24.07.2024 Update on solar options.

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  I have made a good recovery from my "surgery by wire." Having ridden over 200km on my bike in the last week alone. A series of hospital appointments suggest I may yet live a bit longer.

 I have continued to monitor the solar astronomy, imaging forums. My interest is rebuilding itself steadily. 

 There are several serious hurdles to overcome. The larger observatory is only half demolished. That was put on hold while I had my health issues fixed. The original 10' [3m] observatory still stands within the shell of the larger building. Sadly the plywood dome continues to leak like a sieve. Access at such a height is far too dangerous to apply any external remedy. Which severely limits the use of the observatory. 

 The wisest way forward would be to totally demolish the entire observatory. It is an eyesore and difficult to believe it will ever improve. Placing an observatory on the ground in the same spot would be utterly pointless. The surrounding trees and hedges are growing wildly.

 I have a tentative plan to erect an observatory in the front garden. This would house my 150mm/6" H-alpha solar refractor. Which will be supported on a heavy duty equatorial mounting. Probably an Ioptron CEM120. My first ever purchase of a commercial mounting! I think I have waited long enough at 77 years of age and counting. 

 The sky from the proposed site is blocked by trees to the west and east. Though I would still get many hours of completely unimpeded sunshine to play with. Just no early or late sun. Which only sometimes raised the hope of better seeing conditions. Fields stretch for miles to my south. With only a few houses dotted at various distances. The nearest a low farmhouse at 65metres to the SSW. This is hardly likely to noticeably affect my seeing conditions.

 The observatory needs to be guaranteed to be simple and easy to use. The boundary beech hedge will be quite close but can be trimmed to match the lowest altitude. At which the sun is ever likely to be visible in winter. 

 I really like domes but have no plans to re-use my preset dome. It needs far too much work to become pretty and [far more importantly] waterproof. Do I want to spring for a 2.7m Pulsar dome? I am not sure. It is a lot of money but provides a turnkey solution without much compromise. It is no smaller than my present dome. Once the plywood ribs and base ring are taken into account. The Pulsar is relatively clean of projections internally. It would require no maintenance over the likely time I have left. It can also be sold relatively easily by those I leave behind.      

 It would need a concrete slab to be stable in the SW gales. The pier is an issue. I have loads of seamless steel tubing in all sizes to be used as a former for a concrete pier. This would need a suitable bolt arrangement at the top. To level and fix the mounting securely. An internal plastic pipe can allow easy, internal pier cabling.

 

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