As many already know I have my own DIY dome in my home observatory. I dont plan in moving anything in this setup, I love my Dome and the convenience of my Observatory in my own house cant be beat.

Observatorio Las Palmas II is now on construction. Ill do it slow since I am in no hurry, I ll try not do do the same mistakes I did on my Observatorio Las Palmas I (Palmas I).

I am doing a super firm 14" pier with no more than 40" height off the ground. The rest Ill complement with a 8" natural gas pipeline grade steel tube. Ill make it like if there is no tomorrow.

Also as I have said before , my approach to Palmas II will be a light steel structure. Easy enough to be "semi- mobil".(It can be easily change from my house to a rural area in 2-3 days)

At home I lack Dark skies, but we have many rural areas available, but security is an issue, so the structure will stay and the equipment travels.

So far, I have the main steel frame of the observatory , part of the roof transition, and the Pier's rebar ready.




I built this transition like a tank, but I have some thought on the overall design that I think it could be improved:

2" boards are overkill in my opinion. 1" should be more than enough, also with 2" the weight is simply too much for my taste.

In Mexico lumber is way too expensive...I spent $240 USD in this part...that is tooo much! I wished I stayed with my steel roof approach :x

It is simply more work than I thought...I put about 18 hrs in just this piece, maybe we have in the forum wood gurus like woodwizard, but not yours truly... It is incredible the amount of screws this thing eats....about 4.5 pounds :shock:



This baby means business....why did I did it so dense in rebar? Well, cause they were all left overs and I had cheap labor...a perk in Mexico

Tuesday Ill post pictures of the steel structure...Ill cover it with exterior 5/8 Fire Rated gypsum board http://www.panelrey.com/index3.php?IDM=I&REG=1&

Ill keep you posted..... 8)

Gustavo:
Way cool! Very nice start!
I agree that the transition looks like overkill, and Alan Rahill thinks it'll serve as a thermal mass, a heat sink which will radiate heat after sundown. Hard to tell, but yours does look like it's sturdy enough to handle whatever load you encounter.

If you are planning on mobility, how will you deal with the pier? Have an open door in the wall to let it go through? My plans call for mobility as well, though it won't have to go very far, just a couple hundred meters at most. I'll have skids (like sled runners) under my floor to help with a move, and will have everything rest on "Deck Blocks" instead of a concrete slab.

At least for now, that is...
Rich

By mobility I mean Ill just have 2 sites....one near my house 100 mts away, and another in a Dark Sky region about 100kms from here.

In both places I will have a permanent pier. I will "drop" from above with a small crane the observatory. Thats why mobility is not very practical, but I have an option.

For starters I will have it 100mts away and everything semi-remote controled by wi-fi as I now have on Palmas I.

I plan to do only DSO imaging on Palmas II and leave the planetary work on Palmas I. This is a very long term project because I cant afford to equip both observatories at the same time.

I have some surplus scopes that I can use meanwhile I get (in years) a serious mount and some other stuff.

Very nice Gustavo! Looking good!

Mark,

I been following how you have done it so far. I must say It has a great help seeing pictures of you and your Dad have done it.

I will try to make as well a pictorial of my progress so It gives the rest of the guys here an idea. I am not very familiar with wood working so every picture help a ton.
Here it goes:

I used Mark Cislo approach of fixing the router to the same plywood. It barely gives you space to work, but it is an awesome idea. I suggest people use it, it’s a time saver.



Also I cant stress how important is to mark all your cuts and MEASURE then to be sure everything is fine. I almost did the ½ “ mistake in the 45.5” cut….That is a weird setting and I was fixing the router to just 45”….be careful on that one…its tricky.



Also at your first cut be sure that you don’t have play of excessive flexure on your router setup….I had a little play and that cause a slight uneven cut in one part.



After all the cuts are made there is an EXCESIVE amount of waste. I will probably use the round parts for making 2 working tables or party tables. Richard has a great idea for using then in a circular type of observatory as flooring….They could certainly work for that with the slight problem that they are 84” in Diameter…that would be exactly the size of the dome clearance, I would imagine that you need at least 4” more to set 2X4.



Once everything is cut, beware that there is a slight overlapping on the rings. About ½ -1 needs to be cut to make a perfect circle. (Mark already addressed this, but I have a picture)



I fixed the spacers first to the bottom ring and then the bottom ring to the rectangular frame, I also used 17 spacers instead of 18.:



Finally after also cutting some wood on the top ring to make the perfect circle I installed it on top of the bottom rings:



Maybe later this same evening Ill go to Home depot to buy some thin plywood to cover between the 2 rings. I just took a shower and I feel a bit like opening a cold one laying in the couch and just chill out….I did the whole thing in 3 days…I need a break 8)

Looks great Gustavo! Nice job! :smt023 Also; very good documentation with the pics!!

Looks really good !!! You are making progress, nice job. I do like the way the arm for the router works. All in all you are doing a nice job, who would believe that just a short time ago you were worried about cutting these, looks like a pro job to me.

Carol

Way to go Gustavo! Looking great! :smt023

Thank you guys!!!

I just couldnt stop this week end..shortly after opening an ice cold Corona....I began to get that Home depot itch....

Well, I went "shopping" and I just cover the space between the archs.



Now I am done for the weekend....

Ok, where are those Coronas?

Gustavo; that looks like luan. Is that correct? What did you use to fasten it; nails or screws? Did you glue it to?

Thanks

It is 3mm Luan nailed to the plywood. I was going to use screws but they show to much, no glue, I dont think it need it

Working in the flooring industry, I use Luan quite often...

I would recomend gluing it... (Along with the nails, although screws are prefered).

Do I have to unnail it now? How can I put the glue with out denailing?

Gustavo:
You can probably apply the glue from the outside, where it's still open.
Looking extremely good, guy, like a pro. You must do this stuff for a living!

I knew that the size of the "flooring" circle would be a little too small, and would fit inside the circle of studs. Add to that the diameter of the router bit, which makes for a very wide kerf (much wider than a jig saw) and it probably won't work. I DO like the use of a router, though, and I'll almost certainly use mine for that part of the job. It'll give such a nice smooth edge to the circles, and easy too.
Rich

Good quality construction adhesive... Just run beads along the backside almost like you were welding... I know it will get "Sticky", but use your finger and smoothe it into the joint... Kind of like caulking a tub...

Will do!!!! :smt023

Gustavo,

The transition construction looks very professionally done. Great job documenting with the photo's.

Dale

Thanks Dale! I guess If I used a 5 Megapixel camera and a closeup on some parts it would change your mind

Ok...This is only a cell phone picture of the steel frame I am working on.
I apologize in advance for the poor quality, but I dont have my family camera at the shop....

It is really light, (100 pounds)



As soon as I have some more advance I will post them with a better camera....

WOW! You'll be done with this in no time. I wish I could have a month off from work just to work on this.

I still have no ED dome .....

That will be my bottleneck and also I think I wont be able to advance much further in the next week since the gypsum wallboard guy is out of town.

Oh well....I hate when 3rd parties get on the way of progress :roll:

Any word from Dan on a shipment your way?

Nop, he said the 2nd week of August....Ill give him a call tomorrow and post his comments here and in the ED forum for all of us here in the SW

Quote from an email I recieved from Dan THIS MORNING:

"We ran the mold Friday, (last Friday?) but I am not happy with the way it turned out. Something is out of kilter and we need to find out what it is. I will let you know as we go." :roll:

I just got the quote for the exterior gypsium. $180 bucks just for labor :roll:

How much have you guys spend on the total of your plywood/siding finish?

Gustavo; I haven't purchased mine yet; but I figured it wil cost me about $250 for 12 sheets of 1/2" T-111. That will be enough to cover 3 exterior walls on the observatory and 3 on the warm room. I'm going to finish all the interior walls with pine tounge and groove panels then stain it.

is T-111 exterior grade?

Yes; it's the same that Rick used to cover his. They make it in 3/8's and 1/2". I'm gong to use the thicker sheets. Of course you have to either stain or paint it.

There is not much activity today in my project, but I hope I get busy this weekend.

Here is a better picture of my metal structure. Why metal? besides costs desert termites are the worse :x

They would destroy my building in no time....If you dont believe me I have railroad wood that is supose to be treated that has been eaten away by them...Just incredible!

Just posting my weekend plans as far as flooring....

Gustavo, here are a couple of siding alternatives you may wish to consider, besides T-111.

I am using Oriented Strand Board (OSB), rough side out. It's cheap at $8 a 4x8 foot sheet, and has a stucco-like finish when painted. It doesn't hold up well to moisture and I would never get away with this exterior use in a damp climate. But here in the desert it seems to work fine. I saturate it with Thompson's Water Seal before painting, protect the edges from direct contact with water, and keep the paint in good condition. My 15 year old shed is doing fine. Mostly I like the stucco look of the finished structure. Works better in my yard than the grooved look of T-111.

Home centers in Tucson (Lowe's, Home Depot) also carry an exterior grade hardboard with a three dimensional surface finish to mimic a stucco wall. It comes primed at about $20/sheet, the same as T-111. I haven't seen faux brick siding panels there.

You mentioned security issues at your remote site. Perhaps a small window would allow the sticky-fingered ladrones to look inside and see that there's nothing worth stealing, before they go to the trouble of breaking in. I've also read that "Danger--High Voltage" is more effective than "Keep Out" for a warning sign.

GREAT IDEAS :!: :!: :!: :idea: :idea:


That HIGH VOLTAGE thing is awesome. The gypsyum board is about $30 bucks a pop (5/8X4X8). So I am rather leaning towards that now. Lumber is so expensive here and Termites are bad here so the less maintenance the better.

I will steal your window Idea and your high voltage one. Thanks!

Hi Gustavo,
How about vinyl siding! Nothing will try to eat it and you just hose it off
Dan NM

where can I get it?
That sort of material I dont have it available down here :?

Not much to show today....Just the flooring structure has been done and also some painting on the metal structure..



PS: somewhere around there it will be the temporary location

Looks good! Did you make the door? If so; what did you use?

Yes , I did it out of metal. Hopefully it will serve as a fast heat transfer pan....its white in the outside and black on the inside

Home Depot or Lowes! Lowes carries Georgia/Pacific for sure!

Looking real good Bossman.

Thanks Guys...I just noticed while putting the flooring that I will need more framing support for the plywood. (that or maybe I should lose 30 pounds....hmmm, where is my welder?).

Ill do that tomorrow since Its 115ºF today....

Today it was a great day...the heat was 110F and thank god my brother came with a crew to help me out...I sort of skipped work :oops: but it was worth it :wink:

Let me start by showing you how the frame looked with the roof piece on...believe it or not, now this structure weights like shown350-400 pounds.





We than moved the whole structure to the shade and closer to its permanent location. We then reenforced the flooring structure .



To tie down the wood structure to the metal I used some welded angles to make it virtually unseparable.



After finishing this we started to put the gypsium board. This material is really cool , easy to install and also very resistant to the weather.





I got the red lighting idea from the beautiful observatory of Alan. It looks awesome and I recommend it :wink:



After finishing todays work my brother said that this observatory looks like a the lunar lander on a shoestring budget

If the observatory project doesnt come through...I guess Mexico has its 1st Lunar candidate here



Well I hope this photo diary helps as much as your has helped me...Thanks guys

PS: To my brother....GRACIAS

That is sooooooo cool, Gustavo!
It looks like you'll have some late afternoon shade at the site to help with cooling things down prior to observing, excellent!
Nice progress, nice observatory. Now if only there was a dome to cap it off with! Maybe you should send an email to Dan with a picture of the dome-less building, and tell him you need one soon!
Rich

Thanks Rich,

I have a west shade after 5:00 PM. Since I have a mountain on my west the palm tree is no obstruction. I seldom image at less than 30 degrees west.

I urgently need the dome since I had a huge storm yesterday and the wood is getting one way or another expose to the elements.

I hope Dan delivers :roll:

I'm sure Dan will deliver!! And when he does, you'll end up with the "second" best looking observatory on North America!! (Second only to mine... :roll: )
All kidding aside...it IS looking very "mucho gooood-O". [<- sad attempt at Mexican/Spanish]
Steve

I just read Dan's bad news about the mold (mr. Dome)


I was planning to pick up the dome in Arizona in the nex 10 days....I even had asked for my vacations so I could accommodate the pick up.

It looks like in the best case scenario it will be 2 more weeks :shock:

http://www.xosmos.com/foro/viewtopic.php?t=162&start=30

Your project is coming along very well! great photos also! I really liked the one with the original Observatorio Las Palmas in the background.
Hope you have good news about your dome very soon!

Andy,

Very soon we both will have the DIY domes (Still my baby) and our ED based Observatory...

Have you started on yours?

Hola Gustavo,

How high are the walls from the floor to the wooden roof ?

saludos Rainer

48"...

Once inside on the dome opening I am quite comfortable...Its just the enterance the tricky part...

Ok..Few changes over the past 24 hrs.

Mostly was electric and the stucko finish on my sidings:

I applied an insulation material between the interior and exterior walls, I know this will add thermal mass to the system, but Ill have an AC unit 1 hr prior imaging and I have at least 1 hr shade on my west side prior sunset...that should do it.



Here I was preparing the interior & exterior walls...







Here in this one I wanted to have a solid spot on the corners



My Hotair extractor is in the corner...its a small 60cfm unit, that would mean that at (10x10x4)+(134)=534 ft3, so roughly in 9 min I will recycle all the air in the observatory.



I later added a white light to be dimmed also independently.


Ok, so here is where we stand today....the domeless observatory



I hope to finish some more esthetics during the weekend :wink: