Where Do You Keep Your 'Scopes??

[cloudsweeper]

As the need for astronomical gear grows, this is a practical issue that can of course be contentious when others share your living space!  Here's what I do:

# 8SE Cat - corner of living room.

# Long 127 frac - alongside coffee table in living room!

# The small and medium fracs are out of the way, on a cabinet in a small bedroom.

# At least the Dob is outside, in its own Dobhouse.

I consider myself very fortunate in having such a tolerant wife.  And it seems that after a while, these items are less noticed, much in the same way that a picture no longer attracts any attention soon after being put up!

How do others accommodate all their hardware?

Doug.

 

 

[TerryMcK]

All the scopes are kept in my office. The mount is in my workshop ready to be wheeled out when the clouds clear. It spends a long time in there!

[Steve Clay]

My Ed 120 and 80 along with skytee, Az5 and solarquest are in my shed/ workshop/ man cave. Ep's, quark and other stuff are kept in a large pelicase again in the shed.  The shed is insulated, ventilated and has a small dehumidifier running. It also has a small greenhouse electric tube heater. It's always warm and dry.

[endless-sky]

The mount (NEQ6 Pro) and the imaging rig (Tecnosky 80/480 APO + guide scope / cameras) are in a corner of the living room, by the front door, ready to be taken out at a moment's notice.

The C8 / rest of the gear (imaging laptop, cables, power supplies, tracing pad for flats) are in a cabinet, close enough to the mount and ready to be taken out as well.

I used to dismantle everything and put the tripod, mount head and telescopes/accessories out of the way, in a seldom used room, so that they were completely out of view. But thankfully I managed to convince the wife that if I wanted to get any imaging done, the gear needed to be close to the front garden and mounted in as few blocks as I could safely move around as possible, otherwise it would have ended up unused and basically useless.

[Mr Thingy]

Anywhere my kids aren't

[Jamgood]

I only have one scope and mount at the minute. Scope is on the piano in my Recording Studio/Obsy and the mount is in the corner. I've got set up down to a fast, fine art not. 10 minutes and I'm ready to start guiding/imaging. 

[Iced Tiger]

All my equipment  is in the garage apart from my laptop, which is in the bedroom wardrobe.

[JeremyS]

Near/in my bed

[DaveL59]

18 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

Near/in my bed

an extra 100 points to that man! 😛 

Mine live in the conservatory, mounted and ready to be stepped outside or can be used thru the open door, tho some juggling required to get the scope I want extracted from the 3-legged spaghetti etc.

Edited November 2, 2020 by DaveL59

[Captain Scarlet]

The big dustbin (12" skywatcher solid-tube) can only live in the garage, next to the hot water tank. The others continuously move around the house until they get discovered: "you can't leave that there". So I hide them somewhere else.

[johninderby]

7 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

Near/in my bed

Ah but do you have one of these duvet covers.? 😁😁😁

[cloudsweeper]

1 hour ago, Steve Clay said:

My Ed 120 and 80 along with skytee, Az5 and solarquest are in my shed/ workshop/ man cave. Ep's, quark and other stuff are kept in a large pelicase again in the shed.  The shed is insulated, ventilated and has a small dehumidifier running. It also has a small greenhouse electric tube heater. It's always warm and dry.

Mounts, yes!  I forgot to mention that my GoTo, Skytee, and AZ4 all live with the Dob.  As do the EPs.  

And I use a fan heater in there to keep everything dry and ventilated.

Doug.

[johninderby]

Or this 🤔

[Paul M]

My 2 home scopes, the 250PDS and 127 Mak continue to live in the integral garage but are now beautifully homed on their very own bespoke shelves.

My "away" telescope, Ye Olde Fullerscope, is stood on end beside my bed at our Luxury Cumbrian Villa. It earns its passage by serving as a clothes horse/dressing gown rack/slipper rack.

[John]

I have a "scope corner" in the dining room for the OTA's:

[DaveL59]

11 minutes ago, johninderby said:

Ah but do you have one of these duvet covers.? 😁😁😁

is that a scope or a cannon?!? First glance I thought cannon and the odd thing down the the RH corner the striker to fire it 😉 

[Space Hopper]

Both my refractors live in our integral heated garage.

We have the boiler in there, plus lots of hot pipes, so its a warm dry environment to store gear.

I need to manage cooldown when i'm observing in the cooler months, and conseqently, be careful putting a cold scope back in a warm room later.....

 

[martin_h]

On the mount in the observatory ready to go.

[endless-sky]

1 hour ago, johninderby said:

Or this 🤔

Shouldn't leave your precious scope out in the rain. This sets a bad example of how not to take care of your hard earned equipment! 😅

[Paul73]

The Dob is on its trolley in the garage ready for action!

The others (3) are secreted around my study.

Paul

[JeremyS]

1 hour ago, John said:

I have a "scope corner" in the dining room for the OTA's:

How often have you been told to stand there with them, John? 🤣

[JeremyS]

1 hour ago, DaveL59 said:

is that a scope or a cannon?!? First glance I thought cannon and the odd thing down the the RH corner the striker to fire it 😉 

Aren’t Takahashi fluorite lenses from Canon? 🤔

[Telescope40]

1 hour ago, John said:

I have a "scope corner" in the dining room for the OTA's:

Hello. 

Not wanting to derail the thread. Quick Q. I see the scopes stood to attention. 
Thought about this with my 2 fracs. Leave them in their cases but stand them vertical. Would this xause any issues. 
Thinking movement of “fluid” maybe in the objective lens unit. However. Unsure if there is any “fluid” that could move tbh. 🙃🙃 ?? 
Have a SW 150ED and Stellarvue 102 scopes. 
John 

[JeremyS]

1 minute ago, Telescope40 said:

Hello. 

Not wanting to derail the thread. Quick Q. I see the scopes stood to attention. 
Thought about this with my 2 fracs. Leave them in their cases but stand them vertical. Would this xause any issues. 
Thinking movement of “fluid” maybe in the objective lens unit. However. Unsure if there is any “fluid” that could move tbh. 🙃🙃 ?? 
Have a SW 150ED and Stellarvue 102 scopes. 
John 

No problems there, John. Will be fine. There is no fluid. 
I store a couple of my fracs vertically, too.

[John]

4 minutes ago, Telescope40 said:

Hello. 

Not wanting to derail the thread. Quick Q. I see the scopes stood to attention. 
Thought about this with my 2 fracs. Leave them in their cases but stand them vertical. Would this xause any issues. 
Thinking movement of “fluid” maybe in the objective lens unit. However. Unsure if there is any “fluid” that could move tbh. 🙃🙃 ?? 
Have a SW 150ED and Stellarvue 102 scopes. 
John 

My refractors are all air spaced including the triplet.

The SW 150 ED is air spaced. Not sure about the Stellarvue 102.

I don't know if the way I store them is the best way but it's the only practical way for me so that's what I do.

 

Edited November 2, 2020 by John