How do you haul your 'stuff' from place to place?

Was wondering, for those who take a telescope into the field, what do
you use to lug it around?

And what precautions against vibration and other damage do you take
into account?


TBerk

When I take my scopes to our club's dark sky site or one of the many
outreaches we do, I use my Honda Pilot. I pack teh 10" SCT OTA in an
old mattress pad and put it in a a Rubbermaid container. I ride down
some dirt/washboard roads and never have a problem. I do check
colimation every time before I use teh scope and it holds collimation
very well.

I use a Pelican 1520 (I think) case to hold my G-11 mount.

I have expereicend no damage like this.

TBerk wrote:


Was wondering, for those who take a telescope into the field, what do
you use to lug it around?

And what precautions against vibration and other damage do you take
into account?


TBerk



--

"TBerk" wrote:

Was wondering, for those who take a telescope into the field, what do
you use to lug it around?

I use a Nissan Titan LE. Lots of room and pretty economical at 15 mpg.

And what precautions against vibration and other damage do you take
into account?

I just place my LX90 on the back seat; I've never needed to re-collimate
afterwards...

TBerk wrote:
Was wondering, for those who take a telescope into the field, what do
you use to lug it around?

And what precautions against vibration and other damage do you take
into account?


TBerk

It depends on the telescope. I began with a C-8 and a Toyota standard
bed pickup; easy to put things in and out of, and a ready-made bed.
Then the pickup became a Mazda 323 hatchback, which allowed me to
continue to haul things because the hatchback made it easy, but gone was
the bed. Then I switched to a C-5, and things were still good. Then I
got a 10-inch Dob, and switched to a Honda Accord. The lack of a
hatchback made hauling the 10-inch hard, so I traded the scope for a
5-inch Mak. All was good, except still no bed for those over-nighters.
But I learned my lessons. Now I have a Toyota Matrix with a hatchback.
And now I can haul a 10-inch Dob again, and I have a bed again! Happy
days are here again !

Lesson --- the easier it is to load and unload, the more you'll use your
scope. Standard cars are out for the most part. Hatchbacks, minivans,
and standard bed pickups are minimal if you're hauling anything large.

--- Dave

On Jan 3, 7:44*pm, TBerk wrote:
Was wondering, for those who take a telescope into the field, what do
you use to lug it around?

And what precautions against vibration and other damage do you take
into account?

TBerk

12-inch Dob. A two-wheeled hand truck with pneumatic tires with
homemade wooden cradle. Mazda B4000 pickup. Roll the handcart with
scope bungeed to the cradle up ramps into the back of the truck, lay
it down flat, close the tailgate and strap everything down. When I
roll the scope off and set it up to observe I check collimation --
usually have to tweak just a touch and that's that.

A pickup is best. If your scope travels on a handtruck as mine does,
use 2X8 lumber to build two ramps that incline from the open tailgate
to the ground. I had an 8-inch Dob that I could simply pick up and
lay down on an inflated big truck inner tube, strap it in.

TBerk wrote:
Was wondering, for those who take a telescope into the field, what do
you use to lug it around?

And what precautions against vibration and other damage do you take
into account?

15" truss dob in my Honda Fit. The rocker box barely fits in the back
with the seat up, but it goes in. The upper tube assembly has to sit on
a back seat along with the truss tubes. I can still carry three people :-)
Finders and eyepieces are in cases, everything else just sits in the
car. I do make sure the primary and secondary are more or less
vertical. Never any problems.


Shawn

TBerk:

Was wondering, for those who take a telescope into the field, what do
you use to lug it around?

My Star Car, of course http://www.davidillig.com/starcar.shtml.

And what precautions against vibration and other damage do you take
into account?

I've found that sticking to the road pretty much takes care of that. We
have pretty good roads in Maryland. In my home state, Pennsylvania, I
would require lots of foam padding and what-not. (As I understand it,
winter weather freeze-and-thaw messes up Pennsylvania roads, whereas
the bordering states -- NY, NJ, DE, MD, WV, and OH, do not experience
winter weather.)

Davoud

Old enough to remember when the road got /worse/ when you entered West
Virginia.

--
usenet *at* davidillig dawt com

TBerk:
Was wondering, for those who take a telescope into the field, what do
you use to lug it around?

I use a Nissan Titan LE. Lots of room and pretty economical at 15 mpg.

15 mpg is economical!? In case you missed my post, I sold my Titan LE
and got a new Star Car -- a Prius
http://www.davidillig.com/starcar.shtml. My idea of economical is
44-48 mpg winter and 51-56 summer. I'm not judging you or /anyone/ who
drives a 15-mpg vehicle, but /my/ Titan was killing American soldiers
and innocent Iraqis by the thousands, so it had to go.

The Titan was the right vehicle for its time; unlike most pickups, it
wasn't a mall and supermarket vehicle; it was the sole farm truck for
the Upton Farm in Severn, MD. I confess it was often used for trips as
well; in my opinion the Titan ranks as one of the most comfortable
long-haul vehicles on the road.

A California company is trying to bring an all-electric 4-door pickup
to market. It is said to be capable of going 120 miles on a charge. I'd
buy one in a New York minute if it seemed to meet my expectations.

Davoud

--
usenet *at* davidillig dawt com

On Jan 4, 12:24*am, Davoud wrote:
TBerk:

Was wondering, for those who take a telescope into the field, what do
you use to lug it around?

I use a Nissan Titan LE. *Lots of room and pretty economical at 15 mpg..

15 mpg is economical!? In case you missed my post, I sold my Titan LE
and got a new Star Car -- a Prius
http://www.davidillig.com/starcar.shtml. My idea of economical is
44-48 mpg winter and 51-56 summer. I'm not judging you or /anyone/ who
drives a 15-mpg vehicle, but /my/ Titan was killing American soldiers
and innocent Iraqis by the thousands, so it had to go.

The Titan was the right vehicle for its time; unlike most pickups, it
wasn't a mall and supermarket vehicle; it was the sole farm truck for
the Upton Farm in Severn, MD. I confess it was often used for trips as
well; in my opinion the Titan ranks as one of the most comfortable
long-haul vehicles on the road.

A California company is trying to bring an all-electric 4-door pickup
to market. It is said to be capable of going 120 miles on a charge. I'd
buy one in a New York minute if it seemed to meet my expectations.

Davoud

--
usenet *at* davidillig dawt com



Mini Cooper.

In fact, I think I'll try to stuff my Dob in the Mini tomorrow just to
see if it can be done.

TBerk wrote:

Was wondering, for those who take a telescope into the field, what do
you use to lug it around?


My wife.


And what precautions against vibration and other damage do you take
into account?


Make sure she's sober.




TBerk