DaveO
09-04-2007, 06:50 PM
Greetings all
Thought I'd share this little project with you all.
I don't know about you all, but space at our place is at a premium. No garage (only a carport) and 2 small children - you get the idea. :shrug:
At my place, the only available storage space has been the spare toilet off the laundry :sadeyes: (and yes, that probably does give you some idea of my wife's opinion of astronomy in general!!).
On top of this, I have no yard to speak of, only a small courtyard strategically placed between 3 street lights, which my wife for some strange reason feels should be reserved for the children to run around in. That means I have to "commute" to observe. That means loading and unloading my Magna, after which I am the only person able to fit into the car!
Add these two facts together and you will understand my motivation for my latest project: the AstroTrailer - storage and transport in one!
I started researching box trailers, builders trailers and the like, but generally this was going to cost me about 5K - the price of a very decent new scope.
Then I stumbled across camper trailers - accomodation and transport and storage. But they were about 9K (2 scopes?). What was a man to do? :shrug:
I then had the luck to stumble across an ad in the Trading Post for an old camper trailer. After looking at it, I was convinced this was the solution. And it was only $1650 (okay, you can still get a good scope for that, but I wanted to use the one I already had!).
So this weekend I spent the time restoring the trailer to a point where it might look the part of an AstroTrailer. Attached are photos of the transformation.
1. The trailer before I started
2. After removing all fittings, primed the bare spots
3. Painted in a charcoal hammer finish paint
4. Added a grey checker plate lino
5. The finished product
Doing the work and procuring the bits took all 4 days of the Easter break. Next week I hope to finalise the fitout to house all the astro gear.
Thought I'd share this little project with you all.
I don't know about you all, but space at our place is at a premium. No garage (only a carport) and 2 small children - you get the idea. :shrug:
At my place, the only available storage space has been the spare toilet off the laundry :sadeyes: (and yes, that probably does give you some idea of my wife's opinion of astronomy in general!!).
On top of this, I have no yard to speak of, only a small courtyard strategically placed between 3 street lights, which my wife for some strange reason feels should be reserved for the children to run around in. That means I have to "commute" to observe. That means loading and unloading my Magna, after which I am the only person able to fit into the car!
Add these two facts together and you will understand my motivation for my latest project: the AstroTrailer - storage and transport in one!
I started researching box trailers, builders trailers and the like, but generally this was going to cost me about 5K - the price of a very decent new scope.
Then I stumbled across camper trailers - accomodation and transport and storage. But they were about 9K (2 scopes?). What was a man to do? :shrug:
I then had the luck to stumble across an ad in the Trading Post for an old camper trailer. After looking at it, I was convinced this was the solution. And it was only $1650 (okay, you can still get a good scope for that, but I wanted to use the one I already had!).
So this weekend I spent the time restoring the trailer to a point where it might look the part of an AstroTrailer. Attached are photos of the transformation.
1. The trailer before I started
2. After removing all fittings, primed the bare spots
3. Painted in a charcoal hammer finish paint
4. Added a grey checker plate lino
5. The finished product
Doing the work and procuring the bits took all 4 days of the Easter break. Next week I hope to finalise the fitout to house all the astro gear.