NEXDOME WEATHERS THE HARVEY HURRICANE IN SHIP SHAPE

Woodland Hills Telescopes recently received a message from John Baker, the owner of a Nexdome residing in the Houston, Texas area which was recently battered by Hurricane Harvey. The backyard observatory proved its strength and durability as it came out of the category 4 hurricane, unscathed. Knowing his proximity to the Gulf of Mexico and the likelihood of being hit with a tropical storm at some point, John did make a few small additions with brackets and tie-downs for additional insurance. While the dome was slammed with high winds and rain it not only weathered the storm but no repair or adjustment after.

Read on to see what John says about his experience:

Hi Farah,

I am more than pleased to tell you that the NexDome I recently purchased from Woodland Hills Telescope survived Hurricane Harvey's landfall on the Texas Gulf Coast. Peak wind gusts of 90+ mph were recorded as the storm passed over my Bay Home which is 12 miles from Port Lavaca, Texas. Things were "very rough" as you could tell from the Weather Channel's on site coverage at Port Lavaca during the height of the storm. As my Bay Home is constructed to hurricane standards I decided to provide the same for the NexDome. The NexDome is sitting on a 4 inch concrete slab and secured using concrete screws on each of the provided wall section's "L" brackets. As an added feature, I installed hold down brackets on opposite sides of the dome using a similar bracket arrangement with concrete screws. I attached a " D.O.T" brand two inch wide "back off tie down" positioned directly over the dome's shutter to secure the both the shutter and dome. The dome is fully functional and ready for some more great viewing down here on the Texas Gulf Coast. By the way, I have a Mewlon 250 and IOptron Mount. With that setup, there is enough room in the dome for two adults!! Thanks for all of your help and liaison with NexDome regarding technical info:)

Best Regards

John Baker

Houston, Texas

This entry was posted in on September 14, 2017 by Telescopes.net.

NexDome Note:

Since John's NexDome version from last year, we have improved the shutter design and how they are attached for even more wind resistance. Other than durability, NexDome design allows less inside the dome pressure build up due to wind.