Update
September 13, 2004
The Dome Substructure and Siding
Above: The foundation
cleaned up and ready for the dome support structure.
Below: Finally! The structure on dollies, ready to move
Above: The assistance
lent by my neighbor, John Perry (the clean guy at right) on this
project has been invaluable. On this occasion he not only helped
me move the support structure into place, but he figured the critical
locations for the two electrical conduit holes to be drilled on opposite
sides of the sill plate (visible at John’s right hand and near
my left shin) so that the structure could be lowered onto the foundation
with the conduits protruding. He got them dead right, of course,
taking about five minutes to measure and show me where to drill.
I would have needed all day to figure it out, and at the end of the
day it would have been dead wrong. Below: the support structure in
place.
Above: my most valuable
helper, my wife Leona. I fastened the sill plate to the stringers
with seven lag screws as soon as John and I finished positioning
the support structure. Leona and I had pre-cut the seven pieces of
plywood sheathing, with joined edges beveled to 22-1/2° for a
nice fit, and I attached them after the lag screws were in. Leona
and I covered the sheathing with Tyvek.
I had softened the corners with a power sander to prevent the Tyvek
from being damaged by the sharp edges. The photos immediately above
and below show how close to my garage the observatory is situated.
The garage is on the west side of the observatory, and will aid in
telescope tube (optical tube assembly, or OTA) cooling by shading
the observatory in the afternoons. The location affords me views
to the north, east, and south.
And then we again got ready for rain, and not a moment too soon.
Update 14 September: The 5/4 white oak that I need
to build an apron that
will be attached to the top of the substructure,
and upon which the dome ring
will rest, and which will divert water that runs
off the dome away from the
observatory structure, is unavailable locally
at the moment, so I have ordered it.
That will delay the placement of the dome by about one
week.
