The FCAS Story - Page 2 of 5

At the dedication of the telescope Mr. Perkin told us of the difficulty, and that his opticians had done their best to "zonally correct" for the problem. They had indeed done a very good job, but still the glass was flawed. Mr. Perkin promised that when it was demonstrated that the Society was doing research-grade work with the telescope, Perkin-Elmer Corp. would replace the lens free, which was later done in spite of the fact that he had passed away in the meanwhile. The glass was donated by Schott in Germany, and even though the project was for a non-profit educational institution we had to pay a duty of $700 on it, 10% of its nominal value.

Several dozen companies participated, making the needed parts. In order for donors to be able to make tax deductions of the cost of the work the ownership of the telescope had to pass to the Museum. It took about 5 years to get all the parts made, and at the last the Museum hired retired engineer Bill Blackwood to coordinate the efforts, and the assembly of the telescope. First light was in May 1965, with formal dedication on June 13, 1965. Blackwood suffered from a wasting disease. He died a couple of years after the completion of the telescope. At his memorial service his sister stated that his interest in the telescope project had extended his life at least two years. He left money to the Museum, part of which was used to purchase a commercial dome to replace the home-made one built by the Society, which was too heavy and was shaking the building apart.

The Museum issued a special edition of their Quarterly Report for the occasion of the dedication, copies of which are still available. The back page lists all of the contributors to the telescope project. The Museum maintains the building and uses it for some daytime classes and meetings, and there are other groups that meet there as well. Museum use of the building for evening observing visits by school or other groups happens perhaps twice a month. Every clear Friday evening from 8 – 10PM (8:30 - 10:30 during Daylight Saving time) the Museum holds public open house. The rest of the time the telescope is available for enjoyment or research by FCAS members.

Construction of the original dome was another contribution of the FCAS members. A committee designed the dome, and again donations from nearby companies were used in the construction. "Lightweight" steel I beams were used for the framework and covered with a silo-dome skin. The shutters were of the "bi-parting" type and it was quite some time before they were hitched up to a hand crank which opened both at once. In the meantime they had to be opened by hand, climbing a ladder to the mid-point and pushing them aside (and hopefully not OVER the side). The tracks carrying the shutters were covered by aluminum wings which became the nesting place of birds in springtime. The nesting materials would fall off the track, filling the cover so the dome could not be closed until the observer climbed up a ladder and raked the mess out of the way. This original dome was extremely heavy and rotating it proved to be a problem. At first a pry bar was used to move the dome, and only in small amounts. Then a member brought in a small winch which could be used to pull the dome. This still was not satisfactory so he replaced one of the support wheels with a driven wheel, and at last a fairly satisfactory drive was in place. There was one problem in that there was a high spot in the bottom dome ring, so the drive had to be helped past that spot. A manufacturer of turntables for displays such as automobiles was engaged to motorize the dome. On their first inspection trip they stated that all the "junk" in the middle of the room would have to be removed so that the drive motors could be placed there! They eventually came up with the idea of fastening a rubber-and-fabric gear belt to the inner edge of the dome to engage a drive gear. FCAS members drilled innumerable holes in the steel base ring of the dome to fasten the belt, which was then glued and screwed in place. It worked fine for a while until the heavy pull on the gear belt and differential expansion of the steel versus the belt caused it to loosen. Usually only one end of one segment would come loose (in the dark) and then the dome wouldn't rotate, or would go only in one direction. While this mechanism did work, it rotated the dome rather fast. This was fine for observers, but we soon noticed that cracks were developing in the masonry supporting the dome wheels.

All of these problems caused us to look for a better dome. We chose the Ash Dome Company of Plainfield, Illinois. Their product appeared well designed and well constructed, and their domes are in use at observatories all over the world. Funds were provided by the Museum from a bequest left them by Bill Blackwood (see above). Installation of the new dome required removal of five courses of brick from the top of the Observatory tower, and construction of a reinforced concrete ring in their place. The old dome was propped up and the removal of masonry was done by FCAS members. A contractor installed the reinforcing steel and the concrete forms, and poured the concrete for the new ring.

The parts for the new dome were painted before assembly, and members assisted the engineer from Ash Dome who came to supervise the job. The dome had been completely assembled at the factory, so all parts and holes lined up (sometimes after a little persuasion), and the job was completed in two days. The new dome has a shutter made in two parts, the larger of which moves up and over the top out of the way for observing. The hoisting of that shutter and placing it on its tracks was the most difficult part of the entire operation, since it is the largest single unit of the dome. The lower shutter hinges down and outward.

At the dedication of the telescope Mr. Perkin had another concern. He asked us “When are you going to paint the building white?" - to cut down on absorption of the Sun's heat by the brown brick. FCAS members banded together and in 1970 painted the building with the whitest paint available - high titanium content. Scaffolding was rented and the Museum bought a paint sprayer-compressor. This paint job did indeed cut down a great deal on the heat, but later a problem developed. We would find pieces of brick had spalled off the building. Approximately 3/8 inch of the brick's face would break loose. "Experts" thought that we had sealed the moisture in the brick and it was causing the spalling. If such a brick split happened while someone was entering the building there could be an injury. All our hard careful work was turned to dust when the Museum had the building sandblasted to remove the paint. A coat of stucco-like cement material was applied. It was not as white as the paint, but was supposed to let the brick "breathe". The spalling continues to this day. The so-called experts were wrong.

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