Grab 'n Go, define ..

[Alfian]

Chewing over the pros and cons of my AZ4 mount has led me to wonder what members consider as their most useful and manageable grab 'n go setup. Grab 'n go seems to mean different  things to different people. Is it a setup that can be easily packed in the back of the car and taken to a dark site with only a few yards lift and carry at either end? Is it  maybe a suitable photo tripod/mount with a small apo that can be stowed in a rucksack and walked to the back of beyond? Of  course there is always the ultimate grab 'n go, the Binocular. So what's your grab 'n go? This  for time being ('scope) is my mine, A TS 80mm (F7.5) on a Heritage mini-dob mount. Its very portable and works pretty well .

 

[Alien 13]

My definition is that it can be carried a fair distance in one hand when completely set up.

Alan

[Stu]

My definition is something that can be taken away with me either in a car with not much space remaining because it is full of camping gear, or on a plane.

After trying a ridiculous number of options, I have now found the ideal answer.

Tak FC-100DC which will fit in an airline travel case

Tak 1.25" Prism

Giro-WR mount

Gitzo GT5542LS tripod

Small case of Ortho eyepieces with a 24mm 68 degree for widefield

This takes up very little room in a car and is perfectly fine to take abroad on a family holiday. My best observing in any year is often done under these circumstances.

Of course there are plenty of other lower cost solutions in the same vein but this is my own particular nirvana  

[John]

One of my definitions of grab and go is something that can be carried outside and setup within a couple of minutes (not including cooldown time) and also taken down and put inside in a couple of minutes. All my scopes fit into that definition, even the 12" dob.

A more stringent defintion is that the whole setup can be carried some distance (eg: 100 metres) without much trouble and either of my 100mm refractors on the Giro / Ercole mount fit that definition and maybe the ED120 if I am feeling energetic.

My most stringent definition is something that can be carried in one hand or packed in a rucksack. Presently 11x70 and 10x50 binoculars are in that category for me but I have owned scopes in the past which are close to that level of portability. I guess this would also cover a "holiday" / airline compatible scope which is something I'm lacking at the moment.

 

 

[scarp15]

Just something that you can reach for at a moments notice and can use for say ten minutes or continue using for as long as you like. Grab and go must be suitable for taking into your backyard / garden or for a brisk , short walk to a suitable observing location. My own  grab & go in the true sense is my 16x70 binoculars and monopod, which I get to use in my yard, walk to my allotment or can easily slip in the car for those overnight family visits for just in case.

[ronin]

Suppose I consider anything that takes 10 minutes from getting out the drivers door to managing to make a first observation. And not cause a hernia or strain getting it into or out of the car.

You do likely have to be half organised first. You also really need to have an idea of what to look at. Why set up in 5 minutes to then search around the sky for what to point the scope at.

[cloudsweeper]

Get it in the garden in two easy parts, then after minimal cooling, be swinging it round the sky and viewing stuff.  No power packs, leads, long cooling, or alignment, and a built-in dewshield.  And if I want to relocate, it's manageable all together.

Hence the ST120 on the AZ4!

Doug.

 

[John]

12 minutes ago, cloudsweeper said:

.....  No power packs, leads, long cooling, or alignment.....

 

All the above are important "ticks" for me when thinking about scopes

[Alien 13]

There are quite a few grab and grab again, manhandle or Ikea type self assembly and go on here that dont do it for me 

Alan

[nightfisher]

For me its my 102 Maksutov, it did not cost a great amount, so i am happy for it to live in the outbuilding, this means its always at outside temperature so is ready to go, it will never set the world alight with its DSO performance, but i dont do much in DSO anyway.

If i go to a campsite for a vacation, i would not feel happy leaving my 120ED in a tent while i am out and about, but the mak would be okay and is plenty small enough to lock in the boot of the car!

It has already proved itself to be very good at Luna and i do have a little EQ tripod/mount but it would be better on an AZ for proper grab an go

[Moonshane]

Basically what John said for me

[dobbie]

It's my tv76 on a vixen porta 2 mount on a photographic tripod ,all break down to nothing. It's also doubles as my daytime scope.. 

[Peter Drew]

My limit for grab and go is my Celestron 8se. My 30" Dob takes less than 3 minutes to set up but falls down badly on the "grab" bit. 

[ecuador]

I like to do some astrophotography, so the ultimate grab & go setup I came up with involves an iOptron CEM25P mount (the almost identical ZEQ25 before it) and usually the 80ED as an OTA. That mount is about 10kg including the tripod (you lift the whole thing with one hand) and can pass through doors and fit into my car as it is fully assembled - I only remove the OTA and reattach it if I go somewhere, the legs can stay spread in-place (just not extended), and setup with the integrated GPS and high precision Polar Scope is less than 5 minutes for visual and (unguided) astrophotography. While the 80ED is nice, if I want something "beefier" I consider the C9.25 to be the "most scope that is still portable", and in its Geoptic bag it is right at the edge of "grab and go". Same weight as my 8" newtonian (9kg) but much easier to handle and transport due to the small length.

[avtaram]

I have 3 scopes that I can call grab and go:

1 - 12" Revelation dob that I keep in the summer house, it has castors on the dob base and is easily wheeled onto the patio.

2 - 6" f8 Newt mounted on an Altair Sabre AZ , this is also kept in the summer house and can be carried mounted onto the patio.

3 - 90mm mak mounted on an AZ mount with slo mo controls and photographic tripod. This is kept mounted in a south facing upstairs study, I just point this out of the window if for some reason I cannot get out into the garden. This is also my travel scope.

[iPeace]

I agree with all of the above, and more.

Grab-and-go, for me, is more a mindset that a set of specifications. It's about minimizing setup and teardown (grab-and-stow!) time and effort, eschewing unnecessary steps, cultivating a routine, planning and ingenuity. It's about always being ready, prepared and able.

Minimizing weight, bulk and complexity helps - but there's often a tradeoff, resulting in the need for several modes of grab-and-go (bins, small scope, full monty). Your choice of aperture and focal length will, of course, be a major factor. You can only stay out so long, under certain conditions, before the dew monster shows up to crash the party. How many extra steps to have powered dewbands? Etc.

I've read here on SGL that this business is about taking what's there, and I agree. For me, grab-and-go means not having any excuse not to.

[chiltonstar]

For me, portable enough to carry around my garden or into the nearby field, no wires, no assembly and no slipped disk.

Chris

[Peter Drew]

1 hour ago, iPeace said:

I agree with all of the above, and more.

Grab-and-go, for me, is more a mindset that a set of specifications. It's about minimizing setup and teardown (grab-and-stow!) time and effort, eschewing unnecessary steps, cultivating a routine, planning and ingenuity. It's about always being ready, prepared and able.

Minimizing weight, bulk and complexity helps - but there's often a tradeoff, resulting in the need for several modes of grab-and-go (bins, small scope, full monty). Your choice of aperture and focal length will, of course, be a major factor. You can only stay out so long, under certain conditions, before the dew monster shows up to crash the party. How many extra steps to have powered dewbands? Etc.

I've read here on SGL that this business is about taking what's there, and I agree. For me, grab-and-go means not having any excuse not to.

The last sentence sums up grab-and-go perfectly. 

[DirkSteele]

My definition of grab and go seems to have evolved as I purchased smaller scopes.  Initially it would have been my LZOS made 105mm triplet mounted on a Tele Optic Ercole Giro and a Gitzo 5532S carbon fibre tripod.  I have taken it as far a field as the deserts of Oman so travels well.  But all in that is tipping the scales at about 13-14kg including rings, finder and EPs so still quite weighty...  Pic in Oman below.

Then I purchased the Takahashi FS-60 and FC-76 objective unit upgrade.  That is mounted on a Tele Optic Mini and Gitzo 4452S carbon fibre tripod and all in weighs 5-7kg including clamshell, finder and EPs (depending on which version).  The FS-60 has been to Slovenia, Mozambique, Namibia several times, Spain and elsewhere.  The FC-76 has been to dark sites in the UK and will be coming on my honeymoon later this year.

Pic of the FS-60 in Mozambique.

Pic of the FC-76 at AstroCamp in the Brecon Beacons.

So my definition seems to be more about taking to far away lands with dark skies, but it does not change much even if I am just dragging it outside at home.  Light weight, quick to set up and take down with minimal fuss.

[Roy Challen]

Grab and Go. For me, the important bit is the Go part. I can 'grab' - barely - my EQ mount and Tal, and haul them out into the garden, but my Horizon tripod and 12x50s can be carried on my bike or accompany me on foreign travels.

[Dave In Vermont]

I consider the expression in context of something I can easily transport in my knapsack - scope, tripod, and all peripherals - out the door and into any park I wish about town. I never like carrying anything in my hands/arms, it throws my center of gravity off. I guess that it means different things to different people.

Imagine that!  

Dave

[Alfian]

Thanks to everyone for the interest and the comments and  the very individual takes on what  grab 'n' go is to them.

4 hours ago, Dave In Vermont said:

I guess that it means different things to different people

Thats for sure Dave and I guessed it would be.  In my minds eye grab  suggests a package easily picked up and carried, perhaps put in a kit bag, and go suggests somewhere other than the back garden (darker site, holiday, maybe abroad) but thats me.  However, there is much food for thought in the comments.

 

9 hours ago, iPeace said:

I've read here on SGL that this business is about taking what's there, and I agree. For me, grab-and-go means not having any excuse not to.

Whether an ultra-portable go anywhere setup or a quickly deployable 12" Dob on castors how true has this got to be.  It alludes not so much to the what as to the whys and wherefores of this business.

I had thought of suggesting other labels that might better describe a certain level of grab 'n' go -ness.  "Astro-travel kit",  "grab 'n' go", "haul and go" "push and view"  etc (open to suggestions - no maybe not) but then there would be more questions - when does an Astro Travel kit tip the scales to become a grab 'n' go etc.  Perhaps less is indeed more in this case.

[Stu]

17 minutes ago, Alfian said:

Thanks to everyone for the interest and the comments and  the very individual takes on what  grab 'n' go is to them.

Thats for sure Dave and I guessed it would be.  In my minds eye grab  suggests a package easily picked up and carried, perhaps put in a kit bag, and go suggests somewhere other than the back garden (darker site, holiday, maybe abroad) but thats me.  However, there is much food for thought in the comments.

 

Whether an ultra-portable go anywhere setup or a quickly deployable 12" Dob on castors how true has this got to be.  It alludes not so much to the what as to the whys and wherefores of this business.

I had thought of suggesting other labels that might better describe a certain level of grab 'n' go -ness.  "Astro-travel kit",  "grab 'n' go", "haul and go" "push and view"  etc (open to suggestions - no maybe not) but then there would be more questions - when does an Astro Travel kit tip the scales to become a grab 'n' go etc.  Perhaps less is indeed more in this case.

In some ways my lightweight kit probably takes longer to setup at home (from being fully packed away) than a 12" dob does to move from an outbuilding to its observing spot in the garden.

In its purest sense though however I can just grab the cases and go on my way very easily unlike packing a 12" dob into a car!

Ironically many of the bigger scopes are designed to be transportable, another definition of grab and go I guess? An 18" truss dobsonian can be much easier to get to a dark site than perhaps a 12" solid tube for instance. It takes a bit longer to setup at the destination but ultimately I guess much of this is about being able to get the best possible instrument to the darkest possible skies.

I think my ultimate ideal may just be a 12" f4 truss dob which is airline portable so I can head south on holiday and get some spectacular views of the southern skies.

[Alfian]

8 minutes ago, Stu said:

In some ways my lightweight kit probably takes longer to setup at home (from being fully packed away) than a 12" dob does to move from an outbuilding to its observing spot in the garden.

In its purest sense though however I can just grab the cases and go on my way very easily unlike packing a 12" dob into a car!

Ironically many of the bigger scopes are designed to be transportable, another definition of grab and go I guess? An 18" truss dobsonian can be much easier to get to a dark site than perhaps a 12" solid tube for instance. It takes a bit longer to setup at the destination but ultimately I guess much of this is about being able to get the best possible instrument to the darkest possible skies.

I think my ultimate ideal may just be a 12" f4 truss dob which is airline portable so I can head south on holiday and get some spectacular views of the southern skies.

That's an interesting thought Stu. Running through this thread in places is the questioning of what is assumed to be more or less portable and I admit I'm guilty of thinking small/compact is automatically better in the grab 'n go stakes.

[Alien 13]

I have another idea for a portability label, anything that fits securely in a carrier bag, you could call it a carry out.

Alan