Wind/light panels out of Cordura

The main site has three issues; it's windy, car lights are directly aimed at where the scope stands and a permanent observatory is not an option (yet). So the idea of using panels was born. A trip to the hardware store and now material for 7 panels is waiting to be assembled. I went for PVC tubing (which is more expensive than I initally thought...) in pre-cut pieces of 1 meter. Each panel will be just over 2 meters high and 1 meter wide. In the middle 1 tube will provide additional stability while the bottom side will have 2 T-pieces. This will keep the fabric stretched over it off the floor.
Next was choosing a fabric. Well... this was more difficult than it sounds. At first I was looking for a relatively thick black fabric with good light absorbing properties. But this proved almost impossible to find and once found the cost proved a no go. The by sheer luck I ended up on the website of a parachute maintenance and repair shop. They use Cordura for various purposes, but since parashuting requirers solid safety specifications, they have to test the material first and get it certified. Long story short, they had several rolls of uncoated material that didn't pass certification and were sold real cheap. So I ended up with one and a half roll (roughly 75 meters) of Cordura at €0,53 p/m. Sweet :D
But here's the catch... I had little choice concerning colour and black wasn't amongst it. As you can see on the photo the panels will end up blue. It's a beautiful colour of blue during the daylight. Not that it helps during the night, but still nice to know ;)

Next was testing it's light blocking properties:

... to be continued...