observatory pier

observatory pier


This is the wooden pier (four 2×6’s in a square with sand on the hollow inside) inside the observatory, built 10 years ago. There is a gap in the floor where the floor supports and decking were at least 1 cm away from the pier, allowing it to be isolated from motions of the deck/floor/observatory.

While imaging with the telescope in the last week, we noticed that the image moved a *lot* when anyone walked around. We pulled back the carpet and discovered that the earth had moved!
Since the pier is in a hole filled with concrete, we figured that the observatory itself had shifted over time the 1 cm needed to come into contact with the pier.

Two days ago the shifted floor met up with a Canadian Tire brand reciprocating saw and that problem went away. While there we also added a switched surge protected power bar with a dim red indicator light.
Much better!