Lightning

Recently, the local power utility installed a surge protector on the power line between the electric meter and the observatory. This costs under $10 a month and offers additional protection from lightening strikes and power surges in the electric lines. However, it certainly is not fool proof, and we still disconnect all lines and valuable equipment as noted above.

Animals

Animals love observatories. Wasps constantly strive to build nests inside the building, birds find the eaves and tracks great sites for nests and sleeping, rats and squirrels like to chew wires and insulation, and ants always find candy bars and cocoa not properly stored. We even had two different bees nests that necessitated the services of a bee keeper to remove them. We recommend that all spaces under roofs and tracks, in walls, and so forth be properly sealed. Invest in plenty of insecticide and insect repellent. Of course, it is never wise to reach into dark places without first looking carefully. Scorpions, centipedes, and black widow spiders hide in dark recesses, and rattlesnakes find warm sidewalks delightful. These animals as wells as coyotes, badgers, and skunks are plentiful in Southern Arizona.

All parts of the country have their own peculiar wildlife pests. While most of them are not dangerous, they can be a significant nuisance. Don't feed them and don't leave food or garbage out to attract them. If possible use a live trap to catch and relocate a pesky animal. Large animals, such as raccoons, possums, and skunks may be difficult to handle. These may require the services of a professional to get rid of them. Try to stifle the urge to settle matters with your rifle or handgun. After all, your observatory is a celebration of nature, and it would be a bit unseemly to bump off some "innocent" creature who is only trying to make a living for itself.

Of course, after suffering the insulation being stripped from the wiring of your car engine by a packrat, you may resort to poison or some other permanent solution. Some animals are worth having around. We once foolishly ejected a gopher snake coiled up in the corner of the observatory. Only later did we realize he kept the rat and mice population under control. Skunks rarely spray if they are not cornered or teased. They are a deterrent for other less welcome creatures to hang around. If a skunk lives nearby, leave it alone.

V. SOLUTIONS THAT ARE WORSE THAN THE PROBLEMS THEY WERE DESIGNED TO ALLEVIATE

The Law of the Conservation of Difficulty states that no matter how much you rearrange a problem, the same amount of difficulty comes through in the end. There are a set of problems known as second order unexpected problems. These are problems that develop in response to a "solution" for an earlier problem. At times, they become fiascoes that are more costly and difficult to correct than the original problem they were supposed to solve.

For example, to solve the problem of the massive, immobile observatory roof, we initially constructed a system using 1/4" cable connected to the roof by eyebolts and pulled by strong boat winches placed on mounts attached at the northeast and southeast corners of the building. This made it possible to move the roof, but it took incredibly hard manual labor to turn the winches. Moreover, there was a high failure rate for the eyebolts attaching the cables to the roof at each end. An eyebolt would suddenly pop "open" and the winch operator had to duck for his life as the cable sailed passed. We also discovered the plastic coating covering the cables soon frayed and bound the cable in the winch; then, if you carelessly let go of the winch handle, it became a lethal weapon. The tension that had built up in the cable was transmitted to the handle causing it to unwind rapidly and clobber anything in the way, such as your head. The roof also slid in the track laterally rubbing against the sides, adding much wear and tear and increased friction. In addition to these aggravations, cable breakage became another major problem, particularly when it occurred at 3:00 am with the roof only half closed.

It soon became convenient to have plenty of spare cable, and we rapidly learned how to mount new cabling in the winch. Finally, TBH's father, a mechanical engineer, surveyed the situation and came up with an elementary solution for moving the roof. It used boat winches, cable, and pulleys added onto each corner of the observatory roof. This took only one-half hour of work to install, and it almost completely reduced the uneven pull on the roof. It also made using the winch system much easier physically.

Motorized roof systems obviously have considerable advantages. They are a requirement for large, heavy roofs and domes. They usually are expensive and can be difficult to design and build. A roof that is moved by hand or manually via winches and pulleys is usually not dangerous, because the roof is small and light, and once you let go of it or stop turning a crank, it stops moving. If the roof does not move properly while you are turning a crank, you can stop and check the system carefully before proceeding.

If you are careless or something goes wrong with a motorized system, building damage or personal injury could take place before you realize it. There must always be a manual backup for any motorized system. Just picture your distress if a roof motor failed at 2:00 am just as a thunderstorm rolled into the area and you couldn't close the roof. This can happen. NEVER, NEVER, NEVER turn on a roof motor and then go out to your car to get a cup of hot chocolate! Watch the roof or dome movement very closely.

Many astronomy clubs have a rule that no one can use the club telescope at its remote observatory unless he or she is accompanied by another club member. This is a good rule and is simple common sense. Not only is it a safety measure, but it could also be helpful in case of equipment failure. Two persons might be able to safely close a dome manually while one person could not. With two or more persons at the site, one could phone or go for help while the other works on the problem that developed. However, this rule is hard to enforce and not always practical.

Be sure to determine how much of the sky you will be able to see with your roof completely off. The Grasslands Observatory roof rolls off to the north, the portion or the sky we were least interested in observing on a regular basis. Because of this, we neglected to estimate how much the peak of the roll-off roof would impinge upon the northern horizon and how much it would interfere with movement of the telescope to the north.

We had seriously miscalculated the importance of establishing these facts beforehand. We soon discovered the telescope could inadvertently strike the roof whenever we wanted to view far northern objects. As a consequence, we had to extend the roof tracks an extra four feet to the north so we could move the roof four feet further to prevent the telescope from striking it. In the process, we also gained a much better northern horizon. However, the track extension cost $100 for outside machine work and hours of miserable labor to drill holes and fit the extensions onto the track.

The Motorized Roof

After several years of struggling with a manual system for moving the observatory's roll-off roof, it was fully motorized by, Frank Lopez, of Stellar Vision. Frank specializes in observatory construction and the sales of astronomical systems. He elevated the entire roof and replaced the original channel iron track. The new system now uses a series of slotted wheels attached to the roof. The slots in the wheels fit onto the track which is designed as an inverted "V." This is a low friction system with no lateral motion. The roof is moved by a two horsepower heavy duty motor that is mounted onto the east wall and is connected to the moving roof by a heavy duty cable. The motor reverses direction moving the roof to the north to open up the observatory for a night's work and bringing it back to the south to close it. The original manual systems is still functional and a good backup should the motorized system ever fail.

VI. THE CONTROL ROOM

Control Room and Observatory Buiding	Storage Room and Control Room	Control Console

Even in Southern Arizona, it gets cold at night. If you are outside observing in the elements and have no warm place to go, once you get cold, you stay cold the rest of the night. Often, it is the severity of the night that determines how long you will last. Don't get cold and then try to put on warm clothing or drink hot chocolate to warm up. It doesn't work. Try not to get cold in the first place. Dress warmly and have plenty of hot drinks available.

Warm rooms are a superb addition to any observatory. If not done correctly, they can, unfortunately, introduce a number of unexpected secondary problems. It is absolutely critical, that a warm room be thermally insulated from the observing room. Any poorly controlled heat from the warm room will spoil the seeing in front of the telescope. A particularly dangerous circumstance is a an unattended warm room heated by an old electric or gas heater. If the warm room is simply a small closet contiguous to or part of the main observatory, not only does it create a potential seeing disaster, but it serves as a place to collect all sorts of junk. We recommend the warming area be designed for a separate clubhouse building or trailer.

After several years of all night observing with no place to get warm except our cars, a warm room/operations center, the Control Room, was constructed to provide warmth and a base of operations out of the elements. The Control Room was initially a separate 14 x 14 foot fully insulated "house," with a standard door, two windows, and a sloping roof.

In late 2013 and early 2014, the Control Room was significantly expanded to the west so that it now measures 14 x 26 feet (outside dimensions). The windows were removed, and the door situated to the south out of the path of the main wind direction. A heavy duty door with a heavy duty screen was installed. Added to the expanded Control Room is a large separate Storage Room for infrequently used tools and spare equipment. Most of the large accumulated tools and equipment (such as fence post driver, fence posts, pickaxe, spare wood beams, and tarps) were removed from the Observatory Building and placed in the Storage Room vastly improving the look and cleanliness in the Observatory Building itself.

In the Control Room are nice furnishings, including a carpeted floor, microwave, refrigerator, couch, storage cabinets, bookcases, and a Control Console with computer and other telescope controls. The building is thermally separate and insulated from the Observatory Building proper. There is a sidewalk running between the two buildings and a convenient concrete pad enabling one to step out of the car onto a concrete surface, never having to actually step on the ground. Tool boxes are situated in both the Control Room and Observatory Building containing important often used tools - hammer, tape measure, screw drivers, electric drill, duct tape, wrenches...

Over the years, we have evolved away from visual observing and now concentrate our efforts more on CCD imaging. This has its good and bad points. After all, amateur astronomy is about enjoying the sky. The number one pursuit of most amateurs is visual observing. We love this too. There is not much more fun than using a large telescope at a dark site. However, because it is easier to leave CCD imaging equipment set up on the telescope, ready to start up a night's run at the drop of a hat, we are less able to use the 24-inch for viewing. Of course, all we have to do is remove the CCD and insert an eyepiece, but it never seems to get done.

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