Telescope Structure

Structure Overview
Drivers and Controls

The structure accounts for the major part of the steel work and consists of the base assembly, the tubular telescope structyre and the top hexagonal structure (top hex). Interfaces to three kinematic mounting points (designed to eliminate the transfer of any bending moments to the primary mirror truss) form part of the base wedge which interfaces to the primary mirror truss - the kinematic mounts themselves are part of the primary mirror truss. The top hex provides a mounting interface for the tracker. A cable wrap located underneath the structure on the inside of the pir wall provides a guide for air lines, electrical cables, control lines and glycol piping to the structure, the primary mirror and the tracker. It is this cable wrap which in effect limits the angular rotation of the structure. An unobstructed path on the rotation axis of the structure provides space for the optical fibres to pass from the tracker through to the instrument room.

The structure is being designed and manufactured by a South African company, BKS Advantech.

The manufacture of the telescope structure is in progress and a trial assembly will be completed by December 2001 with installation in the telescope facility at Sutherland complete by May 2002.