Storm Damage to my Observatory.

[xelasnave]

A friend came up from Sydney and I was putting him up in my van.

When we arrived just on night fall I became confused because the observatory roof is half way down the track..
Half open????

The storm must have hit particularly hard as in inspection we find one of the motors that moves the roof has been pulled out of the floor...surprising cause the screws go two inches or more into the floor thru fake timber flooring, 17 mm ply and into particle board.. one of the carabinas ?? Spelling? that connects the cable to the roof was pulled almost straight.not high quality I expect but to pull it straight suggests rather intense pressure..lucky ot held ad it was holding the roof from opening all the way ...one of the electric cables from the battery to the motor snapped under the strain and the batteries pulled over and sitting at a 45 degree angle to the floor...the cover was blown off the EQ6r so it would have been bucketed with rain...the EQ 5 was blown over so it would have crashed badly .although it retained its cover..the roof still covered the RASA and its cover was in place but the hand box may have got wet...On the floor was the box Glen made to hold the 115 mm with the 80 mm inside and on top my camera bag with my Nikon and three lens... there was water on the box but it was dry inside.. These were covered and the covers had not blown off...the flooring shows water damage as it is curling up on the edges... It was quiet a job sorting thru the cables and battery leads as they were all under tension from the roof dragging on them but we disconnected everything and manually pushed the roof back in place mopped up the few puddles and left it until tomorrow to try and put it all back together and see if the mounts work and if the winch motors work.

Happily the two new zwo cameras (2600) were in plastic boxes so escaped un damaged.

And just to prove how lucky I am on Thursday ( I think maybe Friday I am sortta confused at the moment) we moved the RASA from the EQ6R that was totally exposed to its spot on the EQ8R which was at least a little more protected ... And further my luck played out well because yesterday I was going to take the 115mm with ZWO 1600 mono and eight spot filter wheel which was in the van on the bed and place it on the EQ6r and set up the 80mm in the corner where the motor was ripped out of the floor on the eq5 and attach the new one shot colour zwo 2600... I mean just how lucky can one man be? Also had moved both microscopes and their cameras out of the observatory. I had bought both lap tops back to the main house as well they would be gone one was new and pricey...The winch motors did not respond but given the mess it may only be a connection....hopefully.

So we lock up expecting problems around the van.

But nothing all ...solar panels were in place and how the latest ones did not blow over I really can not believe given the wind force that was there..the Annex was ok when it should have been ripped to shreds... so we tidy up the van which had been the dumping ground for astronomy stuff ..scope on the bed etc
.made it so my mate could sleep there...and so called it a night and I said goodnight and drove around the van where I usually go and the car loses traction and gets stuck.

So I leave it there and my mate gives me a lift back to the main house...

So I did not get to do a polar align ( which failed due to clouds coming as we arrived ) and sure I have experienced a substantial set back..but set backs happen to me all the time so it is no big deal and it could have been much worse.

But the wind must have been something else to straighten that fitting and rip the motor out of the floor...


Edit addition here is a photo showing the motor that was ripped out and how the cable has sawn thru an empty box with its only contents foam..but the motor wedging here prevented the roof opening further..how the table held I can not say..the cable past this joined the roof via the carabina that was pulled straight..however looking at the photo I need to check just how much it was distorted as the photo showed it not as bad as I remember.
Alex

[Drac0]

WOW!
While it may take a bit to get everything back & working sounds like it could have gone much worse equipment wise. Hope you don't find any more problems in the morning.

[glend]

Alex, sorry to hear about your storm damage. I have two words for you: Track Locks. All roll off or sliding observatory roofs should have track locks. These are to prevent the roof from being forced open. In addition roof tie downs must also be used, to prevent lift off. I have both track locks and tie downs on my roof. Do not rely on captive wheels for rollers, running in C channel to prevent lift off. Tie downs can be turn buckle style, chain stays, even rated straps. It only takes a few minutes to release the hold downs and track locks, or to reapply them when you shut the observatory. I admit sometimes I just secure a single tie down on closure near dawn on a calm night. However, in storm type weather, I check every lock and tie down.

[leon]

That is just so unfortunate Alex, I am sure you don't need all this extra worry and set back, I am sorry to hear about it mate.
I do hope the damage is not as big as one might expect from your description, and I hope you can get it sorted.
Stay well my friend.

Leon

[Startrek]

Alex,
Sorry to hear about your weather damage
I’m sure you will get things repaired and running again
The weather in the north and north west over the past week or so has been unpredictably savage
My brother lives south of Coffs Harbour at Tormina and was battered with hail stones the size of cricket balls for 40mins last week , the town is a mess with damage everywhere. He was lucky and it only ripped part of his gutters off. He copped it again on the weekend, more hail but only the size of golf balls this time.
Crazy weather !!
As long as your ok , the Obs can be fixed and scopes / mounts dried out etc....
Take care
Best
Martin

[mura_gadi]

Well that really sucks, so sorry to hear about the storm cell damage. In some ways not being there was probably a good thing, I'm sure you would have tried to mossy out to see if you could do anything.

Good luck with the repairs and maybe think about getting a natural wind break established. Unfortunately, you can't pump a lot of extra energy into a system without getting energy feedback... and there is no reason to think storm cell damage is not going to continue to increase.


Steve.
The March 2019 storms in Canberra, saw NRMA and other insurers having to lease warehouses and establish onsite processing centers to deal with the numbers. My 02 x-trail has the plastic panels, front quarter panel has one hole you can put a fist through from the hail (didn't lose a window though... how is beyond me, the getz parked next to it was written off and had cracked windows)

[Nikolas]

The way that cable ripped through the box and what looks like plaster imagine if a person was sitting there at the time!!!

[bojan]

Ouch!!!
This is what I fear also.. what I will find after 4 months of staying away from Mount Pleasant.. :scared:

[xelasnave]

The weather is crook..need Sun and not going back in until I get some....if its stuffed it will get replaced ... O worries.
Alex

[AdamJL]

Really sorry to hear that, Alex. Looks vicious. Hope you can get it back up and running quickly.

[strongmanmike]

Dang, wow, bad luck there Alex, you must be feeling pretty disappointed and more than a little annoyed...but you will get it all sorted, I know :thumbsup:

Mike

[mura_gadi]

Nice, with that attitude first few hurdles have already been cleared.

[croweater]

Hi Alex. With that attitude you can't help but succeed. In fact you already have done.
Cheers, Richard.

[xelasnave]

Thanks every one.
It will be ok I am sure but I could not go inside it today or even drag the car out of the bog.
I have a spare vehicle, an Xtrail, that was for driving around this place so I went to drive it and damn it it had a flat tire and fixing it really stuffed me...so maybe tomorrow...thanks again.
Alex

[Rowan.Prangley]

Stuff of nightmares ! Sorry to learn of this Alex and hope all gets up and running again soon.
I installed a windlock on my observatory as I was nervous about wind lifting the dome off.
Keep well!

[JackWhite]

Man, I'm sorry to hear that. Be careful and I wish that your observatory will not be damaged again. Stay well!

[xelasnave]

It reminds me of the time my Real Estate office was floodded ( twice actually).

The down pipe lead to the gutter but had filled with leaves and poor planning on the part of the plumber meant no access to clean things....in mild rain it was not a problem but in a bad downpour the water backed up and came thru the ceiling ... everywhere...it was raining in the office...heart breaking to the max..so I put one desk on top of another to make a "roof" and moved the computer, printer, fax, cameras, phones and switchboard under my "roof" and just kept putting desk after desk on top of others around the rooms and making places to put stuff...I survived and did not have to take up carpets and really was very very proud that I never gave up...I asked the Land Lord had some drain pipes put in the gutters in the roof..but I did actually..my suggestion was ignored so I had to put them in cause he didn't "get it," me personally cause I can do anything and hsyed paying others..

.BUT it happened again a couple of years later cause the additional overflows did not address the real problem...and I sprung into desk/roof building when I saw the first drops coming thru the ceiling...so adversity if faced with courage can be managed... anyways this time I thought the problem thru and decided the leaf build up had to go but you could not get at it...mmmm dissolve it with caustic soda me thinks and certainly dont tell the Land Lord in case things go wrong...so I mixed up a tin of caustic soda in half a bucket of water and poured it down the down pipe...nothing came out at the time but three days later there appeared out onto the street a four foot long turdlike snake thing that had passers by stopping and gazing in wonder...and me, I gazed also but unlike everyone else offerred no speculation as to what it may be...two days later we had another fierce storm and the "object" disappeared and water gushed onto the road for the first time in memory from the now cleared down pipe.

So will I go into the observatory today? Probably and may even start testing motors and if I can muster the courage test the mounts...however ....yesterday I wanted to take my mate to Drake Pub for lunch..he is from Brooklyn and a drinking buddy we know down there, Paul Miers ex footy player bought the Drake Pub years ago...so it would be nice for my mate to see it and tell Miersy he had a steak there..

So I rang the pub to ask if they were doing lunch and particularly was steak being offered ( steaks up here are usually excellent cause ..well..Casino to my East is the Beef capital of Australia... SHE from the pub says.. that yes steaks are on but you will need your "I have had my two shots vacination certificate"..my friend had his but it was the first I had heard of such a thing...so we tried to get one...and after considerable effort gave up with no success...so went to Tabulam and got take away hamburgers and eat them by the bridge over the Rocky River and drove home via the Clarence to show him the beauty of the area. We stopped to do some geology on a very interesting rock exposures that is somewhat unique and we determined it may have been a shore line.

However when my carer and daughter got home from shopping and after some considerable effort they managed to get me my certificate and put it on the home screen of my phone so it appears first when I switch on the phone..no looking here or there..So what is my point?...well I am now thinking a steak at Drake and then over to BooNoo Falls...maybe...so the damage may get put to one side ... Unproductive? Not really I need cheering up.
Alex

[mura_gadi]

My first years as a public servant was as the "GSO" boy, lower than real APS', the ones who moved furniture, replaced light bulbs, looked after the car's in the car pool etc.

First building Benjamin Officers the roof ran into the fire stairwells and would produce an amazing waterfall down the inside of the building. Was the norm for heavy rain, only time I reported water in a fire stairwell was when we had a fairly powerful hose worth coming out from a light fitting.

Cameron offices, if it was raining when you came in, you grabbed 20-30 buckets and string. Just wait for the call on new leaks and then use the string to guide the water into the buckets. Looked like spider webs in some areas. The water proofing was better by the late 90's...

The buildings have since been pulled down with a only a few bits left for history. But first few weeks in my first "real" job I'm looking at 100+ liters a sec waterfall inside a building being told not to worry about it... was strange...

[JA]

Hi Alex,

Sorry to hear about the storm damage. I hope it can all be repaired soon, so that you can get back to astro pursuits.

Best
JA

[xelasnave]

Thanks JA.
Going to wait until Friday as my electrically qualified helper is better to have testing stuff...
Alex

[glend]

Might be more storms coming Alex.

[xelasnave]

My friend looked at the structure and has plans for bolts for the roof and something to hold it from movement in accordance with your warning but noticed there are perhaps too few bolts holding the sides to the bottom and so he is going to add more...so it is an ill wind that does not blow some good in so far I am going to prepare for worse.

Alex

[xelasnave]

So got all the bolts etc... but my new little on line purchased barometer came today, I marked the needle at 9-30 am and it has droped heaps so I bet we are in for a big one..also a very clever friend who has some very interesting storm prediction stuff called to say something big is on its way..but it is so sunny at the moment...
Picked up some oars and rollics so I can have a float in the dam...going to get some fish soon..not that I would fish for them but heck you gotta have some fish...
My visiting friend has gone nuts on the ride on mower and had done heaps when I left on dusk..next morning (today) the whole block was clear...I asked..and he said it was easy as the mower has head lights.

Inspection tomorrow to see what we are replacing.

So to cheer myself up I went and looked at the little Mazda MX5 ...I love it..we were busy and could not take it for a test drive so am having a decent test drive next week..not really interested in performance or handling as I assume that should be ok but I just need to see if I can climb into the thing and get out ...plus its auto so it will be interesting to see if you can do a preselect pretend you are racing trip.

But if I get it all thoughts of a decent caravan go out the window...so live in luxury or drive in luxury?

I suppose I could work and make some money on the stock exchange and have both ..but it is hard stressful etc.

Alex

[mura_gadi]

I remember going fishing on my girlfriends farm, if you have access to waterways from your dams, you get free or close to stocking for your dams.

They had stocked yellow belly and apparently 5 years later it was time to go fishing!!! So, cool I thought... then we get to the dam, 1 stick of dynomite later and fishing time is over its just collecting for the 3 big deep freezers...

As for the MX-5, nice car, stuff performance some of those models looks sweet, but would have to be the 2 liter. I think you might find however its easier to get in and out of the car seats if they are much higher. Its why you see so many 4x4 with disabled stickers on them down the south coast of NSW, Canberra retirement area. Try and find a car where your arse and the seat are about the same height, lame thing to have to look for, but at least its functional!

[xelasnave]

The thing I am looking at is a demo..it is 1500cc end of story..If I ordered new I would get the 2 litre not that I would use the extra power ..but there is a wait and I want it now .
.heck by the time a new one arrives I could lose interest or forget that I ordered one..it will turn on being able to get in and out of the car .... and it would be great if I can fit my walking frame in the boot.
Tomorrow we hope to grind the tracks for the roll off roof so as to reduce the rolling resistance for the load...my friend is a shipwright and he says the difference between a clean and dirty track with the slipway is considerable so we have the stuff to grind it and prime it... Threaded rod, nuts and bolts for the winch motors and will put strong stuff under so they wont pull out...
Anyways just hoping the mounts are ok and at the end of play tomorrow will have me saying that I am the luckiest man on the planet.
Alex

[mura_gadi]

Fingers crossed for luckiest man on the planet then... you seem to have a plethora of trades to pick from in your circle I must say.