Hi Morgan,

How are your town ordinances in regards to "art"? You might be
able to make a stable pier which "transforms" into a Telescope Mount
at night while looking like (IE) Miniature Lighthouse by day.
Amazing what a box made from plywood can be painted to resemble or
how easy Stucco sticks to Styrofoam and chicken wire.

At night, you unbuckle/remove the top that protects your "Thermo-
Nuclear Concentrator".

I'm NOT advocating you try to hoodwink or defraud. Some city
halls/HOA are notorious for denying projects that have unfamiliar
names in them. While a small shed in the front yard is unattractive,
a small garage isn't.

Tom


--- In ap-gto@..., "Morgan Spangle" <msfainc@...> wrote:

Hi Steve,
Would if I could but can't so...the best area is in the front of my
house, and the town won't allow any kind of shed in a front area.

So

my choice is to leave the mount out in an area of the garden next

to

the driveway that I will wall off from view with a dense hedge.

I'll

drop some footings in for the tripod feet (I use a Meade giant

field

tripod, very solid) and plant some kind of ground cover I can walk

on

or grass. Run electric to it from the garage, make a path for a

dolly

to bring the computer and other equipment out (maybe even the OTA,

not

sure whether I'll load it each time or leave it mounted and covered
too), and I can be set up, polar aligned and ready to go in 5
minutes...at least, thats the plan so far. I've got all spring and
summer to work it out. Its really to avoid the winter

setup/breakdown,

like you've done the the Out Haus.

Morgan

--- In ap-gto@..., "Steve..." <astropix@> wrote:

I should have said "structure" rather than "shell".

You can see mine here....

http://www.starrynights.us/Equipment/Equipment.htm

Steve...

--- In ap-gto@..., "Morgan Spangle" <msfainc@> wrote:

Hmmm...that's an interesting thought. What kind of hard shell

did

you

come up with? I have a C14 on mine so it would take a pretty

good

sized barrel or drum...
Morgan

--- In ap-gto@..., "Steve..." <astropix@> wrote:

Morgan,

For a time, I kept my AP1200 with OTA in a bag. We had some

high

winds

and something flying in the air hit the OTA putting a dent

into

it.

So I recommend a hard shell rather than a bag. I believe

that

even

these newer padded bags would still sustain damage from a

flying

object.

Steve...

www.CCDNavigator.com