Sky & Telescope - October 2021 - 72

ASTRONOMER'S WORKBENCH by Jerry Oltion
A Mobile Scope Shelter
Stay set up and ready to observe for days at a time.
OREGON AMATEUR ASTRONOMER
Frank Siemsen has a beautiful place
to set up a telescope. There's just one
problem: The pasture is zoned for farm
use only, which precludes building a
permanent observatory there.
Like most of us who don't have a
permanent structure, Frank would
assemble his scope each evening and
tear it down when he was done for the
night, but that got old, especially during
strings of clear nights when he would
have to repeat the process over and over.
He could have left the scope assembled
and protected it with a Mylar shroud,
but he also shares the pasture with his
horse, Spirit, who would undoubtedly
love the opportunity to rub up against
it. Also, being in a wide-open agricultural
area, there's a lot of dust and wind
that can blow a telescope right over.
Frank needed something sturdier, but
not permanent.
The solution: a rigid but mobile
telescope shelter. Frank built it in two
parts - one to cover the bottom end of
the scope and one to contain the upper
end. He tilts the scope horizontally and
rolls the two shelter halves together on
wheels, then bolts the shelter together at
the corners to make a single, sturdy unit.
To keep it light enough to move
easily, Frank used 1″ × 3″ pine for the
framework over the scope's upper end
and covered only one side and the
top with ¼″ plywood for stiffness. He
covered the other side and bottom with
marine vinyl, which is lighter and also
withstands sunlight well.
The back end uses 2″ × 4″ pine for
the framework and ¼″ plywood for the
sides and top. The bottom is left open
because the scope remains on its base
on the ground when covered.
Frank's scope is a 20″ f/5 Dobsonian,
so the shelter measures 9.5 feet long
72 OCTOBER 2021 * SKY & TELESCOPE
pFrank Siemsen's telescope shelter protects his 20″ Dobsonian from the elements and from his
horse during the day.
(4′ for the rear section and 5½′ for the
front). The rear section is 4′ tall and 44″
wide, while the front section is 28″ high
by 3′ wide. Since the two sections differ
in shape, the front section has a flat
flange around it to mate with the rear
section, and the front section rests on
legs that keep it horizontal.
The shelter provides room for the
scope even when Frank puts it on an
equatorial platform. Other times it holds
his 8″ Dobsonian with room for an echo.
While the open bottom on the rear
section could provide access for voles
and other small creatures, Frank reports
no problems with them so far. He
Left: To cut down on weight, one side and the bottom of the shelter's front section are made of
marine vinyl. Right: Quarter-inch plywood provides stiffness to withstand the weight of snow.
FRANK SIEMSEN (3)

Sky & Telescope - October 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Sky & Telescope - October 2021

Contents
Sky & Telescope - October 2021 - Cover1
Sky & Telescope - October 2021 - Cover2
Sky & Telescope - October 2021 - 1
Sky & Telescope - October 2021 - Contents
Sky & Telescope - October 2021 - 3
Sky & Telescope - October 2021 - 4
Sky & Telescope - October 2021 - 5
Sky & Telescope - October 2021 - 6
Sky & Telescope - October 2021 - 7
Sky & Telescope - October 2021 - 8
Sky & Telescope - October 2021 - 9
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Sky & Telescope - October 2021 - Cover3
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