This is a shot of the GEM 20' f5 with new paint and new parts in my studio, note the finder scope is a C-8 riding on top ,there is also a green laser finder near the eyepiece to keep ladder climbing to a minimum.

 

These photo's are of the very rusty iron frame and dented aluminum shell parts of the 5 meter dome as they were when I received them . Several parts are missing or broken,

I am currently sandblasting and painting each piece and making a new motor drive

system to open and close the shutter door and also rotate the dome from a desktop.

 

 

 

 

The Rainwater Observatory Project

 The lifting straps were too long they had , so I loaned them two harbor freight  tool tow

straps I had in my truck. Whu wee I was sweating the lift ,but they did the job .

 

Thats me with the tan coat very glad to see the dome installed after its move from

the mountain in Colorado.

http://www.sangreobservatory.com/

 

 

 

The photo is  my 10 inch Dob at Mid-south Star Gaze 08 with the Ash dome in the background .

I built the Iron stair railing inside and help install the dome at www.RainwaterObservatory.org last year. It's taken over a year to get the rebuilt scope back from the engineers  at www.LCOGT.net and boy was it worth the wait. The scope  is awesome a true work of engineering .

My favorite author and radio astronomer Dr.Gerrit Verschuur and

 his wife  Dr. Joan Schmelz are shown standing next to the new scope.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Verschuur

 

Thats me standing behind my railing with the stainless comet and copper sun.

Sun

Comet.

Side view of the scope.

 

 

 

 

Wayne Rosing  had a image of M51 in the screen that would blow your socks off.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayne_Rosing

 

It has really inspired me to get busy on restoring the 5 meter dome at the Pleasant Ridge Observatory.

 

 

 

 

This is me trenching some 350 feet from the house to the observatory site. Power and

data conduit is shown lower right . I made a plywood template for the telescope base

for proper alignment with the north star. The NOAA site has a great zip code finder that

will calculate your longitude ,latitude and declination.

http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/geomagmodels/struts/declZipE;jsessionid=4C1DBAEC55FF1174C9C4A17343825375

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 Wow the rust is gone and the bent rails are pounded out with a torch and

hammer .The new paint makes these iron lower mounting rings look like new.

 

 

 

 The top photos are how you get wire in the plastic pipe from point A to point B .

You tie a string to a mouse (made from foam) and have a friend (David) stick a

shop vac in the plastic pipe . Once the string is through tie a rope to the end and

pull the rope through .Then the fun begins ,grease up the wire or data cable and

pull it through. I have buried two different plastic pipes  ,one for data and one for

power .The data wire will allow me to send live video from the ccd camera in the scope

 to this web site in the future .     http://lundie.ca/fwink/

 

 With the grass removed and the corn crop in the back ground it reminds me of that Mel

Gibson movie "Signs". I keep looking for Mel and the cast to stick there heads out of

the corn .

 

 

 To dig a 4 foot deep 2 foot round hole in the center I made a extention (silver) for my

gas power post hole machine. I just made several holes and clean out the left over

soil.

 This is me sweating in the 100 plus degree sun thinking about Mel and the cast.   

 I now plan on working at night laying out the foundation due to the heat . I will update

as I progress.

The 5  re-bar stakes were driven in the dirt to give me a idea where the center of the 16 foot foundation is ,they will be removed when the hole is dug. The machine worked

like a champ. Five holes were drilled and I wiggled the drill around and it broke up

the soil around the holes.

I used a hand post hole digger to remove the loose soil and place in wheel barrels to

remove from the site.

 

I filled six, 6 cubic foot wheel barrel with dirt from the hole.

 

Dad gum , I STRUCK  GOLD!!!!

Every kid loves playing in the dirt even me.

This is a drawing of how the polar axis should line up with the Observa-DOME

slitframe opening  . When designing the isolated pad in the center of the dome to

set the GEM 20 on I have also designed a four bolt 8 inch steel pier to be place under

the base of the GEM 20 .This will allow for possible future up -grade of a new or different telescope.

This is what the dome looks like new , a beautiful all aluminum construction ,its like

looking at a fine piece of metal art. My dome has been painted white some 20 years ago and I plan on stripping that paint to allow the beauty of the aluminum to be seen.

The outside supporting walls of the observatory will be covered with Arkansas field stone  to futher enhance the over all look of the structure.

I drilled out the future telescope pier for the 3/4 inch studs. Two templates were

made one for holding the rebar sub-structure and one for future use.The pier was used

to keep the bolts lined up while I welded the rebar sub-structure together.

This is the finished rebar that will provide a strong structure in the concrete.

 

The form will be pointed North-South by compass and checked at night with the North

star. Then concrete will be added for the isolated pier . The isolated pier is to keep

the vibrations away from the scope that walking around in the dome can cause. It is a must when photographing with a camera on the telescope ,with such a powerful scope any movement will ruin the image. The blue tape is to keep concrete off the threads of

the studs while I am dumping wheelbarrels full of concrete.

 

 

 

Setting up the North - South line with two stakes one in front of the scope and the other behind the scope, the string is stretched between the stakes. You can see the green laser pointer light on the north stake.The north star came in and out of view as cloud cover took over , but with the help of my friend Dr. Bill Busler we "GOTERDUNN".

The 8in Nexstar and the green laser made it easy to lay out the line.

 

http://www2.cbu.edu/cbu/Academics/SchoolofScience/Faculty/WilliamBusler/index.htm

 Be sure to read My Brief Career as a Rocket Scientist very funny story.   

 http://www.cbu.edu/~wbusler/

 

Mixing 4000 psi concrete.

Thanks to my good  friend Charles for helping me mix concrete in the heat.

Virbrating the concrete in the 5 foot hole helps increase its strength.

Finishing the wet concrete with a float.

This is a shot of the concrete vibrater and the finished pier . You want the concrete

to cure slow, so I wet it down most of the day to keep from drying out in the sun to fast

I also covered with wet hay to help keep it wet over night.

Power blasting the dome with 4000 psi is a wet job .

The dome shutters have 2 holes that will have to be patched before installing.

Each section of the eight that make up the dome have damage from bullet holes to

broken welds to aluminum rot. So I now  have a week to fix each section. I have

several friends from The River Bluff Forge Council coming to help assemble the

dome Saturday so I need to start fixing them fast ,

so I have 3 of my best men on it (me ,myself and I)

The link to RBFC is:  http://rbfcmemphis.com/new.htm

They are a support club for the The National Ornamental Metal Museum  the only institution in the United States devoted exclusively to the preservation and promotion of fine metalwork. http://metalmuseum.americommerce.com/

If you come to Memphis you have got to plan a day at the Museum , The Museum library collection contains over 6,000 books and portfolios on metalwork, over 10,000 slides and photographs, and numerous videotapes. And sports the best view

of the Mississippi River you will ever see ,and has some of the coolest metal art

in the world. If you want some art to take home ,it is for sale in the gift shop.

Need a wine rack table with marble top they have it (one I made) ON SALE NOW.

Buy it now @ The Metal Museum

metal art by Lee Cole and I approved this message !

 

This is one of several bent sections that must be fixed before assembly.

The Gilbert Rotary Centennial Observatory has done a wonderful job at

building a 5 meter Observa-Dome there construction page has some  great ideas.

 I just love the look of the block wall they made to support the

dome . The dome really looks great painted white and the block wall would

keep bullets from hitting the telescope .

(remember we are in the South,lots of guns+beer and not enough street signs)

http://evaconline.org/grco/obs.asp

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blasting each section.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Drilling out the damage rivets.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Getting the assembly joint flange surface bent back

where it needs to be.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The hemispherical section require better than 1/16 inch alignment so

especially high tec tools were used for this adjustment.

 

This is the worse section and auto body tools were

used to hammer bend and shape it back to life.

Lots of vise-grips and lots of new rivets I lost count after 700 .

The air power riveter is a time saver I bought 2 of these at Harbor Freight tools

each is set for  different size rivets.

http://www.harborfreight.com/

 

Rivet Rivet Riveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeit.

Bullet holes are planshed closed with a hammer and spoon.

The spoon is curved to the shape of the inside of the dome and the hammer

will force the metal back where it came from . Once the hole is closed shut then

a little calking is added to keep out water.

 

This is the worst finished section all better now and bullet hole free .

Every single section had to have work done on it.

Calking all the seams .

 

In the true spirit of the Beijing Olympic Games ,I got the hat and

I'm going for the men's riveting marathon! Or I might just have lunch

at Red Sun Buffet.

http://www.insiderpages.com/b/3721405193

Thanks to my good friends Victor ,David ,Charles,Mark and Ray for

helping me with the assembly of the dome. We first laid out the iron

lower ring and bolted it together with a air Impact tool.

The top of each steel splice was measured using my construction level

and wood shims were placed under the ring to make it level.

The first section is raised and bolted.

 

If it won't fit get a bigger hammer.

Like a big puzzle each piece forms a hemisphere.

More sections and more bolts.

Wow 27 years its been since it was together.

 

This is the last section and it fits like a glove.

 

We have finished for the day.Thanks guys I could not have done it without you!!

Next up is:  paint dome ,dig footing ,build form ,concrete floor,build block wall,steel 

door, iron ring, crane for lifting, power , move in scope.Stay tuned

Special thanks to Mary Cole "Mom",for taking photo's while we build the observatory.

 

 

I gave a talk at the MAS a local astronomy club ,to try to drum up some intrest in

this project. 

I think I will get start on the foundation tomorrow.

 

Using a string tied to the screw in the center of the pad I marked the edge of

the foundation by following the circle.  I also marked the line with orange paint .

When on a backhoe it is hard to see where you are and EZ to dig in the wrong place

 

Thanks to my good friend Steve for diging the footing that will hold up the wall

and floor of the observatory . Next is building the circle form to hold the concrete

in place . Renforcement wire ,rebar , plastic, ect. lots of hard  work to get it ready

before the concrete truck can come.