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The Observatory was constructed from a standard 8 foot by
10 foot garden shed with the help of some of my friends from the Southern Maryland Astronomical Society: Jeff and Pam
Humbert, Mike Conte, Walter Rison and Lee Ranta. Also, old friends, Vic Gauzza and Ray Simpson helped
with the construction. Without all of their help, the project would not have been completed!
The Observatory
has a simple roll off roof of my own design. Bottom line, it has been in place for 5 years and it works - everything
is nice and dry!
You can see the fan, (on a timer) installed in the wall -
on the back wall is another "window" cut out of the building, but covered with screen. That allows air to be pulled
through the room during the summer months.
Here is a closeup view of the roof wheel, nested in the slot.
There are two slots on each side of the building. To open the roof, you have to push it up in front and then slide it
forward.
In the third photo below note that the roof has some "outriggers". There are two of them on each
side of the roof and as you slide the roof along they keep the roof from falling off of the building. When closed there
are 4 latches that need to be closed. Two are in the front of the building on the outside, one on each side of the door,
(see the first photo below), and on the inside of the building, at the back on each side, there are two more. These
hold the roof down in high winds. It's very simple and it works. Also, on the top of the wall is a piece of garage
door rubber gasket, so when the roof drops down into the wheel slots the building is sealed.
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