Observatory Construction  

Click here for shed overview drawing

Building the Shed      

As mentioned, I purchased a 6'x8' vinyl shed from DuraMax. It came in a cardboard box about 5'x4'x6", weighing less than 200 pounds. All the pieces are stamped clearly - not labled with stickers or ink, stamped. The directions were dead on, the materials are good, over-all this is really an excellent kit. I built the shed in one weekend, alone with no problems. I assembled it onto a frame of pressure treated 2x4s with 10 non-swivel casters bolted to the bottom.


Interior shelving (not part of the kit) in the form of 2x6 lumber wraps around the East, North and West walls. You want as little on the ground as possible that might interfere with the movement of the shed. A work light with a red bulb helps keep me from going around with a flashlight between my teeth all night.

Ratchet style come-alongs are used in combination with eye-hooks to securely fasten the shed to the deck. I once forgot to put them on after an observing session. The next day I found the shed 2 feet North of home position, front doors crammed up against the pier and the ETX70 on the deck inside the shed. Thankfully there was no damage done, I always make sure to tie it down now.



The only other thing it needed was weather stripping to keep out the snow and wind. I picked up 25' of black carpet protector and some roofing nails from Home Depot and tacked it up all around the bottom frame.

That's all there is to it, pier, deck, shed. The convenience is awesome! There's nothing like using the LX200 for 15 minutes on a whim, something I could never do before. On top of that, my laptop, books, charts, eyepieces, etc., etc. go through the night dew free!

Lovin' it! <G>