The dome is raised
This past Wednesday the dome was finally put in place with the help from two friends David Reynolds and Ray Shore. Thanks for all the help! The doming process was actually quick and painless. After placing the dome on we proceeded to level and shim each wheel. The dome rotates very nicely with little effort. We also installed the siding on this day.
The pier being fitted in place custom built with help from my father who worked hard to ensure it was completed in time
With a great deal of help from my father we managed to get the steel pier together in time to place into the observatory late afternoon on Wednesday. His help was greatly appreciated, he put many hours into welding the pier and getting it done in time. It took two people to lug it over to the observatory. When I get opportunity I will sand blast, grind the welds, and prime and paint it. Ray Shore and myself installed the pier and began setting up the telescope and equipment during his week long stay which seemed to fly by, he will be leaving today back home to Kansas.
Me in the picture doing some setting up and prepping of the pier
I still have to finish up the slant roof/wall section and flashing. I also have to build the warm room and doors. I will be working more this week on getting these items completed. We put up a large blue tarp in the meantime to ensure the observatory remains dry inside, no sooner did we get complete this task the rain storms blew in. I am proud to say the interior remained dry!
Wrapped up like a Christmas present-You can see the scope in opening.
We were able to get a quick alignment done early this week, before it clouded over. The CGEM seemed to function very well. A drift align will happen at first opportunity. I was also able to get the red variable brightness rope light up along with some of the cabling. I still have tons of interior finishing to do, but the dome is operational until the rest of work is completed. The image below shows the scope from interior looking out as Ray Shore and myself prepare to do test align and the Polar alignment. You can see the glow from the newly installed red light roping.
Edge 800HD OTA in place on CGEM preparing for Polar alignment the red rope light is casting a glow on dome
Many thanks to Dan Grant, David Reynolds, Ray Shore, Theo, Alex Z, Steve Durham, Mike Shea, and my father for all the help getting the project along this far! I will post back when I get more updates and pictures together.