HAASPobs

Re: Update on the HAASP plan

tedforte511@... (Ted Forte) — Wed, 03 May 2023 18:09:42 -0700

Motorized �� two chains, motor driven with an axle gear box.

Ted

Re: Update on the HAASP plan

winer.obs@... (Mark Trueblood) — Wed, 03 May 2023 17:27:26 -0700

Ted,

Will the roof be motorized? Or moved entirely by hand?

Mark

Mark Trueblood, Director
Winer Observatory
P.O. Box 797
Sonoita, AZ 85637-0797
(520) 264-8013 (cell)
(520) 265-2139 (if no answer)
email: winer.obs@...
URI: https://www.winer.org/

Re: Update on the HAASP plan

richardlighthill@... (Richard Lighthill) — Wed, 03 May 2023 17:16:35 -0700

Sounds great!

Update on the HAASP plan

tedforte511@... (Ted Forte) — Wed, 03 May 2023 17:07:49 -0700

Quick update

David Roemer and I met with some of the park personnel today (5/3/2023) to discuss the progress on the HAASP observatory planning. Besides Ritch Rummler there were four other park representatives including Devin Dreyer who may be leading the construction team that builds the observatory if the park gets the go ahead to proceed on their own.

There is the possibility that the State Parks hierarchy might ultimately decide to manage the project in which case all of the current plans are moot.

In any case nothing can proceed until the Parks administration signs off on the plans �� the biggest stumbling block at this juncture is the creation of engineer approved drawings.

If the current plan goes forward with Kartchner personnel building the structure, it will have a 20-foot by 40-foot footprint. The north end will be an enclosed 20 x20 ft room with a flat roof. The south end will be a 20-foot by 20-foot roll off roof structure. The roof will slide back over the north room with no overhang. A sliding glass door will connect the two rooms. The south wall will open like a barn door. To permit access to the horizon.

The structure will be steel, on a 4-inch concrete bed with a continuous 12-inch footing around the circumference. There will be an ADA compliant door or doors. It will have one telescoping pier (donated by David along with the 14-inch SCT to go on it). The site will have a 60-amp three phase electrical supply.

There will be a large (~100-foot diameter) circular arena on the west side for an outdoor science area that will be enclosed with a short wall and bisected east-west by a 10-foot-wide sidewalk with multiple power stations.

It is estimated that construction would take three months in a best-case scenario (no competing assignments or admin delays) once all of the approvals are acquired from Phoenix.

Response to our effort to get some ideas, help, etc from the Sunriver Observatory's manager, Paul Poncy

richardlighthill@... (Richard Lighthill) — Thu, 09 Feb 2023 16:03:02 -0800

Hi Richard,

I do have some advice for you, and would be glad to help. I’ll get back to you with some details and opinions on how we could have done better. The great thing for you is that you are starting from scratch and can build it right as one unit.

Paul Poncy

Observatory Manager

PO Box 3533 Sunriver, OR 97707
541-593-4394| paul@...

Contacted the Sunriver Nature Center & Observatory in Sunriver, OR

richardlighthill@... (Richard Lighthill) — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 16:45:24 -0800

Here is my email to PAUL PONCY - OBSERVATORY MANAGER
https://snco.org/about-us/staff-board/
https://snco.org/learn-explore/at-the-oregon-observatory/
https://img-aws.ehowcdn.com/700x/www.onlyinyourstate.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screen-Shot-2021-10-22-at-8.42.27-PM.png

===========================

to paul@...

Hi, Paul

I am contacting on behalf of the Huachuca Astronomy Club

https://www.hacastronomy.org/

https://www.facebook.com/HuachucaAstronomyClub

and the newly formed HAASP Observatory planning committee

for a roll-off roof observatory at the Kartchner Caverns State Park

https://azstateparks.com/kartchner in southeastern Arizona.

The state park there has been given permission by the state

to pursue ideas, planning, financing and construction of the obs there.

I lived in La Pine before moving to Sierra Vista, AZ two years ago

and am somewhat familiar with the Sunriver Nature Center

and since the committee is looking for ideas specifically a roll off roof obs

I thought perhaps you could give us some tips/measurements/etc

that might help us get our plans moving.

At present we have a donated 14" SCT and other dobs, etc

that we would like to house there.

If there are any basic floor plans that you think might be of some value to our planning it would be great if you could pass them on to us

along with any ideas regarding the roll off roof portion of the obs there.

It is hoped that we will be able to add a dome next to the roll off roof portion, too.

Thanks for considering,

Clear skies!

Richard Lighthill

Re: First meeting report

vastronomy@... (V Sempronio) — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 16:38:40 -0800

If there isn't going to be a dome, then there is more flexibility for many "roll off" solutions.
One issue is space, that is, the number of people who can be "around" a telescope.
A roll-off roof for a single scope isn't going to provide any more space than what we have for the Patterson.
Scaling a roll-off roof to be big enough for addition telescope(s) isn't that much bigger and leaves the space to have an additional people.
My example is only for 2 scopes, Room for even 4 should be considered. Is the solution only going to be a scope room or are their thoughts about having a adjacent warm room or even a class room?

So the ideal characteristics of my facility is for at least 2 piers, an ante-room for scope control and item storage, and a room that can be used for indoor public classes, presentations, or special events.

Vince

First meeting report

tedforte511@... (Ted Forte) — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 15:07:29 -0800

All, a meeting took place today at Kartchner Caverns State Park regarding the construction of an observatory (tentatively named HAASP observatory).

Present at the meeting was park ranger Ritch Rummler (the driving force behind the idea), Kyle Riesterer, supervisor and assistant park manager, Sidra Sutton, the park’s education coordinator and Lorie Lyons who does all the IDA reporting at the park, and me.

The park is very eager to make this happen. The more we (HAC) can help the sooner we can break ground.

Since the dome that was thought to be available in the park system did not materialize, we are definitely leaning toward a roll off roof.

As it stands right now, David Roemer is going to donate a Meade 14�� SCT and the idea is to build an observatory to house it. We think the majority of the construction can be done “in-house��. The scope is on a tripod and can be transferred to a pier as is, but we think the mount should be upgraded as soon as funds are available to do so.

There are two potential sites to locate the observatory but the most likely site is shown in the attached map.

Step one is to decide on the characteristics of the observatory so we can build a cost estimate to work with. Most of the construction can be done “in-house�� the park has its own crew to do construction. The major costs will be materials.

Funding is an unsettled question. The club may be able to help raise some money by soliciting donations and there may be some limited funding already available. By the way, if anyone wants to take the major financial burden �� we can name the place after you!

David Roemer is already working on sketching out a workable observatory, and from that we should be able to get a good estimate on what it will cost. Then we can determine if there’s enough money to get it done.

Now is the time to submit your ideas and suggestions.

If anyone has construction drawings of your roll off observatory that you can share, please scan them and post them here.

If you have any funding suggestions, please share them now.

We need to organize an evening trip to the park to evaluate the selected site after dark. We will schedule a second meeting as soon as we can establish the observatory characteristics and can reasonably estimate the costs.

Ted

Any word on the latest from the last meeting since the HAC club meeting?

richardlighthill@... (Richard Lighthill) — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 12:21:45 -0800

I can't remember when you said you were going to a meeting with the state park.

Richard Lighthill

Welcome

tedforte511@... (Ted Forte) — Wed, 25 Jan 2023 09:49:58 -0800

Welcome to the group dedicated to the planning, construction, and operation of the HAASP Observatory proposed for Kartchner Caverns State Park.

Please keep the traffic to a minimum and please set your preferences to individual emails.

Let’s try to keep this group for distributing updates about the project and for assigning tasks and announcing activities at the site.

Ted