· Get a Cloudy Nights T-Shirt · Submit a Review / Article Click here if you are having trouble logging into the forums Privacy Policy | Please read our Terms of Service | Signup and Troubleshooting FAQ | Problems? PM a Red or a Green Gu… uh, User You are not logged in. [Login] Entrance · Main Index · Search · New user · Who's Online FAQ · Calendar Equipment Discussions >> Observatories Previous   Index   Next   Threaded   Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | (show all) Lord Beowulf Pooh-Bah Reged: 10/13/08 Loc: Cedar Park, TX Re: Orion Ranch Observatory [Re: Lord Beowulf]       #3485973 - 12/06/09 12:49 AM Attachment (156 downloads) Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   And of course the pier plate all protected and ready to go. Post Extras:       Lord Beowulf Pooh-Bah Reged: 10/13/08 Loc: Cedar Park, TX Re: Orion Ranch Observatory [Re: Lord Beowulf]       #3485975 - 12/06/09 12:50 AM Attachment (118 downloads) Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Rebar cage and pins all in place. Post Extras:       Lord Beowulf Pooh-Bah Reged: 10/13/08 Loc: Cedar Park, TX Re: Orion Ranch Observatory [Re: Lord Beowulf]       #3485977 - 12/06/09 12:53 AM Attachment (133 downloads) Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Did the pour a bit different this time. Poured most of the footer and THEN added the rebar cage for the pier and finally the tube form. Went much smoother without having to work around the pier form. Post Extras:       Lord Beowulf Pooh-Bah Reged: 10/13/08 Loc: Cedar Park, TX Re: Orion Ranch Observatory [Re: Lord Beowulf]       #3485981 - 12/06/09 12:58 AM Attachment (151 downloads) Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Finishing up as the sun sets. What a sunset! Beo Post Extras:       andyschlei professor emeritus Reged: 03/05/06 Loc: Los Angeles, CA Re: Orion Ranch Observatory [Re: Lord Beowulf]       #3487694 - 12/06/09 11:59 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Wow, great progress. Keep those pictures coming! Post Extras:       Lord Beowulf Pooh-Bah Reged: 10/13/08 Loc: Cedar Park, TX Re: Orion Ranch Observatory [Re: andyschlei]       #3500107 - 12/13/09 10:11 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   No new pictures tonight (forgot the camera) but we had a nice clear day with a temporarily mostly clear evening, so we set up for first light on the second pier. I set up some old wood pallets and a couple of pieces of plywood to have a walking area the height of the eventual floor. Worked pretty well. Beo Post Extras:       rodney Vendor - Explora Dome Reged: 03/08/05 Loc: Asbury, NJ Re: Orion Ranch Observatory [Re: Lord Beowulf]       #3503817 - 12/15/09 10:15 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Following your thread. Looking forward to more images. Both of the build and your astro shots. Clear skies, Post Extras:       Lord Beowulf Pooh-Bah Reged: 10/13/08 Loc: Cedar Park, TX Re: Orion Ranch Observatory [Re: rodney]       #3512143 - 12/20/09 12:41 PM Attachment (167 downloads) Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   So after another day of working on non-astro related projects on the land, I decided to brave the cold and wait to see if it cleared up as was predicted. It did finally clear up so I was able to get first light on both piers simultaneously. I'm still looking forward to getting a slab poured, but it's nice to have something to use. Now if I could just get my CGEM to track properly! For some reason ever since putting it on the pier I haven't been able to take steady long exposures. I don't know if it's my power supply, the mount not liking the cold, or what. Surely it couldn't be the pier or pier plate... I guess the other possibility with what I'm seeing is the field flattener I just added, but I can't imagine that's the case. Beo Post Extras:       Lord Beowulf Pooh-Bah Reged: 10/13/08 Loc: Cedar Park, TX Re: Orion Ranch Observatory [Re: Lord Beowulf]       #3515039 - 12/21/09 10:26 PM Attachment (143 downloads) Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Patiently awaiting nightfall... Post Extras:       Lord Beowulf Pooh-Bah Reged: 10/13/08 Loc: Cedar Park, TX Re: Orion Ranch Observatory [Re: Lord Beowulf]       #3515073 - 12/21/09 10:42 PM Attachment (155 downloads) Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   And one dream realized. Now to get it mounted! I ended up going with quarters to make them smaller and easier to machine. And the price was unbeatable thanks to some good friends in the machine shop. Beo Post Extras:       BajaPaco sage Reged: 10/30/09 Loc: Baja California, Mexico Re: Orion Ranch Observatory [Re: Lord Beowulf]       #3515847 - 12/22/09 12:06 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Beo, thanks for sharing all of the details. It's fun to follow your journey and maybe even learn something in the process. Post Extras:       TeleTex member Reged: 01/27/08 Loc: Texas Re: Orion Ranch Observatory [Re: BajaPaco]       #3521320 - 12/25/09 03:49 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Did Orion Ranch get snowed on. We got hammered up here in the Texas panhandle. Post Extras:       Lord Beowulf Pooh-Bah Reged: 10/13/08 Loc: Cedar Park, TX Re: Orion Ranch Observatory [Re: TeleTex]       #3521375 - 12/25/09 04:40 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   We had a few flurries and bits of sleet, but mostly we just got blown away! While I was curious how viewing would be using the pier in 20 MPH winds, I wasn't curious enough to find out in below freezing temperatures! Beo Post Extras:       Lord Beowulf Pooh-Bah Reged: 10/13/08 Loc: Cedar Park, TX Re: Orion Ranch Observatory [Re: Lord Beowulf]       #3523449 - 12/27/09 02:34 AM Attachment (129 downloads) Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   After a number of headaches, including some rather cold and windy weather, I finally managed to get one eyepiece holder assembled and mounted. Beo Post Extras:       Lord Beowulf Pooh-Bah Reged: 10/13/08 Loc: Cedar Park, TX Re: Orion Ranch Observatory [Re: Lord Beowulf]       #3523451 - 12/27/09 02:35 AM Attachment (129 downloads) Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   And here it is in "operation". Works like a charm! Beo Post Extras:       Chris Schroeder Postmaster Reged: 12/11/04 Loc: N.E. WI Sky Glow Re: Orion Ranch Observatory [Re: Lord Beowulf]       #3523812 - 12/27/09 11:03 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Looks great Beo Post Extras:       JumboFlex sage Reged: 01/20/09 Re: Orion Ranch Observatory [Re: Chris Schroeder]       #3526666 - 12/28/09 09:18 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Im jealous, your planned observatory is almost bigger than my backyard!!! You are doing a fine job, sir. You obviously put a lot of thought into this as well as work. Post Extras:       Lord Beowulf Pooh-Bah Reged: 10/13/08 Loc: Cedar Park, TX Re: Orion Ranch Observatory [Re: JumboFlex]       #3528430 - 12/29/09 08:17 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Thanks Chris, Jumbo, and everyone else for your comments. I'm looking forward to taking the next step and getting a slab poured, but I really need to decide what I'm going to do regarding a warm room, etc. before I go there. And in the meantime I have a few other projects to do in order to keep up the ag exemption on the property, so I might not have much new to show for a while (unless someone wants to see pictures of a goat shed, etc.! ) Beo Post Extras:       Lord Beowulf Pooh-Bah Reged: 10/13/08 Loc: Cedar Park, TX Re: Orion Ranch Observatory [Re: Lord Beowulf]       #3611812 - 02/07/10 11:43 PM Attachment (137 downloads) Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Well, I had a rather productive weekend. Friday was the first clear night coinciding with a weekend for some time, and I made the best of it. I finally resolved my tracking/guiding problem by swapping my ST-80 for the C8. Apparently I was suffering from mirror flop that was causing my long exposures to drift. Switching to the ST-80 opened up 10 minute exposures with no problem! So, in celebration, here's a picture of the observatory's namesake (or at least the nebula in said constellation). Beo Post Extras:       Lord Beowulf Pooh-Bah Reged: 10/13/08 Loc: Cedar Park, TX Re: Orion Ranch Observatory [Re: Lord Beowulf]       #3611814 - 02/07/10 11:44 PM Attachment (150 downloads) Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   And the setup used to capture it! Beo Post Extras:       Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | (show all) Previous   Index   Next   Threaded   Extra information 7 registered and 7 anonymous users are browsing this forum. 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