[ATM] ATM observatory dome ... sorta

["The Alarm Co." <tac@i1.net>]

Another in my long list of harebrained notions is making an observatory out
of a grain bin.  I just happen to have one at my dark-sky site, and since
I'm not using it to store grain, the possiblility has occurred to me.  It's
about 10' in diameter and 7' high at the eaves.  The roof is conical and
consists of a number (20 or so) of pie-slice shaped segments.  The wall is
louvered all over, so it would stay very close to ambient temperature
without any effort.  The floor is concrete, so mounting a pier would be
easy.  I even have a couple of large satellite dish mounts that would make
good piers.  I figure that two or three of the roof segments could be made
removable, and the whole roof could be made to rotate.  The whole project
looks pretty feasible to me -- I have a welder, and I'm not afraid to use
it!  I'm just wondering whether anyone else has tried such a conversion.
Learn from the mistakes of others, etc.  I could certainly build an
observatory from scratch, but the idea of re-using an existing structure
really appeals to me.  All comments greatly appreciated.

 *  Best regards, Bob
*
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