DIY Travel case

[iwannabswiss]

I am going to start traveling with my SN10 and wanted a way to securely store everything but also keep the number of bags to a minimum.  With this idea in mind I decided to create an easy travel case that holds all of the neccesary parts with the exception of the tripod itself.  My idea was to break the case into three levels, the first part will hold the mount, weights, controls and guidescope; the top two levels hold the OTA itself.  All three levels come apart, my thought behind this was that I didn't want to lay the scope in grass or whatever surface I'm on while putting everthing together or taking apart.  With this in mind the process works as follows.

Walk the box to point of setup.

Take top two levels out and set aside.

Take pieces out of bottom tray, set up and then place scope on.

While out at the star parties everything can be put back together and the top can serve as a table for laptop or anything else.

After attaching reflective tape the box was put in the paint booth for some black paint followed by a couple coats of "never wet" to help repel dew.  All that is left is to reattach the hardware, cut and add foam inside so everything can be neatly stored and transported and run a few strips of red led lighting so when everything is taking apart the lights come on so it will be easier to see at night when putting everything back together.

A couple shots inside the box before the top was added.  The case is 16" wide, 22" high, 41" long

Thanks for looking

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Very nice work!

[Carbon]

Awesome, & well thought out !

[Uplooker]

Well done, you have been very creative and ingenius in you storage solution. You should be proud of that. It is certainly multi-functional as you say you can also use it as a table one you have the sciope setup. What is the total weight with everything in the box?

Ian

[iwannabswiss]

Thanks for all the comments. I'm not sure what the total weight is but I'll be sure to find out. Hardest part has been finding foam that didn't cost me am arm and leg, roughly $80! Finally found some memory foam for a mattress for $40 and more than necessary.

[iwannabswiss]

Back from vacation and finally got a chance to get back to work and finish the project.  Added the foam and red led stipe lights.

Dry weight 63 lbs, wet weight 144 lbs.

[Gina]

Nice job