I made some panels up with plumbers pipe glued together into 3 frames tied together, covered with tarp material, with some lead weights to hold them down. This stuff isn't dirt cheap but is light and won't rot - they can be arranged in a number of shapes to keep wind and neighbour's lights away, some types of wind anyway!!!
I've been using the same Sirius 2.3 metre observatory for about 20 years ........ cost me about $3700, and at the time & it seemed like a lot of money. (OK about double that in $ now)
But it has faithfully protected numerous (some quite expensive), 'scopes from wind, hail, rain, storms, furry animals etc. and has seen two changes of address.
So far it has cost me the princely sum of $185 a year.
I've been using the same Sirius 2.3 metre observatory for about 20 years ........ cost me about $3700, and at the time & it seemed like a lot of money. (OK about double that in $ now)
But it has faithfully protected numerous (some quite expensive), 'scopes from wind, hail, rain, storms, furry animals etc. and has seen two changes of address.
So far it has cost me the princely sum of $185 a year.
Peanuts really...
Yes had one of those myself remember..?
Just not sure about one since we are renting (hopefully for just a year) and will then likely buy a similar place and move. I would prefer to get the dome only and put it on a more sizable building but this will not be possible at the moment.
My set-up is virtually the same as Trevor's and works very well for visual.
I use 3 sections of portable sheep-yard (1.5m x 2.4m) that are designed to link together with pins. They are quite light, around 10kg each and have little processes on the uprights that allow you to push them into the ground. If interested, go to e-bay and type in "portable sheep yards". They were made by a bloke in Geelong and cost around $90 each.
Believe me - that's dirt cheap for a sheepyard!.
Once situated, I cover the sections with some HD nylon tarp that I've nipped and tucked to fit with extra holes/grommets. I use cable ties to attach the tarp as they are very strong and, again, dirt-cheap.
The whole rig takes me about 15 minutes to erect and a little longer to take down.
I'd post a pic but the panels are actually doing duty keeping in sheep ATM.
My set-up is virtually the same as Trevor's and works very well for visual.
I use 3 sections of portable sheep-yard (1.5m x 2.4m) that are designed to link together with pins. They are quite light, around 10kg each and have little processes on the uprights that allow you to push them into the ground. If interested, go to e-bay and type in "portable sheep yards". They were made by a bloke in Geelong and cost around $90 each.
Believe me - that's dirt cheap for a sheepyard!.
Once situated, I cover the sections with some HD nylon tarp that I've nipped and tucked to fit with extra holes/grommets. I use cable ties to attach the tarp as they are very strong and, again, dirt-cheap.
The whole rig takes me about 15 minutes to erect and a little longer to take down.
I'd post a pic but the panels are actually doing duty keeping in sheep ATM.
Yes. Disturbing.
When I went to pick up the panels, it was a couple of blokes working out of a shed. They were noth knackered as they'd been working 24/7/7 the demand was so high (normally these panels go for$200 each).
Hope they haven't worked themselves out of business.
The sheep are due out tomorrrow amd I'll post some pics later.
Irrelevant to astronomy but:
Sheep Tip #1: Pen your sheep (allowing 2 sq. metres per and free access to water) and feed them twice daily. Each time ring a bell. In about 4-5 days they'll have figured it out and flock to the sound. You'll never have to round them up. EVER.
I was thinking of building a wind break at one stage at my dark site.
In that case the wind was almost always from the same direction making it easy to predict.
My observatory there has a flat roof so I was thinking of a simple rectangular frame perhaps 1.8 metres wide and say 800mm high set to the roof with door hinges fixed to the ribs of the metal roof or perhaps put down a strip of timber screw fixed to the roof ribs and then the hinges fixed to that timber strip.
Then 2 poles that fold down (hinged again to the wind shield) and fix to some sort of clip so the rectangular wind shield was sloping 45 degrees up so the wind was pushed up over the scope.
You could possibly make it detachable. Lightweight polycarbonate roofing may be useful as its lighter than metal roofing yet quite strong.
If the wind though is changeable in direction then this system would not work well.
I was thinking of building a wind break at one stage at my dark site.
In that case the wind was almost always from the same direction making it easy to predict.
My observatory there has a flat roof so I was thinking of a simple rectangular frame perhaps 1.8 metres wide and say 800mm high set to the roof with door hinges fixed to the ribs of the metal roof or perhaps put down a strip of timber screw fixed to the roof ribs and then the hinges fixed to that timber strip.
Then 2 poles that fold down (hinged again to the wind shield) and fix to some sort of clip so the rectangular wind shield was sloping 45 degrees up so the wind was pushed up over the scope.
You could possibly make it detachable. Lightweight polycarbonate roofing may be useful as its lighter than metal roofing yet quite strong.
If the wind though is changeable in direction then this system would not work well.
Greg.
All good ideas guys thanks for your input, much appreciated.
Greg, ideally I'd like to have a situation where I don't need to dismatle the OTA each session but short of a resonably good observatory I am trying to come up with something that will facilitate this. In the initial stages at the new place I will likely just set up as I have always done - out in the open but with some wind protection, still take down the OTA and camera gear but leave the mount setup and aligned under a couple of bags. It will at least be in my own backyard again
too easy 
