8 inch Orion intelliscope dobsonian wheels

[ruthlessaz]

Hi, I purchased an 8" Dob intelliscope used. The prior owner put 3 wheels under the base, 2 of which have locks. I haven't used the scope yet, but I am wondering if this was actually a bad idea, since it's on wheels, I feel it may be quite annoying when trying to spin the scope around... I was thinking of installing threaded levelers but I don't think that would work as there would be no way for me to be able to raise and lower the base as there is probably less than an inch between the 2 bases pieces.... Should I just remove the wheels and use a simple dolly to roll it inside and outside, then just take the scope off of the dolly and put it on the ground? Wheels were a cool idea, now I'm thinking not so much....

[elliot]

If two of them have locks then it won't spin round. Proof is in the pudding I guess. I've seen mucho dobs with wheels on the internet.  Why would you need levellers? (genuine question from someone who doesn't know)

[brantuk]

You want the turntable to stay firmly in place when in use viewing the sky. Locking one wheel is inadequate to do this - locking two wheel locks is just adequate. Personally I would want to lock all three. The rocker box should turn through 360 degrees independently of the wheels. Now I could be totally wrong here cos I'm envisaging your scope from your description - if I am wrong - then a picture would help a lot.

[ruthlessaz]

Yeah I agree, I think I need to remove the wheels and just either carry it to the outside, or use a dolly and just take it on and off the dolly. Wheels are a good idea, but only 2 have locking mechanisms for some reason...I wanted to be able to put levelers on it, so when it's not in use it can roll around, but when I Al using the scope, I can lower the levelers to bring the base up so the wheels don't touch the ground ..But it's impossible to do this..Also, I tried holding the bottom part and spinning the scope on its axis, and it isn't extremely smooth. I have seen videos if someone moving it, and it seemed so much smoother in the videos than mine...Is there a way to make it looser, and not so tight when spinning the scope around? 

 

Also, for the finderscope on the 8 inch intelliscope Orion,  that can be adjusted right, as far as focusing? I see you can unscrew the end of the finderscope, and it seems when you screw or unscrew it the focus changes...Am I correct? Just curious.

 

Thanks again!!

[JOC]

It sounds a similar size to my telescope, FWIW mine didn't come with wheels and weight wise it is no problem the just pop the OTA out from the base and shift both objects to where I want them and then 30 seconds to reassemble.  From that perspective I can't really see that removing the wheels would cause any problems  - it sounds like it would just put it back to where it started which must have been manageable just as mine was.  I can see the sense in putting wheels on something where both bits are pretty awkward/huge/heavy to move separately, but I can't see the point in requiring wheels on what you have so if you think they could be an issue I think I'd take them off.

[ruthlessaz]

Agree. I took the wheels off, and I will be putting  some furniture pads ( non stick kind, like rubber) so the base stays put. 

 

Gonna try it out tonight, hope all goes well!

[JOC]

FWIW my Skywatcher comes with little rubber feet on the base - they are about 3/4" long kind of cylindrical/cone in shape and fasten in with screws, my rubber feet then have little rubber finishing tips which push in after the screws are done up to finish things off - I found I stuck these finishing bits in with a bit of silicone bath sealant as they kept falling out.  Perhaps your telescope also had feet which the previous owner removed to fit the wheels (I suspect it might have done), maybe if you contacted the manufacturer it might be possible to get some original replacements?