29.04.2021 Is procrastination a serious hobby?

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Thursday 29th 44F, overcast and breezy with spots of rain. 

I tidied up again and moved the last of the self-compacting gravel to the edges of the raised pad. 

Having had another look at the warehouse ladder I realised that it can be moved a whole metre to the west. This leaves the handrails resting against the outside panel. Just as it does with the smaller octagon. While the pyramidal pier [if I keep it] only moves 50cm to the west. That difference of 50cm makes the hole in the floor seem much less menacing. Though still present.

I looked at lots of alternative angles for the ladder orientation. Nothing works without major surgery to the existing joists. Most of which are now tied into the larger building timber work. 

The ladder covers 170cm along the ground. This is too much to lose within the new building footprint. I had earlier plans to skew it along the south west walls but there is no room for its 60cm width. I could build a stair there but wonder whether it is really worth the effort. A small landing or semi-winding stair would be needed. This would be likely to add a considerable delay. Time better spent getting the project completed to basic functionality. Leaving the "little luxuries" for the future.

Which is where I find myself with the cross-axis mounting. I have a choice to build the new mounting. Or move the existing pier. Which still involves digging up four foundation blocks and moving them into newly excavated holes. The cross-axis would require the same amount of groundwork. Except that it has the potential to carry much greater loads. 

If I simply move the pier and plop the mounting back on top it gets me imaging much more quickly. The danger is procrastination rapidly setting in and the cross axis is never properly started. The present big, DIY GEM does not lend itself to rapid instrument swaps. Otherwise I would have completed the 10" f/8 lunar and planetary Newtonian by now. The 7" refractor would also have enjoyed much more exercise than it so rarely does these days. Which is a complete waste of useful, optical resources. 

The bigger dome gives me more headroom for lifting these telescopes onto the existing mounting. The problem is standing on a stepladder to change the heavy counterweights. There are no positive axes locks. Simply the friction of the wormwheel clutches on their shafts. Once the cross axis was loaded with all the instruments it could be left that way. Or, I could cross drill the axes for screw in locking. A really solid clamping system, for each axis, would be an alternative.

Time to build a full sized mock-up of the cross axis to see how it looks? Why not?

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