Well, here's what I came up with. Didn't have a lot of time to build stuff from scratch, so used what I had laying around. Haven't dialed it in 100% yet, but it's super stable. You can bump the thing pretty good and and not detect any movement at all over the magnail beneath (can't see it in the shade in one of the shots). Disk on top is HDPE. Bored a hole in a 5/8"-11 stud. DC and Beer mounting brackets to come.
One less thing to set up when wanting to grab a quick Spica shot on my way home from work.:stakeout: 
Can't argue with that.
Larry Scott, to be a little more precise and accurate the Wild T3 Theodolite weight is 24.6 lb. The metal container is 8.1 lb.
Just in case you want to know.
JOHN NOLTON
No doubt.
I just set my T3 on a bathroom scale - case and all. And then there is the battery box which I hang on the tripod leg.
How much does that add?
Larry Scott, why can't you weigh the battery box yourself. Both empty and with 6 "D" cell in it?
JOHN NOLTON
I've really got to criticize the height of your beer holder in the sketch. It should at least be the same height as the DC. Also, a sunshade should be considered to minimize any adverse conditions caused by uncontrolled temperature fluctuations.
We all hate warm beer.
kjypls, post: 373977, member: 9749 wrote: I've really got to criticize the height of your beer holder in the sketch. It should at least be the same height as the DC. Also, a sunshade should be considered to minimize any adverse conditions caused by uncontrolled temperature fluctuations.
We all hate warm beer.
kjypls:
Good point, Sir. We have reviewed the literature on this very important aspect of surveying:
http://www.myscienceproject.org/beer.html
While the current design does indeed provide for the fattest of soft self-skinning urethane foam beer cozy, unfortunately the research does not address the issue you raise (solar radiation). Therefore, I think we're going to have to add a slewing ring to the design, to allow positioning of the beer to always be in the shade of the column:
The added benefit of that is that (at least if you're doing solar observations), you can always be assured that the beer will be directly in front of you during observation. It would of course preclude the unit being at the same height as the DC, but I like the DC screen in the sun, as it's easier to read. Thanks for the very astute observation.
That jet black in summer sun may be an issue. You might wrap it with a Mylar sheet. Like the gold wrap on used the legs of the lunar lander.
Larry Scott, I see you have not posted the weight of a battery box for the Wild T3/T2/T16 Theodolite so I will do it for you.
4lb 13.5 oz. Complete. By complete I mean with 4 frosted bulbs, hand lamp, cable (from box to theodolite) and the metal battery box.
Now the weight can vary with different "D" cell batteries and boxes. I only tested 1 of 5 that I have.
JOHN NOLTON
