Ad Astra Observatory

Getting the electricity completed in the observatory finally reached the top of the to-do list. I’d been working with a proof-of-concept system, half of the outlets done, trench through the yard, running off of extension cords, for the better part of a year, and it’s time to just finish.

What’s left to be done?

A single 240v wire run needs to be pulled from the house electrical panel, through the crawlspace, to the trench, where it needs to be buried in conduit, and then hooked into the panel in the observatory. Two 120v breakers installed in the panel. Drive a pair of ground rods, and ground the panel.

Half a dozen outlets need to be installed (strip the romex, strip the wire ends, bend bend, wirenut wirenut, etc), wire needs to be pulled to the 5 light fixture boxes, and light fixtures need to be installed. A pair of three-way switches to drive the fixtures.

… that’s it.

I called around to about a dozen electricians, and got two of them to give me estimates for completing the work; both agreed that it would be about a day’s work for them to complete.

Each estimated around $3,000 to do the job.

Beg pardon?

So I asked around, to see if anyone was free the day before Valentine’s, to help a friend get some wiring done. I got two-and-a-half nibbles, that turned into two workers who showed up, ready to party with some copper.

Last night, I went to Home Depot, to pick up conduit, 12-3 UF cable, grounding rods, and light fixtures (I got some real dorky ones for $9.98 each! woot). I also needed a couple of “bunny suits” for the crawlspace work, and a couple other bits and bobs. Since I’m a rank amateur, I ended up going back to the hardware store again in the morning, for cable staples and headlamps. Donuts, bagels, and cold drinks…

We started up around 9am.

A_ and I got to work in the crawlspace, figured out how to maneuver down there, and where the entry and exit points were. There was enough gross stuff down there that I’m glad I had the bunny suit. We figured out where to drill the hole for the conduit, and then Jr. Astronomer and I pulled enough wire through the hole to get to the observatory panel, so that A_ could staple it.

Meanwhile, M_ showed up, and I spent some time explaining how the observatory interior wiring works (there are some interesting things I’ve done with using the extra conductor in 12-3 wire to drive two sets of lights, or two sets of outlets), and he got started pulling the cables to the fixture boxes and installing outlets and fixtures.

While A_ was finishing up the stapling, I started working on getting the new cable fished through the wall. My trusty cable pulling system worked a treat, and with just a little bit of derring-do (Jr. Astronomer had to reach her whole hand into the wall to grab the end of the fish tool at one point), we got the cable fished, first to a nearby phone jack (which was not in a box, very helpful), then into the house panel. I also decided to leave a piece of twine in the wall for future expeditions.

I didn’t want to shut down power to the house at that time, so the house end of the cable still needs to be hooked to the panel. But, at this point, it was time to start dealing with the trench and conduit.

The trench had been dug in October, when the rest of the yard got torn up for another project (don’t get me started). Since then, a very wet fall and winter has caused it to silt up a bit. So A_ and M_ and I spent some time, digging out the trench a bit deeper, so that it was deep enough to bury both electric and ethernet conduits (with 12″ vertical spacing between them, naturally). Some gravel in the bottom of the trench, and we were ready to start fitting conduit. We carefully figured out all the male-and-female ends that we’d need, and it turned out we had enough to finish the job. Measure measure, cut cut, and we were ready to start gluing it all together. A_ had to leave at this point, having been there the better part of 8 hours. M_ and I cleaned up the conduit, and took it to the shop to glue (it rained on and off all day, not too miserable, since we had the house and shop and observatory to shelter under, but it was nice to do some work in a well-lit and dry place). We got the conduit installed in the trench, then headed off for a well-earned dinner.

After dinner, M_ and I got to work, pulling the wire through the conduit. Jr. Astronomer helped a lot during this part of the process; she really digs pulling wire. We were having some trouble getting the wire to go through all the conduit joints, but just as I was about to give up and do the twine-and-bag-and-shopvac thing, M_ got it done. There was some last-minute scrambling about getting the LB closer to the wall, and cutting through flashing, but things were never really in doubt. Before long, the cable was inside the observatory, and it was fun to think that the other end was way at the other end of the house. 🙂

M_ was having a rough time grokking my intent with the three-way switches (the 12-3 in the wall runs two sets of outlets, but the 12-3 in the ceiling runs two sets of lights, both of which run off of the same breaker circuit — there are a lot of red and black wires that need to be carefully understood, there), so I stopped and worked it through with him. The NE corner has the three-ways that connect to the fixtures (the always-hot cables just pass through). The SW corner (by the door) has the always-hot connection (with the travelers going through the walls, each traveler is run as a 12-2 with the ground wire unused). The NE corner has 3 neutrals (inbound, outbound, and fixtures) that are wire-nutted together.

As he worked his way through that, I got the hard-fought service cable hooked into the observatory panel, and I hooked up the two breakers in the observatory as well.

I think that we were both hoping that we’d be able to get far enough done that we could test it all out, but it just wasn’t meant to be. He got the two NE 3-ways done, but the SW ones are still pending. I took a quick inventory of what still needs to be done, and we called it a night, sometime around 10pm.

From the long punch list I had this morning at 9am, we are down to:
– install the grounding rods
– one last trip to the hardware store for a couple of bits and bobs
– SW three-way switches
– hook to the main panel

What a success! I can’t thank my hard workin’ work partiers enough. So, I’ll close with some paraphrased Shakespeare.

This day is call’d the feast of Valentine.
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam’d,
And rouse him at the name of Valentine.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say “To-morrow is Saint Valentine.”
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars,
And say “These wounds I had on Valentine’s day.”
…
And Valentine Valentinian shall ne’er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother
…
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs’d they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Valentine’s day.

With all my heart, thank you. Keep looking up.

We few, we happy few, we band of brothers.