P7190275

P7150206

Before the shelter project:
Here is my telescope and observing table, with the canopy in the background before I built my shelter. The scope is in a shadow here because I was setting up for daytime observing of Mars.

P7150205

I built two frames like this, each sized almost 8x8' so they would just fit under the canopy when assembled.

P7160261

The partially assembled frame is visible on the right; it is standing on its side here while I attached the vertical posts.

P7190267

And here it is, upright, with the canopy on top and wheels installed on the bottom. There are some loose pieces of wood near each corner; I'm going to attach them to the upper section so each corner is braced in each direction.

P7190268

Closeup of one of the corners before I put the tarps around the sides.

P7190270

Another view of the frame. The 2x4 in front at the bottom was later cut out to make a 4' opening; I then just roll the shelter over my telescope and table.

P7190271

Here is the shelter with the tarps put around the sides.

P7190273

I fastened the tarp to the canopy frame with tie wraps. For the bottom I used nails to hold it to the frame. I will need to do something about the gap between the tarps, one of which is visible here.

P7220276

Here is my shelter pulled back from by scope and observing table.

P7220277

Here is another view of my setup. Note the rope on the ground in the front of the shelter.

P7220278

To close up, I pull on the rope and (with a little effort) get the shelter rolling toward my scope. Once it's close enough, I step behind my scope and table and continuing pulling on the rope so that the shelter opening stays centered and doesn't hit my m

P7220279

Telescope inside, table about to get covered up as well.

P7220280

Here is the north part of my mount up against the shelter wall. My Losmandy G-11 sits on a ScopeBuggy so I can move it to other locations around my yard (trees). One disadvantage of my setup is that my shelter can bump my mount and ruin polar alignment.

P7220282

View of scope and table inside the shelter.

P7220284

Another view inside the shelter. See the vertical board to the right of the corner piece? This is where two tarps meet; I put the board there and stapled the tarps to it so keep it sealed there; another board is on the opposite side. I used 3 tarps, 8'6

P7220285

I keep a cover over the scope when I'm not using it.

P7220286

Here is another view with the shelter ready to be closed up.

P7220287

And it's all closed up here. I use some bungy cords to keep the tarp opening closed.

PA010369

The wheels where starting to dig into the ground, making it hard to move the shelter, so I bought some treated decking planks and laid them on the ground for the wheels to move over. In the background is a cross-piece to keep the planks at the right separ

PA010370

Here is a close-up showing a strip of wood I attached on top of the planks to keep the wheels from falling off. The strips also attach the two planks together that I have end-to-end on each side. Also visible here under the edge of the shelter is some in

PA010371

One other change I made recently is the 2x4 that runs horizontally here, attached to the "back" inside wall of the shelter. I now push or pull on this board to move the shelter; this is working much easier now than the rope. Between using the n

IMG_0529

What part of "temporary" didn't I understand? :) This is what happens to a canopy after about 10 inches of heavy snow fall on it. This kind of snowstorm doesn't happen too often in Chicago, but it did this time! The canopy braces bent, and th

IMG_0530

Another view of the shelter roof.

Picture2 009

The damage turned out to be easier to repair than I had thought. The aluminum poles were not bent, but some plastic parts in the corners had snapped and let everything move around. In this photo I've used tie wraps to hold the horizontal poles tight to t

Picture2 007

Here is an image of the outside after I made my repairs; it looks almost as good as before. I don't think I'll have any problems with rain, and it might even hold up against a large snow with the additional braces now.

Picture2 006

Another view, with the shelter moved back from my scope.

Picture2 013

Lots of snow, and the temperature was about 18F while I was repairing the shelter. My work table is visible here behind the scope, but I'm not using it currently. I run a USB extension cord from my scope into my house and work from there. Otherwise I'd

Picture2 019

This is how I get the USB cable inside my house. My wife was kind enough to let me cut out a piece of the door frame. Normally the piece sits in the frame and it really isn't noticable. In order to observe I lift it out so I can run the cord through this

Picture3 027

What happens if the wind pushes a wheel off the wooden track, and then the ground melts and later re-freezes? This is what happens.

Picture3 035

The other wheel that was frozen in the ground. I freed them up using a hammer to pound a crowbar into the frozen ground under the wheel and then pry the wheel out of the ice.

Picture3 042

So that this wouldn't happen again, I put a stop on the end of the tracks.

Picture3 044

A closer view. After I did this I still can have the a wheel move off the inside of the track if the wind blows right, so I should also put something on the inside end to hold it in place. Another improvement is that I should replace these swivel wheels