[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