The weather outside has been frightful, well cloudy, rainy etc. Early snowfall has not made for great observing. But there was the occasional good day to try to get some much needed maintenance performed on the observatory. First on the list is laser leveling the dome. This was not part of the original construction plans but hindsight being what it is, it seemed that now was an appropriate time to do it. New POD MAX owners have this in their construction plans, but remember mine was the first built in the United States. This involves “jacking up” the dome 6 inches and shimming around the walls to level the bearings that the dome rides on. It takes 3 people to do this, and thanks to the help from Dan Howard and Joe Farmer we were able to complete the job on December 4.
Raising the dome 
Measuring the levelness 
Using 2x4s to lever up the dome and insert 4x4s 
4x4s in place 
Replaced the 4x4s with 6x6s 
Dome has been raised 6 inches 
Lowering the dome
However, we quickly discovered the main source of the problem with the dome not moving smoothly. As everything settled over time, some of the bearings were not in full contact with the steel ring on the underside of the dome. This steel ring is what the bearings ride on as the dome turns. Where there was a point in the dome structure that carried substantial weight, the steel ring began to buckle. The entire dome weighs about 750 pounds!
Clearly before the dome could be used again the steel ring would need to be replaced. Fortunately, due to the tremendous support of Wayne Parker, designer of the POD MAX and owner of SkyShed Observatories, he was able to pull together replacement steel and ship it out as quickly as possible. (This is why you need to research how well your vendor will support you before making a purchase.)
We are all confident that the laser leveling of the dome will prevent this problem from occurring in the future. No other POD MAX observatory has run into this problem, and we know that many of them have laser leveled their domes. At the very least, it will make for a much smoother operation.
Now we just need the weather to cooperate for at least one day to finish the job and get back to observing the night skies!