helped at CAO

This weekend two events were planned. It was the fall work party wherein we prepare the E.C. Carr Astronomical Observatory for winter use. It was also the public open house with an open invitation to the local communities to gather for an astronomy presentation, tour of the facilities, and (weather permitting) viewing of astronomical objects.

The job jar had about 15 items on it, some small, some big. I helped Tony move some of the house electrical circuits from the main to the generator-supported panel. Did all our work live. No sparks, fortunately. I took the opportunity to update the breaker documentation. Speaking of the generator, I installed the new outdoor timer for the battery blanket, so to avoid cooking the battery over the winter. I installed the new set-back programmable thermostat which Dietmar and Tony adjusted to operate at non-peak times. I swapped out the old 12 volt battery for a new one in the garage security system. I formed a crew to install the new felt pads to the kitchen chairs. Finally, reviewed the new fire-safety documentation.

For the open house, I actually hit the ground running, for Friday afternoon, with Ian, Nick, Tom, Kiron, and Dietmar. I prepared the Geoff Brown Observatory, including connecting the MallinCam, and moving the big "battleship" binoculars from the house. With Tony and Kiron, arranged parking lot cones. Turned on all the red lighting in the house and the GBO. Helped Tony with some technical issues before he started up his presentation. Got him a bottle of water. Then I floated for the evening, Friday. We got a bit of observing in. Saturday, Tony asked me to welcome guests and introduce the first speaker. Helped Leslie get Fun Facts on her laptop. Later, I received guests to the GBO and gave a brief talk. The weather did not permit observing this time.

It was intense at moments, a challenge with running two events simultaneously. Some communication issues, as usual. But overall everything went fairly well.

No one seemed interested in using my radios...

Photos have appeared on Sharmin's Facebook gallery and Ian D's flickr site.