Hefty scopes

[iantobach]

I`ve got a meade lx90- 10 inch- hefty beast- I can at the moment lift it easily from the conservatory outside- but will be moving soonish- at the new house it will be a longer carry- I note a few people have rails or a dome-( are these self builds??)- I can`t afford a dome , but wondering are there any castors or other ideas available??

Ps I love my scope and the obvious solution ofselling it doesn`t appeal unless there aren`t any answers!

[FLO]

You could look into buying a 'dolly' for the tripod - not sure where though.

[The Warthog]

You could make a dolly for the cart, using plywood for the base, and lawnmower wheels. Build it solid. If you build it solid enough, you could use it on the cart, otherwise it would be easy to lift the scope off the cart onto the ground.

[barkis]

Ian, I too have a LX90, 12", and it is a job and a half getting it on and off the wedge. So much so, it is a bit of a drawback to using it.

WH is spot on with a DIY one, not too difficult to make. You could have a double thick layer of 18mm Plywood as the base, the diameter to be consistent with the size and weight of instrument. You don't need the wood to extend out to accommodate the legs of the tripod, this could be done with steel plate extensions, that would have holes for the bottoms of the legs to slot into. Heavy duty castors could be fitted, and also, robust adjustable bolts with high density rubber base pads to adjust the whole thing up above the castors when you want to set up for viewing.

The bolts also do the levelling of the mount too.

My eventual solution is to build a shed abutted to my garage. It will have a run off roof and a permanent pier.

I have seen these dolly's advertised, but I reckon you could make one a lot cheaper. It is surprising what materials can be found lying about in scrapyards. You just have to look at Scrapheap Challenge on TV.

Ron.

[Helen]

There's a Scopebuggy for sale on astrobuysell http://astrobuysell.com/uk/propview.php?view=12808 I was tempted myself as although I only have an 8" I'm not very big!, but then I'd need a shed to keep it set up in...

Oh, and there's a roll-off shed on offer too for not that much more than the buggy http://astrobuysell.com/uk/propview.php?view=12852

Helen