PVC IPad Holder and Mount for Tent Camping

My wife and I recently went on a camping trip to the beach and I posted an instructable on how to ruggedize and bug-proof a small air conditioner here.  I knew we would be taking our iPad with us to check email and watch movies but I didn't want to have to hold or prop the iPad up the entire time not to mention I didn't want it lying in the bottom of the tent getting sand all over it so I decided to make a cheap, adjustable mount that would be sturdy enough to support the iPad but also easily transported.  The best bang for your buck when it comes to piecing together a relatively sturdy structure for practically nothing is PVC of course.  PVC pipe and connectors are basically tinkertoys for big kids!

The pictures pretty much tell the tale.  I wanted a leg on either side to support a long piece of PVC pipe going across the width of the tent with the iPad holder in the middle.  I used 3/4" PVC pipe.  This is a pup tent so I wanted it just high enough so that it was out of the way but also so that I could just raise my arms to reach the iPad controls and to adjust the tilt angle.  I used PVC cement on only a few of the fittings; mainly just so I could see what piece went where when we arrived at the campsite.

Here is the iPad holder portion of the mount.  I wanted to cut a slot into the pipes at first but that proved to be too difficult and unnecessary.  It was much easier to just draw a straight line on either side of the PVC and then run it along a bench grinder until the wheel reached the line.  Make sure you wear long sleeves, a mask and eye protection when grinding PVC because that white PVC dust coming off the grinder goes everywhere and is probably not good for your lungs.

At first I was going to use a T-connector to attach the iPad holder portion to the cross mount but then decided that since I was going to have power at the campsite that I would just use a 4-way connector and fish the iPad charging cable through the mount itself.  I used a USB extension cable to extend the charging cable all the way to the AC adapter.  I decided that the iPad's built-in speaker probably wasn't going to be heard very well over the sound of the air conditioner so I also ran a headphone extension cable to some little amplified iPod speakers I brought along to also use on the beach.  The portable amplified speakers are iMainGo 2's and I highly recommend them.  That's them pictured on the left (the black one) hanging from our beach umbrella using a little keychain carabiner.  They have a very rich, full sound that sounds better than any small stereo I ever heard and you can zip up your iPhone, iPod or MP3 player inside to protect it while playing music.

One last minute modification I did was to add a little cross support across the back to keep the sloping back of the tent off our heads while we were propped up on the pillows watching a movie.

The whole thing breaks down very easily and fits nicely in a nylon camping chair bag.

Here we were one night watching an episode of "House".  Thanks for looking!