Today we sealed the upper shutter track with putty, and installed the lower shutter hydraulics, dome control electronics, upper shutter, and upper shutter drive motor and transmission. All that remains to finish is to install the lower shutter and then temporarily wire up the power to test the shutters and azimuthal drive motors.

We planned to finish the dome today, but the local crew was eager to get working on the other domes, so we needed to get them started and help out on a couple tasks. The domes at Sites #1 and #3 are now assembled to the point we reached on our first day here, so delaying the completion of the Site #2 dome by a half day will save us two days overall.

We plan to wrap up at Site #2 tomorrow morning, and then get to work on the dome at Site #1. The is the dome that had the damaged shutter from a chunk of a tree landing on our shipping container. The replacement shutter made it through customs and is now in Tijuana. It will arrive at SPM late Monday afternoon. We should be ready for it by then!

Installation of the top shutter motor and drive at top of dome.

 

Top shutter motor and drive after installation.

 

Almost five gallons of putty to seal up this shutter window.

 

Installation of hydraulic arm brackets for lower shutter.

 

Hydraulic pump for lower shutter after installation above dome skirt.

 

Control electronics installed above dome skirt. Box on the right has a radio receiver for operation by remote handheld control.

 

First two pieces of top shutter arriving on flatbed truck.

 

Installation of top section of top shutter.

 

Installation of middle section of top shutter.

 

Installation of top shutter gear track.

 

Installation of bottom section of top shutter.

 

Top shutter after installation.

 

Top shutter after installation.