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.
At my place, the only available storage space has been the spare toilet off the laundry
(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?
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.
. It would be great to just hitch up your trailer and, so long as you have fresh thermos of coffee, you are ready to go. BTW does the trailer have a reasonable suspension?
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