30.01.2022 Triangular doorway patch.

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 Sunday 30th 41F, weak sunshine after the storm. No damage discovered so far. The wind is slowly dying down from about 29m/s gusts from the NW. Over 60mph. It might be worth trying to image later as the sun gathers its strength. The slit will be facing away from the wind.

 I spent the morning working on one of the triangular dome fillers. Lots of trimming helped to rotate the facets upright. To better match the shutters. Now I need to attach the triangle to the dome and slit ribs using brackets.

 When the weather is warmer I could fiberglass the curved edge of the triangle into the dome. The "gutter" over the original, arched doorway could then be trimmed back. Helping to improve the appearance. The gutter casts a heavy shadow. Which draws attention to it. As seen in the first image [Above, right] showing the exterior view.

 The second image shows the inside view. Ideally the triangle should be beveled on the curved, outside edge. Which would help to blend it into the dome's surface. The dome and triangle are both faceted. So matching the edges is not exactly easy. I must scribe the triangle to the slit rib. To close the gaps enough for silicone sealer to do its thing.

 I shall make a skirt for the bottom of the triangle to close off the 50mm/ 2" gap and make it wind and weatherproof. This will have to wait for the final arrangements of the bogie track. The shutter wraps itself around the triangle when closed. Adding to the complexity of working in 3D with all-spherical surfaces.

Imaging. After lunch. The seeing was awfully soft again. With a coarse grainy texture to the images on the monitor. No sign of any dew on the optics.  I tried Mono16 in SharpCap without the protective, internal filters. Still poor. Cloud has arrived. Giving up!

There is a new, ZWO camera driver which I had overlooked. V3.17. 9.6.2021. I have downloaded and installed it. Ready for the next imaging session.

 

 

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