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RE: Part-work Orrery - 22/3/2008 8:06:32 PM
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mba007
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Many reasons:
1) too expensive a project
2) one very long year
3) physical size is too large to store anywhere in my house on display
4) dust magnet
but don't let me put you off Are you building one, Andrew?
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Dr Martin.
Northampton Astronomical Society www.nnhs.info/astro/
Maidenhead AS. http://www.maidenhead-astro.net/
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RE: Part-work Orrery - 22/3/2008 8:11:45 PM
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andrew shields
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quote:
ORIGINAL: mba007
Are you building one, Andrew?
no, i was just wondering why you stopped.
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RE: Part-work Orrery - 22/3/2008 8:28:22 PM
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mba007
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For a minute I started to wonder whether you had any links with the company, from your question about quality. But this kind of thing is not my style. I buy something immediately...I use something immediately. I don't have the wherewithal nor patience to wait a year.
However doesn't mean it won't be a great collectors piece despite it's size. Oh, and edition 1 makes a cracking coffee mat for £1.99. The metal draws away the heat making a hot coffee drinkable in minutes.
< Message edited by mba007 -- 22/3/2008 8:29:54 PM >
_____________________________
Dr Martin.
Northampton Astronomical Society www.nnhs.info/astro/
Maidenhead AS. http://www.maidenhead-astro.net/
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RE: Part-work Orrery - 31/3/2008 7:11:54 PM
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clipperride
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One minor quibble. In one paragraph the age of our Sun is given as around 5 million years!!??!
The rest of the article gets the millions and billions the right way round though.
regards
Mark B
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Learning is fun! Guess I must be getting older!
8" Revelation Dobsonian
114mm Phenix Reflector
A lot of enthusiasm!
(Banbury - Oxfordshire UK) - 52.3 N 1.20 W
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RE: Part-work Orrery - 4/4/2008 2:32:00 AM
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Astromanian
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Stumbled upon this site - I wonder if they could offer this bit of kit for £300 over a years subscription:
The Richard Mille Tellurium-Planetarium
http://horomundi.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2415
I would love this baby in my display case........... Mind you the scale looks a little out ;-)
Beautiful!
Ian.
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"The Earth is the cradle of humanity, but one can not live in a cradle forever!" - Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky
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RE: Part-work Orrery - 6/4/2008 7:09:58 PM
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skywatcher
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Good news, Les, please continue to keep us posted!
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Steve
The Chanctonbury Observatory
Please Click Here To Visit
Night conceals the World but reveals the Universe
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RE: Part-work Orrery - 6/4/2008 7:28:57 PM
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clipperride
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Looking very nice! Due to a general lack of suitable tools (it would seem that none of my hammers will be needed during construction), I am waiting for the 3rd delivery when, as a subscriber, I should get the tool kit. The binder that should have come with the first delivery has been delayed due to a production problem, but should be out soon.
My thoughts on the series so far; The magazine is a little on the basic side and could have done with a better proof ready as a few silly mistakes have crept in. The orrery itself seems to be very well made and will make an interesting display piece.
Cheers
Mark B
_____________________________
Learning is fun! Guess I must be getting older!
8" Revelation Dobsonian
114mm Phenix Reflector
A lot of enthusiasm!
(Banbury - Oxfordshire UK) - 52.3 N 1.20 W
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RE: Part-work Orrery - 21/4/2008 5:51:13 PM
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minimoa69
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Hi folks, I stumbled upon your forum whilst doing some research on orrerys. You guys and girls seem to have come to the same conclusion that the members of my forum have come to, that the part work magazine orrery is great quality as long as it gets as far as issue 52!
I myself am not an astronomer, it fascinates me, but spare time interests have taken me down different paths for the time being - maybe in a while (especially if you lot start to inspire me) I shall invest in a half decent telescope and start having a dabble.
The reason for posting however, is that I've always fancied an orrery too, but they have always been out of my reach financially, and even the part work magazine was a little too much to fork out, so I thought to myself, how hard can it be to build my own? So the following pictures are of what I've come up with so far. Its not finished by a long shot, but the mechanism is pretty much done.
It's not fully accurate, probably out by about one or two percent, but as a representation it should be just fine. I have included the first 6 planets (up to and including Saturn), a spinning Earth, and an orbiting moon for the Earth - both of these run at more or less the correct relative rotational speed (i.e. 365 turns for the Earth over one orbit of the Sun, and 13 orbits of the Moon over the same period). I've also built it pretty much entirely from wood. All the gears are hand cut, and the ratios are as near as I could get from a practical point of view.
Anyhow, here are the pictures. Let me know what you think - please be honest!
http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb6/minimoa69/FinishedOrreryMech6.jpg
http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb6/minimoa69/FinishedOrreryMech2.jpg
Thanks for looking.
< Message edited by minimoa69 -- 21/4/2008 6:01:37 PM >
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Sometimes, I think that the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe, is that none of it has ever tried to contact us...
www.woodenorrery.com
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RE: Part-work Orrery - 21/4/2008 5:59:35 PM
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clipperride
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Looking good! How long did it take you and how did you work out the sizes needed for the various gears?
As for telescopes, why not try and get hold of a pair of binoculars and a copy of Sky at Night and head out into the garden to have a look? It's a great (and fairly cheap) way of getting started to see if it's something you enjoy.
cheers
Mark B
_____________________________
Learning is fun! Guess I must be getting older!
8" Revelation Dobsonian
114mm Phenix Reflector
A lot of enthusiasm!
(Banbury - Oxfordshire UK) - 52.3 N 1.20 W
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RE: Part-work Orrery - 21/4/2008 6:11:35 PM
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minimoa69
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So far, it's taken about 4 weeks - so pretty quick compared to some of my projects! The ratios were worked out by using a blunt pencil, a calulator, a scrap of A4 paper and lots of trial and error. I'm sure that somebody has worked out mathematical formulas to help work out gear ratios for any given output speed, but I don't know what they are, so trial and error it was, and it's worked out just fine.
Looking forward to creating the planets next.
It would be nice to put it into limited production once this first one is done and the teething problems ironed out with the design, but we shall see what response I get first from the feelers I've put out.
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RE: Part-work Orrery - 21/4/2008 6:43:23 PM
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Astro_baby
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Hi Minimoa -
I just saw the pics of your orrery under construction and they floored me. I love almost anything thats 'precision' from American eiderdowns with the intricate stitching through to Harrisons Clocks at Greenwich which I could watch for hours.
Your orrerey ( at least the parts you have made ) I found astounding. You know I imagine that Harrison made some of his early clocks with wooden gearing and I believe H1 ( the first practical longitude time keeper ) has some wooden parts. My memories a bit hazy on that.
Your stuff looked amazing though - do post when you have it completed - I for one would love to see it.
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So long - and thanks for all the fish
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RE: Part-work Orrery - 27/4/2008 1:05:53 PM
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duine
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Looking very cool Les, I'm beginning to wish I'd signed up (even though I still don't have room for it  )
Could you post a pic with a ruler or something to give an idea of scale?
Mark
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Mark's Astro Pages - here: http://astro.annasach.net
Meteorites! - here: http://meteorites.cc
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"Of course I'm crazy, but that doesn't mean I'm wrong. I'm mad, I'm not ill"
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RE: Part-work Orrery - 27/4/2008 6:40:57 PM
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clipperride
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Looking good there Les. I haven't had my third delivery yet, so I haven't started putting the orrery together. Hopefully they will arrive on Monday along with my lastest haul of old Patrick Moore books. Looks like I have a busy week ahead!
regards
Mark B
_____________________________
Learning is fun! Guess I must be getting older!
8" Revelation Dobsonian
114mm Phenix Reflector
A lot of enthusiasm!
(Banbury - Oxfordshire UK) - 52.3 N 1.20 W
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RE: Part-work Orrery - 29/4/2008 11:25:33 PM
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Pinter75
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quote:
ORIGINAL: duine
Looking very cool Les, I'm beginning to wish I'd signed up (even though I still don't have room for it )
Could you post a pic with a ruler or something to give an idea of scale?
Mark
It is not as big as I thought it would be :-) So far it is 26cms (without the motor base)
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Hove, UK
Meade LX200R 10"
Visit my site for my astro photography
http://www.astroshots.co.uk
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RE: Part-work Orrery - 29/4/2008 11:31:12 PM
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duine
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Thanks Steve.
_____________________________
100mm EvoStar Pro ED :: Canon 350D :: SPC900NC
Mark's Astro Pages - here: http://astro.annasach.net
Meteorites! - here: http://meteorites.cc
--
"Of course I'm crazy, but that doesn't mean I'm wrong. I'm mad, I'm not ill"
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