Light shield ideas

[MortonH]

The other night at home I observed from my apartment balcony and used towels, sheets, etc to block off various lights around the building.

It occurred to me that some kind of portable "light shield" would enable observing from many places that may have only one or two offending lights but otherwise darkish skies.

Various ideas have been running through my head, such as a photographer's backdrop on a stand, but I haven't checked out how expensive that might be. Money is tight after recent purchases so an observing tent, etc. is out.

An observing hood is a possibility but then if you look up you get light in your eye, so I'm looking for something standalone that will work. And it needs to pack down small for transport.

Any ideas?

[Scorpius51]

I have been thinking the same thing!

The last couple of nights (between cloudy periods) I've been observing from my back and front yards of my residential block. I can get decent chunks of sky although LP is a bother, particularly from zenith to the west.

A BIG pain is street lighting, neighbour's lights and the odd car along the street. I was trying to think of some portable screens to place in strategic spots, depending on where I set up.

I have considered screens on stands, or an encircling fabric or tarp screen attached to several posts with a radius and height of ~ 2m.

So, any ideas would be great!

[TrevorW]

I use black plastic and blue tack at home to cover windows where stray light comes thru

[Scorpius51]

This is exactly what I need! Light weight, portable and simple to build. Probably needs some pegs into the group to secure from wind.

http://www.astrochat.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=16473&sid=08957507aa517885e0f8e3a05230b7b c

Could be adapted for an apartment, particularly if you had a 3-4m balcony.

[OICURMT]

Looks to me that the flexibility of this system is limited only by the imagination. :question:

[Ausrock]

The main issue with the pipe frame is the time needed to set up or take down. I've been wondering about this same issue for a while and (at least for me) the easiest option, and assuming I can still purchase things I had years ago is going to be 4 telescopic tent poles, telescopic poles with "eyes" on each end to connect the top of the tent poles, necessary tensioning ropes, etc and a sheet of brattice (sp).

[brian nordstrom]

:D Go to a local welding supplier and look at " portable welding screens " . these are very light weight , on casters and easy to assemble . They are about 2300mm wide and 2000mm high .
The last lot we got at work were only $44 each , thats trade price but to us Joe public they should not be to much more .
Worth a look .
Brian.

[mikerr]

There are some clever solutions on Cloudy Nights......

http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/showthreaded.php/Number/3373521/

http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbarchive/showflat.php?Cat=0&Board=telescopes&Number=200654&fpart=&PHPSESSID

http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbarchive/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/1606657/page/0/view/collapsed/sb/5/o/all/fpart/1

Michael.

[Poita]

I made panels similar to the ones on CN, they erect really quickly and wrok a treat. I was mainly using it for wind protection, but it made a great portable obs for blocking light as well.

I can recommend the observing hoodies, they really work well. I bought the solar one, it works just as well at night and is great for solar observing as well.