The Portable (Refrigerator Box) Observatory
                                                                                             (Click on images to enlarge)

August 18, 1979. This is at one of my former favorite observing spots 8 miles south of Happy Jack and about 3 miles north of Bald Mesa near Antelope Draw, or Bushy Knoll, in Section 31 of the Coconino National Forest, Arizona. This was a very nice secluded area. I never saw another human being. However, the last time I was there, around 1983, it went all to hell. I saw one person on a horse. I am sure by now it unrecognizable because of the Arizona growth.

In 1977 I started and finished construction of a portable observatory for protection from the wind and cold, and to have a place to sleep during an observing trip. It has an unusual shape because it was built to accommodate my Dall-Kirkham telescope. The walls are made of double corrugated cardboard from refrigerator boxes. The four coats of paint has been adequate protection from rain. The frame is made of Douglas Fir because of its strength. The observatory has a canvas floor. Without it on my first observing trip the wind blowing between the bottom of the wall panels and the ground created a virtual dust storm inside the observatory. The two panels that face to the east are permanently hinged together. The same for the two west facing walls. Each folds as one unit and weights about 50 lbs. For a number of years the panels were transported on top a 1963 Comet. Later I used my 1974 Dodge van. Although the structure may look daunting to erect, it actually only takes about a half hour.

In 1983 the portable observatory got an Honorable Mention at the Riverside Telescope Maker’s Conference. Ernie Williams, who for many years ran the audio visual part of the conference, showed up the following year at RTMC with a portable observatory he made from blue tarp material. It appeared to be the same type of material ACE Dome used years later. A few years later he improved upon his design by modifying a commercially made camping tent. I inspired Ernie with my portable observatory and Ernie may have been the inspiration for some of the canvas or tarp like portable observatories that are now available. I may have been the seed of all this. I’ll never know.

This is at one
of my former observing locations
about 3 miles west of I-17
off Bloody
Basin Road, Arizona. This
is the first version of the observatory. The cardboard was waterproofed with 2 or 3 coats of Varathane clear liquid plastic. Because of the color and print pattern of the cardboard I felt it blended too well with the desert. I was concerned a hunter might not see it and inadvertently send bullets through it while I was sleeping. I, therefore, painted it yellow. Also, the blue material between the panels was too light weight and the wind caused them to
 make a loud snapping noise. I replaced them with the yellow colored heavier canvas material as seen in the other images.














  The panels were transported on top of my 1963 Mercury Comet.
  Everything else, telescope, tripod, fork mount, ice chest, Coleman
  stove, sleeping bag and cot, sometimes a dog, and other
  miscellaneous material was transported in the Comet. Now, years
  later, it seems hard to believe this small Comet was able to carry all
  this, but it did.

 The north and south canvas panels have been dropped. The east and west panels, i.e. the panels set on top the east and west walls, are made of Douglas Fir wood frame and aluminum sheeting. Each side consists of two hinged panels that fold back on each other during setup and take down. The canvas bulge at the ground is to accommodate the south leg of the telescope tripod.
         
     Additional detail. In this image only the south canvas panel 
     has been dropped.

The horizontal triangular shaped plywood sections on both sides of the telescope give the east and west walls their structural strength. Without them they would flop in the breeze because of the loose joint connecting the two west walls together. One of the loose joints, the one joining the two west walls is seen in the forefront of this image. The joints were purposely made loose in this fashion. Because the walls, each measuring 53" wide and 69" high, have such a high surface area to be caught by the wind during setup and takedown, I felt the frame would not be able to structurally withstand, a more fixed conventional hinge. The loose hinge design has worked very well in very windy conditions.
    
   The north wall is attached to the the east and west walls by
   these easy to remove wood boots. The east wall is in the
   forefront in this image.

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