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Old 28-06-2022, 03:52 PM
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Paul Haese
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Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Adelaide
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AdamJL View Post
thanks for posting that. Very interesting videos. Can the roof be closed manually as well? I always wonder about that... what happens if it jams and rain comes through?
Hi Adam, at present no the roof cannot be moved manually easily, although it is a matter of unbolting the gearbox from the mounting board which is easy enough to do. The roof should not jam at all, it is on a gate track and wheels and that means it will generally slide over any obstructions. In the 30 or so times I have opened and closed the roof manually and the 10 or so times I have opened and closed the roof with the motor it has not looked like it would jam. I was fairly deliberate with the design to prevent jamming. Even the hold downs have a bit of clearance to allow some up and down but not enough to allow derail.

The observatory is protected by the software monitoring the cloud and rain sensor and if cloud comes in; the roof closes immediately. There is no delay. Cloud will predicate rain falling out there as rain is reasonably rare at the site. Only 180-200mm or so a year. In addition to this, the hardware via the firmware is programmed to shut if it looses contact with the computer or the AAG Cloudwatcher.
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