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Over the last few months the observation
side of our society has grown and we usually have
about 30 members and some new faces at our observation
nights. So much so that the farmer who lets us use
his land kindly suggested that we put some sort of
building up, so that we can house equipment and even
observe from it. At the same time one of our members,
Roy Darbyshire, said that he would donate a large
homemade telescope to the society, providing we had
somewhere to keep it.
It was agreed to look for something that
would do the job. After many weeks of being shown
some very poor condition units at very high prices
(over £1000) we were losing hope. One day I came across
a scrap dealer who had some old mobile workshops,
previously owned by the GPO who used them for line
repairs. The unit was in a bit of a mess but at £250
it was a bargain. I got permission to buy the unit
and arranged to have it delivered to our site.
That weekend about twenty members of our
group went up to the site and stripped out all of
the old machinery. We installed a new floor and gave
the place a good clean and a new name. It is now known
as the "Observatruck", and will soon house
the Roy Darbyshire Telescope. Over the next week we
made some locks for the main door and moved it into
its new position. It was now ready for use, although
it still needs to be painted green, due to its location.
We will be installing the scope over the next few
weeks in the hope that we can get Sir Patrick to open
it for us when he does a talk in Llandudno.
Brian Woosnam, Membership Secretary
Tel. 01492 533264 b.woosnam@llandrillo.ac.uk
For more details or a membership application
form,
Email Brian
Observing Group
We meet on the 2nd Tuesday each month
at the Llanelian Community Hall, 7:30pm until 9:30pm.
Members of the public can come along and join in.
Further meeting dates are as follows:
09/01, 13/02, 13/03, 10/04, 08/05, 12/06,
10/07, 14/08, 11/09, 09/10, 13/11, and 11/12.
For further information, contact Steve
Reid on (01492) 515895 or Brian Woosnam on (01492)
533264.
Original
design by Richard
Smith
Modifications by Graham Hodson |
