Hi Martin
Adversity breeds excellence and drive inventiveness.
Would not "the cube" (there is a thread below) solve your space issues..It's only four foot square foot print and the lid opens with curtains to provide a nice wind break (and additional light shielding).
The wind is bad up here (at the house) but my spot here by the dam is relatively protected from the wind...I don't think being lower is all that bad because the previous future observatory sites were exposed to the wind and worse to lightning which apparently hits the hill top of here and the neighbours property much to frequently for my comfort ( I have a fear of lightning because I was hit thru the phone line once and so as they say once bitten twice shy) fortunately it seems a good choice here.
But it is cold in the van at night, not that it's a worry whilst in bed but when I got up ( 5-38 am) it was 4 degrees and my only solution is a pavers brick heated on my small stove...I put it on 30 minutes ago with a very small flame and already it is a balmy mmm I expected more but it is now 3 degrees but right now the Sun is starting thru the window...but I don't feel the cool at all in my legs and rugged up it's ok up top.
SO my short list is to paint and refit guide brackets, drill thru template (rather that cutting it all to shape) to provide points to transcribe the outline of the floor...Make a bench out of hardwood so I don't have to crawl around the ground to mark out the floor, do the cutting and painting and even drilling for the fastening points...I planed it last night and its a case of necessary preparation and it will be handy for all sorts of things...then on the bench cut the floor, paint it two coats black although wgen it is down I have some imitation floor boarding to put on it..it will look nice but will add to the insulation aspect cause I will put insulation between the top "flooring" and the bottom ply...paint is mainly..well exclusively to protect the floor really when I think about it..damn any colour would have done...anyways it is what it is...and I think I will rotate the whole lot 45 degrees as that is the orientation of the cube in Sydney and the eight works in that set up..it does not reach low stuff but I want only stuff near above for quality..If I want M31 I need to take a set up up the hill near the house ....Rotating the box is not that hard I think if you only expect an inch at a time approach..I was concerned because I did not have that much water pipe for rollers but I spotted some that I need to "borrow" and cut into one foot lengths
...Anyways it dawned on me at 3 am I can use some saplings ..may need more than pipe cause the bark will crush you would think adding to friction...still should work either way...when in a permanent position I am changing the door..there is a beam which means one has to bend down to fit thru something less than four feet high..but cutting that beam will reduce the stability of that wall..however once in place I can add some beams running out at 45 degrees and anchored so removing the beam opens the doorway to straight thru upright access..A lot of effort admittedly but for me it is almost a safety issue as bending puts me way off balance ..and I don't want to fall over with an eight inch in my arms...then when in place and before fastening the floor I will dig the holes to take the piers...only half a meter square say say e depth but with star pickets driven as deep as they will go (Frankie pileing) ...add some sewer pc pipe...and for the brackets for the mount I am going to try something I have never done but should work..Make a resin fitting using those stainless steel scouring pads as reinforcement rather than fibre glass...I think although resin the stainless steel approach should make it pretty rigid...anyway they will be on bolts so if replacement is needed it will not be a big deal...plus I have this trick for resin things...I add black tile grout for colouring and it looks great..easy and cheap..like some folk like their woman...but not me..easy and cheap is for material things only
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THEN OR DURING... I have stuff for the exterior corners and perhaps a fear batten both interior and exterior to hold down the cladding and the lining... maybe some power points and turn the back section into a shed to house the little granny and batteries..put some so.ar panels on the roof...maybe a auto garage door set up so I can open it with a remote...It's easy to move but I guess with ASIAIR and all I could just close shop from inside the nice relatively warm van...now up to ...3.5 degrees...maybe the thermometer is wrong it does not feel cold at all....????... Anyways the Sun is really coming in now so I will have another cuppa and some vitimans and Apple and some bacon from last night and get to work...a good thing with it being so cold which would be colder than most frige no freezer section is I can leave cooked meat out..so I made breakfast last night..
Anyways I have a great fridge in Sydney which the batteries in this van will run easy as...
Cooling for summer is what I am working on..might have to go for air con via a granny to cover the worst of it..some fans from acool box under and a roof to go over the van and annex...
BUT as you can see it's almost done.
Alex