Extreme home makeover scope on roof

Last night that show did an awesome job rebuilding a home and one of
the kids liked astronomy so they put an 8 inch Meade GPS scope ON THE
ROOF! No railings or any way to get to it, no protection from the
elements, not even a lens cap. The only way to use it was through his
computer. Geez how could any nonastronomy person be even that stupid?
Put it in the back yard you say. No there wasn't enough room because
of the new pond there. I'm sure they were just going for looks but
come on already.

Darren Drake wrote:
Last night that show did an awesome job rebuilding a home and one of
the kids liked astronomy so they put an 8 inch Meade GPS scope ON THE
ROOF!

I saw that too, and thought the same thing. Here are some pics for those
who did not see the show.

http://abc.go.com/primetime/xtremeho...y/ep104/4.html

On this one the scope cut off some, but you can see the platform it is
on better than the first one.
http://abc.go.com/primetime/xtremeho...y/ep104/8.html

What a waste to give the kid a nice telescope and put it up there like
that. It would be interesting to know if he ever used it. Gotta be one
of the most odd telescope installations ever, though.

I know they were just going for the "Wow!" effect, but how long do you
really think one would last up there exposed to the elements?

Doug

How silly. I'd hate to lose my footing in the darkkkkk, ooops, watch that
first step....

Darrn Drake posted:

Geez how could any nonastronomy person be even that stupid?

You answered your question right there. People do *not* know much about
Astronomy or telescopes (or safety). They also may not know a lot about
shingles, which tend to lose some of their lifespan if you walk on them a lot
(didn't see a ladder or walkway up to the platform which didn't run over the
shingles). They mistakenly "think" the view would be better up on that
platform, but, of course, they do not know the truth about flexure, vibration,
and what a gust of wind can do in knocking a scope over. I recall a similar
situation when a state Parks official wanted to put an 8 inch Celestron on top
of a 100 foot aluminum observation tower for people to look through. I have
stood on that platform, and even with little wind, I could feel a little
induced motion from it swaying slightly. With binoculars, the swaying was
rather obvious, so I would hate to think about using a telescope up there
(along with trying to carry it up all those flights of stairs). Clear skies
to you.
--
David W. Knisely
Prairie Astronomy Club: http://www.prairieastronomyclub.org
Hyde Memorial Observatory: http://www.hydeobservatory.info/

**********************************************
* Attend the 11th Annual NEBRASKA STAR PARTY *
* July 18-23, 2004, Merritt Reservoir *
* http://www.NebraskaStarParty.org *
**********************************************

"David Knisely" wrote in message
...
Darrn Drake posted:

Geez how could any nonastronomy person be even that stupid?

You answered your question right there. People do *not* know much about
Astronomy or telescopes (or safety). They also may not know a lot about
shingles, which tend to lose some of their lifespan if you walk on them a
lot
(didn't see a ladder or walkway up to the platform which didn't run over
the
shingles). They mistakenly "think" the view would be better up on that
platform, but, of course, they do not know the truth about flexure,
vibration,
and what a gust of wind can do in knocking a scope over. I recall a
similar
situation when a state Parks official wanted to put an 8 inch Celestron on
top
of a 100 foot aluminum observation tower for people to look through. I
have
stood on that platform, and even with little wind, I could feel a little
induced motion from it swaying slightly. With binoculars, the swaying was
rather obvious, so I would hate to think about using a telescope up there
(along with trying to carry it up all those flights of stairs). Clear
skies
to you.

I was giving my bro a tour of the skies last Saturday, and the wind on the
ground was enough to vibrate the scope, so I can't imagine what it would be
like on the roof. Wouldn't heat coming off the roof be extremely damaging to
the views as well? I can't imagine what kind of boil you'd get in the scope
on a hot summer day.

BV.

"David Knisely" wrote in message
...
Darrn Drake posted:

Geez how could any nonastronomy person be even that stupid?

You answered your question right there. People do *not* know much about
Astronomy or telescopes (or safety). They also may not know a lot about
shingles, which tend to lose some of their lifespan if you walk on them a
lot
(didn't see a ladder or walkway up to the platform which didn't run over
the
shingles). They mistakenly "think" the view would be better up on that
platform, but, of course, they do not know the truth about flexure,
vibration,
and what a gust of wind can do in knocking a scope over.

They also don't know much about heat currents rising from the house roof,
either.


I recall a similar
situation when a state Parks official wanted to put an 8 inch Celestron on
top
of a 100 foot aluminum observation tower for people to look through. I
have
stood on that platform, and even with little wind, I could feel a little
induced motion from it swaying slightly. With binoculars, the swaying was
rather obvious, so I would hate to think about using a telescope up there
(along with trying to carry it up all those flights of stairs). Clear
skies
to you.
--
David W. Knisely
Prairie Astronomy Club: http://www.prairieastronomyclub.org
Hyde Memorial Observatory: http://www.hydeobservatory.info/

**********************************************
* Attend the 11th Annual NEBRASKA STAR PARTY *
* July 18-23, 2004, Merritt Reservoir *
* http://www.NebraskaStarParty.org *
**********************************************





--
Tom Royer
Lead Engineer
The MITRE Corporation
202 Burlington Road
Bedford, MA 01730
Voice: (781) 271-8399
Cell: (978) 290-2086
FAX: (781) 271-8500

"If you're not free to fail, you're not free." -- Gene Burns

(Darren Drake) wrote in message . com...
Last night that show did an awesome job rebuilding a home and one of
the kids liked astronomy so they put an 8 inch Meade GPS scope ON THE
ROOF! No railings or any way to get to it, no protection from the
elements, not even a lens cap. The only way to use it was through his
computer. Geez how could any nonastronomy person be even that stupid?
Put it in the back yard you say. No there wasn't enough room because
of the new pond there. I'm sure they were just going for looks but
come on already.

Here's a link with a picture of what you are talking about.

*WARNING* the following telescope setup will make you cringe:

http://abc.go.com/primetime/xtremeho...y/ep104/4.html

Is there any way contact the kid about this before it is too late?????



"Tom Royer" wrote in message ...
"David Knisely" wrote in message
...
Darrn Drake posted:

Geez how could any nonastronomy person be even that stupid?

You answered your question right there. People do *not* know much about
Astronomy or telescopes (or safety). They also may not know a lot about
shingles, which tend to lose some of their lifespan if you walk on them a
lot
(didn't see a ladder or walkway up to the platform which didn't run over
the
shingles). They mistakenly "think" the view would be better up on that
platform, but, of course, they do not know the truth about flexure,
vibration,
and what a gust of wind can do in knocking a scope over.

They also don't know much about heat currents rising from the house roof,
either.


I recall a similar
situation when a state Parks official wanted to put an 8 inch Celestron on
top
of a 100 foot aluminum observation tower for people to look through. I
have
stood on that platform, and even with little wind, I could feel a little
induced motion from it swaying slightly. With binoculars, the swaying was
rather obvious, so I would hate to think about using a telescope up there
(along with trying to carry it up all those flights of stairs). Clear
skies
to you.
--
David W. Knisely
Prairie Astronomy Club: http://www.prairieastronomyclub.org
Hyde Memorial Observatory: http://www.hydeobservatory.info/

**********************************************
* Attend the 11th Annual NEBRASKA STAR PARTY *
* July 18-23, 2004, Merritt Reservoir *
* http://www.NebraskaStarParty.org *
**********************************************





--
Tom Royer
Lead Engineer
The MITRE Corporation
202 Burlington Road
Bedford, MA 01730
Voice: (781) 271-8399
Cell: (978) 290-2086
FAX: (781) 271-8500

"If you're not free to fail, you're not free." -- Gene Burns

snip...Geez how could any nonastronomy person be even that
stupid?/snip

This is from the Meade website [http://shop.meade.com/extreme.html],
so it looks like you cannot blame the programme, Meade installed it
themselves...!!!

"Contessa Mendoza, a single mom and social worker with a selfless
dedication to her daughter Analicia, her adopted son Angel, and her
foster son Tony, were chosen by ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
team to completely renovate her Van Nuys, California house. In a
matter of days while Ms. Medoza and her children were staying at
Disney World in Florida, her home received an incredible makeover
including a second story addition to the house. Meade was called in to
install an 8" LX90 telescope with the Autostar Suite and LPI Imager
that Tony will operate remotely from his space-themed bedroom!"

Regards

Andrew

"Contessa Mendoza, a single mom and social worker with a selfless
dedication to her daughter Analicia, her adopted son Angel, and her
foster son Tony, were chosen by ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
team to completely renovate her Van Nuys, California house. In a
matter of days while Ms. Medoza and her children were staying at
Disney World in Florida, her home received an incredible makeover
including a second story addition to the house. Meade was called in to
install an 8" LX90 telescope with the Autostar Suite and LPI Imager
that Tony will operate remotely from his space-themed bedroom!"

Regards

Andrew

Even though Meade themselves are claiming that they "installed" the
LX200, I refuse to believe it. The "installation" appears to have
consisted of setting up the telescope on the crux of the roof. No
expert know-how was used or required.

Here's what I think happened: These shows always try to add contrived
drama by using an artificial deadline. This gives the contractors
something to be alarmed at, thus adding to the drama of what would
otherwise be a ho-hum renovation. Well, (here's where my theory comes
in) they barely got the house completed in time and one of the things
sacrificed was proper installation of the telescope. They probably
had dramatic plans for the telescope, but had to scale back
drastically when their artificial deadline drew closer and they still
had more important fish to fry. My speculation is that Meade finished
off the job properly after the cameras were turned off.

Common sense dictates that the telescope wasn't left on the roof like
that. That's just crazy talk. One rainstorm and the whole setup is
ruined.

On another note, it looks like Meade is trying to cash in on the
"Queer eye for the straight guy" factor. A recent study has shown
that products used on Queer Eye have dramatic sales spikes immediately
after the airing of the program. If it brings some fresh fish into
our spectacular little hobby, then more power to them!