My Pulsar 2.2m Dome MkIII

[Mick_H]

Posted by: @Jkulin

my wife is happy with it as it save so much time and fannying around,

Mine could not live in there, there would be ructions. ? 

[Jkulin]

@AstroOlly Yep I had a word with Nick and the whole ethos of this site was that it was non controversial, glad we could move on. ? 

[DaveS]

@Jkulin Which branch of Halfords did you get the matting from? I had a look on their site but couldn't see anything answering the description.

Having trashed the glass on my Samsung 'phone by dropping it on the concrete floor of my new obsy I want to avoid any more mishaps.

[Jkulin]

@DaveS My local Halfords have them in stock, but you can order on line: - https://www.halfords.com/tools/garage-equipment/garage-essentials/halfords-6pc-black-floor-mat-set---120cm-x-180cm-336870.html

HTH

[DaveS]

Thanks @Jkulin found it now.

[Jkulin]

Hi All,

 

Long time since I have posted or done any imaging, my new home has taken up virtually every second of the day, I hope you are all well?

 

Anyway, I started cleaning up my Pulsar 2.2m observatory as it has been getting covered in rubbish etc. whilst I worked on the home, most panels are now clean and just need to have a coat of Polytrol applied before assembly.

One of the panels was damaged in the move as can be seen in the pics, I have some fibreglass resin which I will use in conjunction with some Aluminium mesh and flat fibreglass which should restore the strength and make it even stronger, its only one panel that was damaged when moving it from my old home. Steve from Pulsar gave me some coloured resin that I can use after the repair if need be.

The pier has now been bolted in and secured with resin, I have all the flooring from my old home and will fit perfectly with minor mods.

When the foundations were laid, we dug down the pipework for the electrics and Cat6 cables, a Spur is already to connect up in the garage. I didn't make the same mistake as last time and use 50mm pipework as it caused problems if I needed to pull through another feed, so this time I have gone with 68mm that should give me loads of room, I just need to dig up my USB cables as they were the Gold plated ones.

The two panels that you can't see are in the shed as they contained all the electrics and therefore will be the last to be cleaned priory to assembly.

My mate Mark helped me upgrade my pier from USB 2.00 to USB 3.0, there were some new PCB's and disty board that we obtained from iOptron via Ian at Altair, not cheap at around £330 but should allow higher transfer rates for when I can afford a new CMOS camera and FW.

So if the weather is good next week then the plan is to start the Polytrol and repair and then assemble, after that it will be getting everything calibrated, balanced and tested again, if I can find everything, still can't find the keys to the door though😲

BTW when I put it all together last time I sealed the walls to the wall with https://www.screwfix.com/p/no-nonsense-x8-hybrid-sealant-adhesive-black-290ml/912fr

 

I can attest that this sealant is every bit as good as advertised, once cured it remains flexible and easy to remove with just a scrapper and leaves no residue, I have black and gray tubes ready for the assembly again.

I'll keep you updated as things progress.

All the best.

[TerryMcK]

Nice to see you posting again John. This should be a great build to watch.

It looks like you have quite a bit of space. Have you got good views all around?

[Jkulin]

37 minutes ago, TerryMcK said:

Nice to see you posting again John. This should be a great build to watch.

It looks like you have quite a bit of space. Have you got good views all around?

Thanks Terry, I have an Oak tree at ESE, but when sighting the pier, this was the only place that gave me good clearance over the rest of the property, the bungalow has quite a steep roof with 3 x 3m chimneys, sighting the Obsy blocks some of my view, but was the best option.

Pics attached of a Pano and of the Oak.

[TerryMcK]

Chances are that you can wait until any targets pass the oak tree and just carry on afterwards

[Jkulin]

47 minutes ago, TerryMcK said:

Chances are that you can wait until any targets pass the oak tree and just carry on afterwards

Yep, I don't see it as much of a problem, skies are low Bortle 4 SQM about 21.0, some light pollution over Stafford but was still able to grab the MW over that direction with my DSLR, so far better than what I had previously.