Time to say goodbye :(

[JimT]

Well, I had a great holiday in Switzerland, got home late last night to see the roof of the observatory had been ripped off in the winds and everything soaking wet, left it all till this morning to check it, no good, all the equipment destroyed so rather than chuck any money at it I have decided to dump it all and say goodbye to the hobby, it's been a good few years and enjoyed it all even though I did not come up with any spectacular photos, I did enjoy comet and asteroid chasing, so a goody bye to all and thanks  :).

Jim

[Mick J]

What a sad post but I can understand your position, turned out to be an expensive holiday.  All the best in whatever you do.

[Macavity]

Also <touched>. But do respect / understand your decision. Observatories
- Even if you are "always there" [mixed feelings!] are ever the concern? 

Philosophically I often contemplate "liberating myself" of such things? lol
Sometimes you have to decide what's "for the best"? Wishing you well.

[tooth_dr]

Terrible news but please don’t be too hasty.  Why not take things apart and leave somewhere to dry out? That will cost you nothing. I’ve been there done that, got the t shirt. Took an extended break after my obsy roof flipped off and everything soaked, glad I didn’t dump everything at the time, as I’ve rekindled my interest.

[alan potts]

How sad,  I am sorry to hear this, is everything ruined?

Alan

[paul mc c]

Night mare.....would your insurance not cover it,maybe worth a try.

[JimT]

10 minutes ago, tooth_dr said:

Terrible news but please don’t be too hasty.  Why not take things apart and leave somewhere to dry out? That will cost you nothing. I’ve been there done that, got the t shirt. Took an extended break after my obsy roof flipped off and everything soaked, glad I didn’t dump everything at the time, as I’ve rekindled my interest.

Your right, but at the moment I cannot see a way forward and I just want to walk away from it all, thanks 

 

[JimT]

10 minutes ago, alan potts said:

How sad,  I am sorry to hear this, is everything ruined?

Alan

Yes Alan, I left the 11" RASA pointing up and it is full of water as is the mount 

[JimT]

9 minutes ago, paul mc c said:

Night mare.....would your insurance not cover it,maybe worth a try.

Maybe Paul but I just don't have it in me to even think about that.

[Sp@ce_d]

Sorry to hear & not a nice thing to come back to. I’d urge you not to make hasty decisions before you’ve had time to dry it out & check over. Most kit is more robust than we think. Even electronics if it’s dried out thoroughly.. although corrosion damage later on may have an effect. Perhaps if you give it a bit of time to take it all in it may not seem as hopeless as it does right now. There are folk on here who have suffered the same fate. Anyone attempting Astronomy in the UK surely must be resilient at heart you know ?

[Peter Drew]

Sorry to hear this Jim and understand your feelings as I've had similar disasters. Like others have said, if you can, take a step back, regroup and give the kit a chance to dry out and see what is salvageable, you could be surprised, water does little damage short term if the problem is addressed carefully.  

[DaveS]

Agree with what others have said.

Take step back and a deep breath and see what can be salvaged. Might be worth getting on to Celestron to see what they have to say.

[RayD]

Really terrible news, and agree with all above.  Get the roof covered over, big dehumidifier in the there, and I reckon you'd be surprised what is salvageable.  Above all just take a couple of days to absorb the shock and approach again.

[Ouroboros]

After a shock like this I totally sympathise with your wish to chuck in the whole damn business. I also wholly concur with what others have said. 

It's also worth remembering you have not lost the knowledge and experienced gained. We'd all do things differently if we could start again. You've now got the opportunity to do that. 

[Beulah]

I would also echo the advice not to be hasty. Stargazing/astronomy can be a positively insidious interest and you will most likely regret your decision. Give yourself time to get over this terrible loss.

[barkis]

Tragic news that Jim, and sympathy all around you from all the guys here.
It must have gutted you to come home to that, and I would guess a bit of anger at the injustice
of it all. You reactions are well understood, although you have Astronomy deeply ingrained in your very being, so it will
keep tugging at you.  A good tonic would be to get to as many Star Parties as possible, and if possible SGL's next
big meet at Lucksall in October. That way you can enjoy as many scopes as you like, and get in some observing too.
I know it's a bit early to decide such a thing, but remember too, you will be seeing many friends you have made here, and 
that is no small thing to put aside. All's not lost, the disappointment at your sad loss will not last, and a resurgence of Interest
more than likely. Don't get too despondent, much to enjoy down the line.

Best Wishes.

 

[Adam J]

Gutted for you. Hopefully as others have said it will just need time to dry and much may be salvaged. Just having built an obsy myself I am curious as to how you secured the roof. I don't want to suffer the same fait. 

[JimT]

Thank you all for your kind words, I'm afraid I only have myself to blame for all this, the roof construction was good but flawed in one aspect and this I knew and did not remedy.  It was heartbreaking to see all the damage and I just could not see a way forward.  At the moment I have switched off the electricity and done some work to make the roof safe, there is water on everything and it will take some time to dry, the only thing working was the waterproof security cameras.  I will take in all that you great people have said and sleep on it then I will begin to look at what can be salvaged, if the major parts are beyond repair I will look to giving the other parts away, money I have no interest in so we are looking at a wait and see game, thank you for your response.

Jim

[Ouroboros]

Good luck, Jim.

[geoflewis]

4 hours ago, JimT said:

got home late last night to see the roof of the observatory had been ripped off in the winds and everything soaking wet, left it all till this morning to check it, no good, all the equipment destroyed

That is truly dreadful news Jim. I've just been reviewing your obsevatory photos and you clearly invested a lot of time, effort and money getting that established - it's a huge shame that it ended badly. Here's hoping that you can salvage a lot of it, even if you decide that you're done with the hobby for now.

[Mr Spock]

Such a horrible thing to happen and everyone's worst nightmare.

However, astro kit is tougher than it looks. Once everything's dried off you may find it won't take much to put right.

I can understand how you feel right now though. It's hard not to be totally devastated.

[ollypenrice]

I host a robotic shed, the electronic management of which is not my responsibility (though that doesn't mean I don't care. It just means that, from day one, I knew that I could never, and would never, be able to guarantee security. So the owners took on that responsibility.) One night a computer crashed and the roof opened in the snow. Now there were some fatal casualties (a couple of PCs) but, remarkably, most of the kit survived. So take a step back. Nobody wants to see a RASA full of water but water is not that bad. We do use it for cleaning! Dealt with before living organisms have had a chance to start breeding it should come back to full working order with a strip down and clean up.

Disasters like this look insurmountable at first but in fact they are not. You just pick up the first bit and start to fix it...

Very best wishes,

Olly

[JimT]

4 minutes ago, ollypenrice said:

I host a robotic shed, the electronic management of which is not my responsibility (though that doesn't mean I don't care. It just means that, from day one, I knew that I could never, and would never, be able to guarantee security. So the owners took on that responsibility.) One night a computer crashed and the roof opened in the snow. Now there were some fatal casualties (a couple of PCs) but, remarkably, most of the kit survived. So take a step back. Nobody wants to see a RASA full of water but water is not that bad. We do use it for cleaning! Dealt with before living organisms have had a chance to start breeding it should come back to full working order with a strip down and clean up.

Disasters like this look insurmountable at first but in fact they are not. You just pick up the first bit and start to fix it...

Very best wishes,

Olly

Thank you Olly

[swag72]

A real shame Jim and I can understand how you feel right now...... Close it all up, make it secure and perhaps put a dehumidifier in the obs to start drying stuff out. Then when you feel able take a look at it all and see what is going to be usable. I think you may be surprised at how tough some stuff really is.

There's no hurry...... it will all wait until you feel able to deal with it and then decide what to do. Good luck Jim 

[JamesF]

I'd probably be distraught in the same situation, but I'd echo the sentiments already posted.  Many things will cope with getting wet as long as they have the opportunity to dry out properly.  If you have everything covered up and got rid of the worst of the water now then I'd take a little time to get over the shock, after which you can start working through everything, making sure it gets totally dried out and assess what the actual damage is.  Some things might need a little fettling to return to use, but hopefully it won't be anywhere near as bad as it first looks.

James