Tom How just pointed something out to me that came as a bit of a shock.  The mini-WASP project has been over 4 years in the making – to be precise, my first NFO post on the mini-WASP array was 10th July 2007.  I knew this had been going on for some time but had no idea that it was actually this long.

As I continue fitting everything into the dome and get more and more scared by the magnitude of this project I find a few things I got wrong in the planning stage.  First Rog – you were right and I was wrong – I really should have gone for the bigger dome.  Not due to aperture limitations (I think I’ll just get away with that) but it is impossible to work in the smaller dome which means I’ll HAVE to route all the computing into the study through a long CAT6 cable.  I also need an extra counterweight on the Paramount (this was an inkling in the back of my mind but I wasn’t too sure).  However, it only just balances now, so when all 4 scopes are kitted up with cameras and filter wheels I definitely won’t have enough counterweights.  Fortunately Kieron of SCS Astro is on the case and is aware of my latest screw up.  Anything else?  Well the cable handling is going to be testing as I always knew, but I think it will be a little easier than I was expecting.

I don’t like GEMs!!  I don’t like the amount of volume they take up swinging the kit over all angles, and I don’t like the non-intuitive way they point to various parts of the sky.  For me an alt-az configuration on a wedge is the nicest option.

I’ll update the mini-WASP problems and solutions as they find me out

On this grey, murky, rainy day I thought I’d take a picture of something bright in the garden – a pair of Keck domes now reside at the New Forest Observatory

This is how the twin observatories are positioned in the garden at the New Forest Observatory.

Spent today (between the showers) fitting the all Aluminium pier to the concrete support base.  Contrary to what it looks like in the photo – the top of the pier is perfectly flat and horizontal.

Today the decking experts from “The Last Post” arrived first thing to get on with the octagonal deck build.  They came armed with the most formidable piece of sawing kit I’ve seen – but boy does it cope with the job very easily.  Now I see the order in which the deck goes together I see why I had real problems wondering how to tackle this project.  I wanted to put the vertical support posts in first – this is NOT a very good idea

I have finally found someone that will build the 12 foot diameter octagonal wooden deck for the mini-WASP array at a price that doesn’t require me to take out a second mortgage.  Clearly the economic climate isn’t so bad that builders haven’t given up giving stupid quotes – yet.  So, hopefully, the deck build will proceed first week of June with 2.2m dome delivery to follow later.

Today I removed the Sky 90 from the C11 and replaced it with a little Celestron refractor that I use as a guide scope.  The Hyperstar III has once again been fitted to the C11 for some phenomenally fast (f#2) Hyperstar imaging.  Just need to focus up the guide scope, teach focus using Focusmax on the Hyperstar and we’re off again.  The Sky 90 goes to meet his brother on the mini-WASP framework.

Well there’s not much imaging getting done at the end of 2010 that’s for sure!

Louey the black Labrador uses the observatory as the turn around point in his blistering circuit of the garden in this video.