Progress
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(May 29-Jun 19, 2004) |
Page 2 (Jul 3-Jul 23, 2004) |
(Jul 29-Sep 4, 2004) |
(Nov 11, 2004-June 23, 2005) |
(July 28, 2008-present) |
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July 3, 2004. Time for the shelter. Made from 2"x4" framing, the shelter is sized so that it will fit over the telescope when the instrument is tilted at about a 45-degree angle. In this case, the back wall measures 60" high, while the front (doors) measures 66" high. Each side is 36" in width. The shelter as shown is mounted on small, hard-rubber casters. These were to prove woefully inadequate after the plywood walls and doors were added, and have been subsequently replace (see below). |
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July 10, 2004. By the next weekend, the walls, made from 1/4" exterior grade plywood have been screwed into place. The roof is made of 3/8" exterior plywood. Rather than use nails, I elected to use exterior grade decking screws for just about the entire project. My reasoning is that, should I have to replace wood in the future, it will be easier to remove the screws than deal with nails. |
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July 11, 2004. The shelter is painted semi-gloss white in an effort to reflect as much heat from the Sun as possible. Solar-powered vent fans will be added at a later date. |
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July 23, 2004. The shelter is effectively done. The plywood roof has been covered with PVC flashing rather than traditional asphalt roofing shingles to save on weight. Note also that a rubber "skirt" has been put around the bottom of the shelter, to minimize water from running underneath. The skirt is made from rubber stair-tread guards, available at home-improvement stores (I got these at Home Depot). See further improvements in July 2008. Metal poles have been sunk into concrete for the stockade fence that would be installed the following week. Rather the dig the footings and install the fence myself, I elected to have that done by a local fence contractor. |
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July 23, 2004. The original rubber casters were much too small for the weight of the shelter, so they have been replaced with the 8" pneumatic casters see here. But even these didn't carry the weight of the shelter adequately. I tried adding a third caster to each side to help support the weight of the doors, but even still, the tires tended to compress under the load. I ultimately replaced these with 8" steel/solid phenolic casters, two per side, which work very well. |
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(May 29-Jun 19, 2004) |
Page 2 (Jul 3-Jul 23, 2004) |
(Jul 29-Sep 4, 2004) |
(Nov 11, 2004-June 23, 2005) |
(July 28, 2008-present) |