious... if you don't mind me asking, what do you do for work? also, how did you find that beautiful home with that awesome countryside.
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Jim
Scopes, Bins, Cameras and Guns
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Jeff Young
Post Laureate
Reged: 08/04/05
Posts: 4491
Loc: Ireland
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Jim --
The observatory has been working quite well. I was actually out there today working on a new upgrade: carpet! I'll have some pictures once I get it done.
I've still got a few minor things that need sorting: the cable ties holding the wires to the pier look a bit scrappy, and the indicator lights on the two 12V power supplies are still too bright. I also still plan to try and find a lower wattage tea kettle so I don't have to turn off the dehumidifier to use it. But that stuff's all pretty minor....
The AP1200GTO continues to impress, as does the 16" SCT. I've actually been surprised how little I use the Tak -- many open clusters fit in the SCT's field of view, and I've found that most double stars show better color in the SCT. (Obviously faint DSO's aren't any contest at all, nor are the planets, where the resolution of 16" clobbers the Tak.)
I'm a software guy. Did a semi-successful startup back in the 80's, but spent most of my career building publishing applications (FullWrite Professional, FrameMaker, GoLive and Acrobat). The house is another hobby: I've always been into history and restoration. Started out with 60's sports cars, moved on to vintage racing cars, and then married an Irishwoman. This was back when the Irish economy was still in the pits, and the only jobs to be had were in Dublin. So all the big houses out in the countryside were just being let fall down. We bought the house you see in the pictures for less than we paid for a 3-bedroom, 1800 sq. ft. house in suburbia in San Jose, CA. I've spent the last 11 years restoring it, and I'd say I've still got 30% to go. It's close enough, though, that we figured it'd be a shame not to live in it, so we'll be selling up in San Jose this summer. (I certainly won't miss the NELM 3 skies there.)
-- Jeff.
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Nikon 18x70s / UA Millennium Colorado:
Solarscope SF70 / TV Pronto / AP400QMD Coronado SolarMax40 DS / Bogen 055+3130
APM MC1610 / Tak FC-125 / AP1200GTO Tak Mewlon 250 / AP600EGTO
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imjeffp
Aluminum Falcon
Reged: 09/30/03
Posts: 6103
Loc: Cedar Park, Texas
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OT: Can you get FrameMaker back from Adobe and do an OS X version? Pretty please?
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Jeff Young
Post Laureate
Reged: 08/04/05
Posts: 4491
Loc: Ireland
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Quote:
OT: Can you get FrameMaker back from Adobe and do an OS X version? Pretty please?
Jeff --
Believe me, the thought had crossed my mind. I finally moved to the dark side (Windows) because I got tired of running FrameMaker in compatibility mode.
But to be honest, the older I get, the less interested in work I become. 
-- Jeff.
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Nikon 18x70s / UA Millennium Colorado:
Solarscope SF70 / TV Pronto / AP400QMD Coronado SolarMax40 DS / Bogen 055+3130
APM MC1610 / Tak FC-125 / AP1200GTO Tak Mewlon 250 / AP600EGTO
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olasu
member
Reged: 03/17/06
Posts: 15
Loc: Salto - URUGUAY
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Congratulations for having (a) finished your wonderful observatory, and (b) untiredlessly shared with all us all the involved details.
I personally have enjoyed very much reading all this long but very interesting saga, and also took notice of a couple of ideas that are going to be very useful to the currently construction of my own 3.6 m dome observatory (which I hope to finish in about five more weeks, placed at Salto, Uruguay).
Eduardo Manuel Alvarez
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Jeff Young
Post Laureate
Reged: 08/04/05
Posts: 4491
Loc: Ireland
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Thanks, Eduardo.
I too followed the same path after having read an even longer thread ("7 1/2-ton pier" or something like that). I sometimes felt a bit presumptious talking about what I was doing, but it was all the detail level stuff from the "7 1/2 ton" thread that really helped me firm up my thinking, so I carried on in the hopes that someone after me would find it useful.
Good luck in your endeavors.
-- Jeff.
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Nikon 18x70s / UA Millennium Colorado:
Solarscope SF70 / TV Pronto / AP400QMD Coronado SolarMax40 DS / Bogen 055+3130
APM MC1610 / Tak FC-125 / AP1200GTO Tak Mewlon 250 / AP600EGTO
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MichaelW
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 06/03/06
Posts: 1538
Loc: Cartoon City, Nirvana
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Quote:
but it was all the detail level stuff from the "7 1/2 ton" thread that really helped me firm up my thinking, so I carried on in the hopes that someone after me would find it useful.
I too appreciate the sharing of the details, that is where the devil is right. I also read the 7-1/2ton pier story and it was full of the little stuff and at least one big stuff. I hope that when my planning phase which is in this forum, settles and I embark on the building oddessy that I too can provide insights and details that will help the next one that comes along. This is one of the significant changes in backyard astronomy over the late 70's that is HUGE in comparison. The amount of information is massive and because it is interactive unlike a magazine or book as in the 70's you learn a lot more and can ask the question that was unavailable to be answered in 1976.
An yes, your observatory is quite the marvel and your level of work you did was impressive. I'm not sure I have that kind of patience. Very nice indeed.
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Michael W
Washoe Zephyr: 
Arizona Sky Village: 
I miss my AP1200. 
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Jeff Young
Post Laureate
Reged: 08/04/05
Posts: 4491
Loc: Ireland
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Well, Carol's "show the inside of your observatory" thread prompted me to take some up-to-date pictures. Since this thread documents the first 90% of the build, it seemed appropriate to place them here as well.
First up: a handrail for the stairs. (You can also see the trap door in the picture, which went in after the painting and so never got painted.)
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Nikon 18x70s / UA Millennium Colorado:
Solarscope SF70 / TV Pronto / AP400QMD Coronado SolarMax40 DS / Bogen 055+3130
APM MC1610 / Tak FC-125 / AP1200GTO Tak Mewlon 250 / AP600EGTO
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Jeff Young
Post Laureate
Reged: 08/04/05
Posts: 4491
Loc: Ireland
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Next, a bit of carpet on the floor. (You can also see the outline of the closed trap door.)
I used "carpet tiles", which come in 500mm x 500mm squares with a rubber backing. While not specifically indoor/outdoor, they're 100% synthetic and so should stand up to some water exposure.
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Nikon 18x70s / UA Millennium Colorado:
Solarscope SF70 / TV Pronto / AP400QMD Coronado SolarMax40 DS / Bogen 055+3130
APM MC1610 / Tak FC-125 / AP1200GTO Tak Mewlon 250 / AP600EGTO
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Jeff Young
Post Laureate
Reged: 08/04/05
Posts: 4491
Loc: Ireland
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I think I posted earlier on the power supplies. Here's a picture of the cables going up the pier, and the cigarette lighter sockets for distribution.
(Note: I tried a dark-red fingernail polish on the LEDs to dim them. Didn't work. Worked great on the one green LED I had though, so I'm going to see if I can find a dark blue or purple fingernail polish next.)
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Nikon 18x70s / UA Millennium Colorado:
Solarscope SF70 / TV Pronto / AP400QMD Coronado SolarMax40 DS / Bogen 055+3130
APM MC1610 / Tak FC-125 / AP1200GTO Tak Mewlon 250 / AP600EGTO
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Jeff Young
Post Laureate
Reged: 08/04/05
Posts: 4491
Loc: Ireland
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One last one: a pneumatic height-adjustable wheely chair. For those of you with observatories with flat floors, you should really try out a wheeled chair. You wouldn't believe what a difference it makes.
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Nikon 18x70s / UA Millennium Colorado:
Solarscope SF70 / TV Pronto / AP400QMD Coronado SolarMax40 DS / Bogen 055+3130
APM MC1610 / Tak FC-125 / AP1200GTO Tak Mewlon 250 / AP600EGTO
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Jeff Young
Post Laureate
Reged: 08/04/05
Posts: 4491
Loc: Ireland
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I've been working on a pair of eyepiece trays for the pier for some months now. (I'm embarrassed to say probably closer to a year.) But I finally got them mounted.
Trays were made from some sort of plastic (HDPE?) cutting boards. Aluminum brackets are used to attach them to the pier.
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Nikon 18x70s / UA Millennium Colorado:
Solarscope SF70 / TV Pronto / AP400QMD Coronado SolarMax40 DS / Bogen 055+3130
APM MC1610 / Tak FC-125 / AP1200GTO Tak Mewlon 250 / AP600EGTO
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Jeff Young
Post Laureate
Reged: 08/04/05
Posts: 4491
Loc: Ireland
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Here's a close-up of one of the support ribs. It was milled from aluminum plate on a rotary table, and then drilled and counterbored for the cap screws into the pier, and drilled and tapped for the button-head screws from the trays.
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Nikon 18x70s / UA Millennium Colorado:
Solarscope SF70 / TV Pronto / AP400QMD Coronado SolarMax40 DS / Bogen 055+3130
APM MC1610 / Tak FC-125 / AP1200GTO Tak Mewlon 250 / AP600EGTO
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Jeff Young
Post Laureate
Reged: 08/04/05
Posts: 4491
Loc: Ireland
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And finally, here we are all loaded for bear.
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Nikon 18x70s / UA Millennium Colorado:
Solarscope SF70 / TV Pronto / AP400QMD Coronado SolarMax40 DS / Bogen 055+3130
APM MC1610 / Tak FC-125 / AP1200GTO Tak Mewlon 250 / AP600EGTO
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