Scope Transportation

[JR1987]

Living on the outskirts of London and very bright garden from lights around, I get frustrated and want to visit darker skies further into rural Kent.. but I get nervous every time i take my scope on any sort of trip... I drive a van so I have plenty of space but with such a delicate instrument I'm curious to know the safest way of dismantling and transporting mainly the OTA and Mount. 

[astrotyke]

ive seen trunk cases used which have foam inside them to protect the scope. when I get my new scopw soon ill be in your position soon and will look around for something that protects the scope.

[jnb]

'Scopes get made in all sorts of places and shipped all round the planet in all sorts of conditions and they survive. Reasonable care is one thing but a lot of people get paranoid about how delicate they are. They are more resilient than a lot of people imagine

[astrotyke]

'Scopes get made in all sorts of places and shipped all round the planet in all sorts of conditions and they survive. Reasonable care is one thing but a lot of people get paranoid about how delicate they are. They are more resilient than a lot of people imagine

Yep, im sure your not wrong there, as long as the scope isnt banged around too much im sure it will be ok.

[Charic]

I lay my telescope inside a Duvet when transporting in the car. As long as the telescope does not get any severe jolts. it should arrive in the same condition!

[astrotyke]

A duvet is a good idea, dont just put the scope loose on your cars back seat and let it fall off, also avoid it rolling around the boot. 

[JR1987]

can things like long car rides affect collimation?

[carastro]

I have 3 refractors, and when I was astro-camping and taking all my kit in a car, I would never have got everything in if I had put each of my my scopes in a box.  So I used to pack them carefully in bubble wrap or a sleeping bag, and by the time I had packed everything around them they weren't going any where.  

Now I have a campervan and I manage to pack all but the longest again in bubble wrap inside a large plastic box, and the largest one gets laid on top of something soft like a pillow and anything else I have similar. and wedged in so it won't move.  

The plastic boxes themselves get used to house my laptop and my electrics to keep them off the ground when I get set up at camp.  

Carole 

[NickMorris]

If you are worried about it, you can't go wrong with a Peli case or similar hard case. I know that in the back of my van, there is always an opportunity for random tools flying around and damaging equipment!

[jnb]

I lay my refractor on the back seat of the car in an old sleeping bag with the seat belts clipped over it to stop it dropping into the footwell.

[AndyWB]

I put my 10" across the back seat of my car, wrapped in a duvet, and then put the seatbelts around it to hold it in place. Works fine.

[damnut]

Hi There,

You have not told us what type of scope you have. But, my st120 goes everywhere, roof box, back seat or boot. Its bullet proof, impervious to sand, snow and dog slobber. ..

I have also transported an 10" lx 200 starpped in on the back seat.  I think that most kit is more robust than we give it credit for. I would much rather use the kit than leave it in the garage.

[scarp15]

Never had a problem transporting any scope, incorporating some of the original foam packaging material is helpful. My former fork mounted 8" SCT traveled in a large cargo bag stored inside the original foam molding, a 12" flextube was laid across back seat, cradled by package foam blocks and firmly anchored with seat belts. I now travel with a 14" solid tube dob, which rests across the length of the car again cradled in foam package blocks with sections of foam Camping mat which additionally help with packing firmly items to. When I had the SCT and for that matter the two reflectors, would retain their collimation.

[MAN or ASTROMAN]

I lay my refractor on the back seat of the car in an old sleeping bag with the seat belts clipped over it to stop it dropping into the footwell.

My refractor has it's own junior sleeping bag (Argos sale £7.50).As I'm reliant on 'shanks pony' it then goes into a 140 litre cargo bag with a padded shoulder strap for the seven minute walk to my observing site.I envy you folk with back gardens!

[hazegood]

my scope goes in an old sleeping bag, and travels across the passenger seat of my Transit van, secured by the seat belts, eyepiece case abd power pack go in the foot well along with the mount head, the tripod I bungee cord to the points in the cargo space, seems to travel well enough,

[ronin]

Another one that wraps the scope in a sleeping bag and it goes across the rear seats. :grin:

In Wilkinsons a day or two back and they have trolly holdall's in stock, 730mmx230mmx230mm (fractionally a bit more but sort of just 3-5mm each way more). If your scope would fit one try taht, especially if you could add a couple of sheets of foam for extra padding.

[completenovice]

I've a short refractor (st102) and it fits just nicely into a 23 inch toolbox I bought from B&Q with some foam underlay stuck to the inside walls for added protection. All is safe and snug and all in was less than £30.

Also use a maplin flight case for all the lenses and other 'delicates' which has taken a bit of a battering but leaves contents perfectly safe and sound.