On 22 June 2018, we took down the EPD and hung it like 20 feet high on the East wall of the IR.  We did this with custom-built holders built from hardened steel at OSU.  We flex-tested it here to make sure it would hold, but still it's rather unsettling to see the supersectors so high up.  We put four sextants (8 supersectors) hanging on two of these little rods, and it sure gives the impression of a lot of torque....

So far, so good.  But I'd like to document how things should look if all is well, so that we can determine if things are NOT well.


The supersectors hanging on the East wall in the rear of the IR.

The ends of the support rods have a threaded hole, in which a small screw holds a washer (see photos below).  The washer is big enough so that the supersectors cannot slide off, in case the rods flex and start tilting downward.  But we don't want to rely on these washers!  We want horizontal rods.

So, we put little pieces of pipe as "spacers" between the supersectors and the washer at the end.  So long as the spacers are not "squeezed" between the supersector trying to slide down on one side, and the washer on the other side, then all is well.  Nothing has moved or is threatening to fall.  This is what to look for:


This is what we want to see.  The "spacer" is not being squeezed between the supersector mount (green) and the washer at the end of the support rod.  Photo credit: Justin Ewigleben.

This was most recently checked by Robert Pak on 20 Sept, and all was well.  Nothing has moved in the three months since it was put up there.  Thanks also to Justin, Prashanth, and Isaac, for checking it over the past months.  (And thanks in advance for doing it in the coming months!).