Collecting  Photons

The way it looks now: November 23, 2006.

Welcome to a work in progress.

	1) Giving bones to the roof. Each half roof is constructed starting from two lateral structures made by a set of 80x80 mm and 65x65 mm beams. The sections have been glued in place with high resistance poliuretanic glue. This has been the piece of work that required most accuracy.
	2) Joining the roof sides The sides are connected by long (2.38 m) beams, and the joints have been stabilized by 45° braces. I tried hard as I couls to keep things square and I failed miserable: roof and walls are NOT square to each other, but it is not easy to notice, and operation of the roof does not seem to be affected by that. At this point things gets really exciting because the roof moves!
	3) Another view of the structure There are two wheels oneach track, but later on I added a third wheel at the center for additional support.
	4) The roof supports and internal braces This is the roof seen from the inside.  The 45° braces Are crucial to hold the shape of the roof. They are hold in place by 4 long screws on each joint. If now, after two years of frequent usage, the U-shaped roof is still perfectly rigid is because of these reinforcements.
	5) Covering the roof The roof is covered with 3 m long planks (same material used for the walls) and, although this is a pretty solution, it is far from being water proof. The final covering is done with a sort of rolled Canadian shingle that is unrolled over the roof and it is fixed by melting the inner surface with a torch blower. his task proved to be extremely unpleasant, and was only partially successful. It also caused lots of painful burns. Never mind, the final finish is very pretty and very water proof.

5) Dedication plate... An observatory, just like a sailing boat, is the end result of a dream. And then it should have a dedication plate, just like the name of a boat is chosen after painful internal debates. The plate was given me by my beloved wife Sabina, two years before that the observatory was completed and that this picture was shot.

Copyright © 2006 by Gimmi Ratto. (November 30, 2006)