tired ot carrying your Losmandy GM-8 out, piece by piece?

I got tired of it, too, so I built a caster assembly that slides into
the GM-8's legs, and now I can roll my telescope out and be observing
in 30 seconds. It was such a good idea, and it works so well, I made
up a small prototype run, and I am hoping to sell them. See
http://www.claytoncramer.com/GM8%20Casters.pdf for pictures and
description.

Jim's Mobile Industries sells wheeley bars to do the same thing--but
this is $40, instead of $179, and they add less than two pounds to your
mount.

Clayton E. Cramer

Hi,
I have a Vixen GP on wood legs, and the plastic/nylon leg tips "slip" on the
garage floor, which causes flexure of the wood. I would think that your
system induces the same problem on any smooth surface, and likely even on a
rough (grass/dirt) surface. I've thought of your solution, but frankly,
given the flexure problem, I didn't like the idea all that much in the end.

A wheeled platform or "bars", aloows the legs to be sescured to the
platform, much as they would be when set directly into the ground.

Sorry for the negative outlook on your idea. Now, if you used locking
wheels, or added a lower leg support to prevent flexure, that might be
viable.
--
Stephen Paul
42.5N 71.5W
(GMT -05:00; All times expressed in local time, unless otherwise specified.)


wrote in message
oups.com...
I got tired of it, too, so I built a caster assembly that slides into
the GM-8's legs, and now I can roll my telescope out and be observing
in 30 seconds. It was such a good idea, and it works so well, I made
up a small prototype run, and I am hoping to sell them. See
http://www.claytoncramer.com/GM8%20Casters.pdf for pictures and
description.

Jim's Mobile Industries sells wheeley bars to do the same thing--but
this is $40, instead of $179, and they add less than two pounds to your
mount.

Clayton E. Cramer

"Stephen Paul" wrote

Sorry for the negative outlook on your idea. Now, if you used locking
wheels, or added a lower leg support to prevent flexure, that might be
viable.

Each wheel has a lock.

"Howard Lester" wrote in message
...

"Stephen Paul" wrote

Sorry for the negative outlook on your idea. Now, if you used locking
wheels, or added a lower leg support to prevent flexure, that might be
viable.

Each wheel has a lock.

I really need to star wearing my glasses at the computer. blush

"Stephen Paul" wrote

Each wheel has a lock.

I really need to star wearing my glasses at the computer. blush

"Howard Lester" wrote in message
...

"Stephen Paul" wrote

Each wheel has a lock.

I really need to star wearing my glasses at the computer. blush



S T A R T ;-)

--
Stephen Paul
42.5N 71.5W

As others have pointed out, the casters have brakes. In any case, I
haven't had any problem with leg flex. The GM-8 tripod legs are pretty
sturdy. In practice, even on mild slopes (five to ten degrees), I
haven't had any need for the brakes. I'm not even sure it would be
wise to use them on more severe slopes, depending on your center of
gravity for the mount and OTA.

I tried a system somewhat like this with my (now former) Orion Atlas and
Meade 12" SCT. The only difference was that mine was like a platform with
wheels and the Atlas legs fit into three areas on the platform. However, I
was never able to work around a 9" drop I have from the house foundation to
ground nor was I able to safely wheel it out to the yard location which
involved traveling over soft ground for about 30'. On the first attempt
going through the yard using a wide wheeled hand truck to pick up the
platform, the whole thing spilled over, dented the Atlas and nearly wrecked
the scope. So, I ended up selling the scope and mount and now happily use a
C8 on CG-5. This is lighter by far than setting up the 12"/Atlas.

Sorry, I know this is a bit OT from the original post, but just pointing out
that sometimes we pay a big price for convenience and don't realize it until
an accident has already happened.

Good luck with your device. I'm sure with the smaller SCTs, it should work
well and also as long as there aren't large dropoffs or excessive soft
ground distances.

JW


wrote in message
oups.com...
I got tired of it, too, so I built a caster assembly that slides into
the GM-8's legs, and now I can roll my telescope out and be observing
in 30 seconds. It was such a good idea, and it works so well, I made
up a small prototype run, and I am hoping to sell them. See
http://www.claytoncramer.com/GM8%20Casters.pdf for pictures and
description.

Jim's Mobile Industries sells wheeley bars to do the same thing--but
this is $40, instead of $179, and they add less than two pounds to your
mount.

Clayton E. Cramer

"Josh Washburn" wrote in message
. net...
I tried a system somewhat like this with my (now former) Orion Atlas and
Meade 12" SCT. The only difference was that mine was like a platform with
wheels and the Atlas legs fit into three areas on the platform. However,
I
was never able to work around a 9" drop I have from the house foundation
to
ground nor was I able to safely wheel it out to the yard location which
involved traveling over soft ground for about 30'. On the first attempt
going through the yard using a wide wheeled hand truck to pick up the
platform, the whole thing spilled over, dented the Atlas and nearly
wrecked
the scope. So, I ended up selling the scope and mount and now happily use
a
C8 on CG-5. This is lighter by far than setting up the 12"/Atlas.

Sorry, I know this is a bit OT from the original post, but just pointing
out
that sometimes we pay a big price for convenience and don't realize it
until
an accident has already happened.

Good luck with your device. I'm sure with the smaller SCTs, it should
work
well and also as long as there aren't large dropoffs or excessive soft
ground distances.


Hey JW...
Those are all valid points which I experienced as well with my rolling
setup. It was good for the driveway, but not great for the terrain of the
backyard. JMI offers larger wheels, but I'm convinced that this is still
precarious for scopes on rougher terrain. (All of which the OP points out.)
Too much vibration on the bumps, and wheels of any size can end up going too
deep in the soft stuff.

It sure is nice to have a wheeled setup under the right conditions though.
No doubt about it. I had an Ultima 8 on wheels (about 65 lbs fully
assembled), stored in a shed at the end of a paved driveway. It took just a
few minutes to open the shed, roll the scope down the ramp onto the
driveway, and get a rough polar alignment. I could be observing real fast,
with no cooldown issues (especially a few hours after sunset). It went back
in just as easily.

I miss those days. Now I have a 4" F9 refractor on GP which can be hand
carried fully assembled (very nice, and a great scope), and a big Dob (12.5"
F4.8) with a handtruck. These are stored in the garage facing the front
yard, and moved out to the backyard for use. Unfortunately, the garage isn't
as "cold" as the shed because it is insulated and under the bedrooms, so the
Dob takes longer to cool than I care to put into it at this point. In the
warmer months it's no problem. But in these cold months, it's less trouble
to just lift the GP with refractor, and walk it out to the backyard.

The handtruck has pneumatic wheels and carries the dob without much problem,
but it _can_ get to rocking side to side, if one isn't careful. I could
certainly see a larger tripod mounted scope on a wood base getting away from
you.

Take care,
Stephen Paul