Trailer Mounted Observatory Control Room

[Mandy D]

As some of you already know, I have no real facility for observing from home with most of my views blocked by buildings or trees and frustrated by LED street lighting so I do a lot of my observing from dark(er) spots in the Peak District. I am currently unable to drive, but have a Land Rover with a towbar, so this is an ideal time to embark on this project with an aim of completing it by the time I am declared ok to drive.  I also have a boxvan trailer with a box size of 2.4 x 1.2 x 1.5 metres high. It is currently on twin axles with 10 inch wheels and is fully braked, but needs serious attention to the braking system and requires a full set of new tyres. I have a brand new 750 kg unbraked trailer axle and 13 inch wheels I can put under it. The unladen weight is only about 250 kg, so that gives me a legal payload of 750 kg with 250 kg on the towball of the Land Rover. That is way more than I will ever need! My garage mechanic can do the axle coversion work, so that leaves the interior, which is where I would like to solicit the advice of you good people.

I am proposing a bench / desk across the front of the trailer, about 750mm deep on which to put a laptop and maybe a second monitor. Under the bench is space for a leisure battery to run my mounts and computers. I have a 3 kVA petrol generator that can be lugged along to run other stuff any time I need to, but don't see a need for that under normal circumstances. A small propane heater can go in to keep me nice and warm on cold winter nights. The construction of the box is a 25 x 25 steel box-section frame, so I can insualte with 25 mm extruded polystyrene boards (pink stuff). There are double loading doors at the back, so getting kit in and out will be easy. I have a rechargeable Quechua red and white lamp that can be seen in the What Did The Postman Bring section and can add more of those or similar if needed.

The floor is probably in bad shape, so that will be replaced with 18 mm marine ply, but do I insulate and what do I top it with? I want to keep it as light as possible, so I can move it by hand as I cannot get the Land Rover round to where I will store it. I see a jockey wheel being necessary and will fit some landing legs at the corners to make it rock steady when in use as an observatory and it will then remain coupled up to the Land Rover. I also have a 120 volt, 500 watt rotary inverter that can go in to give me a.c. power for anything that may need it.

So, can you clever people help me with suggestions and ideas to make this into a great little mobile observatory control room, please.

Edited September 11, 2022 by Mandy D
Spelling corrections

[apaulo]

ive spent a lot of time over the years heating boats vans caravans etc, gas is nice heat, but it gives off a lot of moisture, also carbon monoxide. if you use the gas definately fit an alarm first.  sounds like an interesting thing to build, good luck with it.

[Mandy D]

1 hour ago, apaulo said:

ive spent a lot of time over the years heating boats vans caravans etc, gas is nice heat, but it gives off a lot of moisture, also carbon monoxide. if you use the gas definately fit an alarm first.  sounds like an interesting thing to build, good luck with it.

Thank you. Yes definitely will fit a CO monitor. I think an extractor fan and good ventilation is on the list, too. Withe the insulation, do you just bond direct to the metal panels?

[apaulo]

i would just put blobs of a grab adhesive on it. then straight onto the panels. use an adhesive that will set fast. very fast lol. or you can be standing there for ages holding it in place.  or propping it up. i wouldnt bother insulating the floor.

[Mandy D]

2 minutes ago, apaulo said:

i would just put blobs of a grab adhesive on it. then straight onto the panels. use an adhesive that will set fast. very fast lol. or you can be standing there for ages holding it in place.  or propping it up. i wouldnt bother insulating the floor.

Thanks. That is good advice. I recall my bathroom fitter using some pink foam adhesive for the wall panels in an aerosol. I guess that would be perfect for this.

[Physopto]

An unbraked trailer is limited to 750kg total. Any loading on the tow ball is not taken into account. So if the trailer weight is 250 kg, then your maximum payload is 500 kg. I would be very careful about this as it will be a fine line to get what you want acheived. As to the floor,there are special sheets of plywood available to purchase with a very hard wearing resin phenolic coating already applied.

Best of luck.

[Mandy D]

5 minutes ago, Physopto said:

An unbraked trailer is limited to 750kg total. Any loading on the tow ball is not taken into account. So if the trailer weight is 250 kg, then your maximum payload is 500 kg. I would be very careful about this as it will be a fine line to get what you want acheived. As to the floor,there are special sheets of plywood available to purchase with a very hard wearing resin phenolic coating already applied.

Best of luck.

Thank you for your concern. I understand where you are coming from, but you are incorrect. It is the gross axle weight rating which counts here and that does not include the weight imposed by the coupling on the towing vehicle. There are light semi-trailers rated for 4500 kg that have a legal axle rating of 3500 kg with the remaining 1000 kg carried by the towing vehicle and are sold in the UK which are fully compliant with C&U regulations.

In any case, as I indicated in my original post, the trailer will not be heavily loaded. In fact, I doubt it will be carrying above 250 kg.

Thanks for suggesting the phenolic ply. Given the price, I may have to pass on that, but it would be a great option.