Mobile Observatory

[lazjen (Chris)]

At this time I have no fixed setup in the backyard - take it out/in each night as I need it. Probably like everyone else in this situation, you realise how much time and effort is wasted in this process. In particular I feel "cheated" of usable time at the end when I have to pack it all up. Then there's the extra difficulty in achieving repeatable results since the mount's position is (slightly) different each night.

So, thoughts turn to a (semi)permanent setup in the backyard. I've been reading some the posts in this forum to get a feel of what might be involved.

On a completely separate path, the wife and I have been considering getting a caravan at some time in the next year or so.

It wasn't until I stumbled across some thread on Cloudy Nights, that I saw this: http://www.patgarland.com/ and this: STAR TRAVELER MOBILE OBSERVATORY that I wondered how feasible it was to combine the two together.

Although not perfect, it would be a more permanent setup than my current approach, and I could take it all with me to dark sites.

Has anyone on this forum done anything similar? Any thoughts about it?

I expect that if I were to go ahead with something similar, I'd have to find a caravan builder that can assist with the design and build. From what little research I've done so far, this looks possible, but I bet expensive.

[glend (Glen)]

Your going to have to sink a fair amount of money into modification of an existing caravan or buying something purpose built, and for how much utility and viewing time. You can't really observe in caravan parks because there is usually too much light, so free camping might be your only option.

Rather than mod a caravan why not just get a scope that can fit into the caravan storage box and build a transport cradle for it. I am thinking that any 12" scope (Dob, Newt, etc) would fit into a caravan storage area - particularly the ones that run across the van under the bed for example. It's worth considering what you could do with existing designs.

For a mount inside a trailer or caravan you are going to have stabilisation and alignment issues. I have to put down stabilisers for my camper trailer to keep it from rocking around and I know how much time that can take. If your after a completely level setup for viewing from inside then add more time and cost.

Setting it up outside is probably going to give you a more stable base and make alignment easier (especially if your using a compass with all the metal in caravans and trailers).

I have a cheap toilet popup tent that works well for my observatory, well at least to keep the scope protected until night time, and few people will wander into a toilet cubicle to steal something. It lifts off the scope easily when time comes to use it. If you carry the scope inside the van storage cradle the amount of setup time should not be much, and the toilet popup can be used at home as well. If your scope is sitting inside your popup inside a secure backyard which is out of sight from the street then it could be left up overnight. Most of the toilet popups are ventilated at the top, so they don't hold condensation like other tents can, but run your fan if your concerned about it.

[mswhin63 (Malcolm)]

I think there is a few options but as for caravans you would need to stabilise it a lot as they are quite flimsy and would shake the set-up quite substantially. It all depends on how you observe.

Personally I tried one option of a tent which also allowed me to sleep with the scope set-up and be able to take it down during daylight hours. This tent is up for sale now as I don't do much travelling while at Uni any more, so now I have only yesterday started a backyard observatory that can be set-up and left there and components can be easily remove if for whatever reason I move or wish to take the unit into the sticks.

[lazjen (Chris)]

One of the reasons I didn't even consider it originally was the whole stabilisation problem. If you look at the links I posted, you'll see that the solutions actually have means to stabilise by "detaching" from the trailer itself - isolating the scope completely from the trailer. The Pat Garland site has video links that show it clearly.

Also, I'd have NO intention of going to caravan parks anyway (for usage). The setup would be fairly self-sufficient, which can be reasonably achieved these days.

Cost - yeah, that will probably kill the idea, but I'll have to consider the difference to setting up a perm backyard obs. I'd have to "outsource" both builds anyway, since I have no tools or real skills in these areas, so there's little scope for me to cut costs by doing it myself.

[hobbit]

I saw someone, i think on cloudy nights who got an old ambulance which didn't require too much modification and turned it into a mobile observatory.

[lazjen (Chris)]

That's an interesting idea, but I do wonder how they'd make their system stable.

I've done some research since my post. Although I don't have specific costs, I'm near certain that for me to afford a suitable custom built caravan would require selling body parts...

I've also did some "training" in driving with a large trailer (as a caravan substitute). It was more work than I liked, especially for reversing.

[anthtone (Anthony)]

Hey Chris

I'm in the same boat as most of us in setting up etc so I am looking for a more semi-perm idea. I have stumbled on this site which maybe of interest, since you already have the caravan

http://www.easytrailer.com.au/gallery.html

For myself picture 43 look alright as I could build a structure I wanted around it and make it "snaplock" into position and then unlock the side walls when I want to use it as a normal trailer (not very often).

Once I start going with this project I can let you know how I go.

Anth

[Warren]

I bought a used trade trailer to refit for my astronomy stuff and other camping paraphernalia. I will use it just to transport and then use the scopes outside the trailer, and then use the trailer for a platform from which to use the laptop and other things to keep out of the dew etc.

I don't like the stability issues associated with using the scopes inside a trailer.

How are your plans coming along anyway. It would be good to see what you have come up with.

Warren

[lazjen (Chris)]

For myself, I bailed on the idea after some research. I think it would be technically possible to do, but the practical cost makes it not worthwhile. The key would be to have the scope tripod/pier detached from the trailer when setup without having the pull gear in/out of the trailer.