Problem getting my telescope in and out of my garage

[mckinnell]

Hello to all,

        Here is my problem, firstly, my scope will stay in the garage when not being used, BUT!, when it needs to come out or returened i have a problem of the main scope body fouling the top of the garage door frame work, it is an over type garadoor make and, as such, the home or parking position is just  preventing me using my scope because of the above problem i have outlined.

        My question is this, how and can i alter the positioning of the scope body to allow me to get in and out of the garage and then very quickly get it into the home position by just swinging it into and out of as i need to do, really need to get this sorted as, to get a new set of doors is just out of the question, this is the only problem now left for me to over come and so start to use my telescope, if not, well, !!!!!!!!!!!!

        I look forwards to all or any helpful solutions to my  problem and many thanks for the support.

 

                                                                                      Very best regards and best wishes to all.     McKinnell                      aka         Tom..........

Edited October 29, 2021 by mckinnell

[Stickey]

I may be missing something,  but couldn't you just loosen the RA or Dec clutches?

 

[Knighty2112]

Can’t you take the scope off the mount and carry the mount into the garage first, then cary the scope in after that and refit it to the mount once in the garage? Or are doing imaging with all wires etc set up on the mount making that too much of a chore to disassemble? 

[newbie alert]

You shouldn't carry the full loaded mount in and out.. have you thought of wheels as a option ?

[mckinnell]

Thanks to all so far, yes i can loosen the clutches as you say and was told not to but should leave it as is

The scope body is very heavy so can`t

My scope uses wheels to get it into and out of the garage and has increased the hight of the mount and is fixed on the dolly

Now sorted these points out you can now see my problem!!.

 

                                                                     Best regards and thanks,                                   McKinnell...........

[M40]

Hello Tom, had a quick look back at your dolly and tripod arrangement just to blow the cobwebs off, I think that you are trying to skip the polar alignment stage by keeping the mount and ota in the home position. Unfortunately, as soon as you move your dolly you will need to do the polar alignment again. So as Stickey said, you could just loosen either the ra or dec clamps, rotate the ota on the mount to go in and out of your garage. To make life easier, you could mark the mount for the clutch you release so when you want to return to that position it's as close as.

Edited October 30, 2021 by M40
spellign

[M40]

4 minutes ago, mckinnell said:

Thanks to all so far, yes i can loosen the clutches as you say and was told not to but should leave it as is

You only need to leave the clutches alone after you have carried out the polar alignment stage at the start of each session. Each time you move the mount you will need to carry out polar alignment. Doesn't need to be so accurate for solar system observing but for DSO stuff it needs to be as good as you can get it. Hope that makes some sort of sense.

[Ricochet]

Looking at your post history it appears that three years ago you bought the ungodly combination of a 12" newtonian and NEQ6 mount. As the scope/mount is so big you have spent the last three years looking at building some sort of observatory, but that has not happened and so you have built a dolly for it so that you can push it out of your garage onto your driveway, but it wont fit through the door.

How much clearance do you need to get the scope under the door? Your dolly looks like 5" castors with a flat platform on top made from 2x4s. Could you change the design of the dolly to lower it just enough to give you the clearance needed to get the scope through?

Having said that, the whole thing looks to be very unstable and unwieldy to me. I worry about the top heaviness of the setup causing it to fall from the dolly if one of the wheels were to hit a bump, or the difficulty of manoeuvring something on castors when you've only got the mount to hold onto meaning you lose control of the whole rig. And then when you do finally get your scope outdoors, you will learn about eyepiece rotation with a newt/eq setup. With a 4" scope, it's an inconvenience, but with a 12" scope it's going to be a real pain. After 1115 nights in a row where you haven't been able to get your scope out and do any observing because it is too big, my suggestion is that you cut your losses, sell the OTA to an observer who wants to make their own dob base, sell the mount to an astrophotographer, and buy something smaller that you can just carry out and observe with.

[mikeDnight]

Sounds like you need an observatory. I found that grovelling pathetically to my better half helped a lot. 

[david_taurus83]

Leave it outside and stick a cover on it!

[mckinnell]

Mmmmmmmmmmmmm, some very interesting idea`s and points of what i have done wrong and how to loose money by selling it and going to a LESSER scope, WHICH, i might add, my wife S.W.M.B.O. would make dam sure i need never be in a healthy position to worry about anything else, so that one we will respectfully ignore!!,.

M40, yes an idea i pondered some time ago, and, looking at Rothervally polarscope`s  found a 90deg attachment so as do not have to kill myself getting down, my spinal problems have/are getting worse and it would be a non starter, so that`s the first idea, second was the iopt some thing, i for get, got it bookmarked, it`s a SP mount cam that can also go to 2  3  and 4 star set up and at just over £200 i think is quite good, the manual one is around £80 just over.

Just to set the record, before i ventured to my set up re dolly taken fom a US site which, i must state, is very stable in trasit from place to place and most robust have done many wheeling trials with scope on after a fashion and help from a friend, it was on following great advice on what the best equiptment i should strive to purchase taking my health and age etc ertc into the mix by my piers, yes, the dear fellows on this site/forum, my wifes thoughts on this and what has happened thus so far are not printable, best keep away from Rugby lol lol lol, she is very protective of me, is how and where i find myself now, as i stated before, i have been incharge of larger scopes and obs in my youth re our own college obs in Coventry in the late 1960s to mid 70s, and after that monster, my latest set up is yes, smaller, so that ticks that one off,                            OK!!!.

My gratefull thanks for all the constructive posts and help and as alway my very best regards and thanks to every one..........

 

                                                                                                                      McKinnell.         aka      Tom................

[Stu]

@mckinnell, some pictures of your setup and the situation would certainly help others contribute constructively.

That said, I do believe you already have your answer. If you can’t/don’t want to remove the OTA, then the only choice is to loosen the clutches and reposition the scope so it fits under the door. You could mark the axes so you can get it back in the right position although as others have said, you need to do a polar alignment and star alignment each time anyway so this approach should be acceptable to you. It’s the only answer I think, unless you can lower the dolly at all.

[M40]

1 hour ago, mckinnell said:

, second was the iopt some thing, i for get, got it bookmarked, it`s a SP mount cam that can also go to 2  3  and 4 star set up and at just over £200 i think is quite good, the manual one is around £80 just over.

Its an ioptron ipolar. Know where you are coming from, I bought one about a month or so ago plus upgraded the alt bolts. We are mid move which will hopefully take place next week so everything is in boxes but did try it out just once before putting it back in a box in a box. Hopefully I will find it some time in the future.... The camera, using an adapter for your mount, goes in the hole in your mount above the north leg and when plugged into your laptop displays on screen stars and directional arrows so turn your azi and alt bolts. I didn't have a chance to say whether it works perfectly or not (can't see why it wouldn't) but it will save your back. The upgraded bolts are also a good move. Once you work out how the handle works, life is a lot easier. If you need any further help in spending your money, let us know 🤣

[mckinnell]

Hi STU,

           Thanks for the reply to my question, yes!, the unlocking of RA or DEC and then re locking same is what i was going to do, the reason for this shout was because many had said in my area of address, that, it was not really a good thing to do to do as you and M40 had suggested, but, then, we all learn as i have from all your valued help and i will certainly act accordingly on this way of doing so, BTW, my dolly and over all set up is so robust and stable in transit that i wished i had come across the artical on a US site very like ours here, still, i did and thank god i did, it works fantastic, BUT, should funds and some one to con, errrrrr i mean persuade to alter said garage roof then who knows ay??!!!, but, that`s for a later date in the future me thinks, so, onwards and upwards, and i hopoe we have a crisp clear type winter for us star gazers every where in the UK.

                                           My gratest thanks and very best regards to you matey.

                                                                                 McKinnell...........aka.   Tom

[mckinnell]

M40, here`s hoping move goes well, yes, PLEASE let me know how you get on with the re set up and how you apply the gizmo, lol lol, tec wording, he he he, really looking forwards to your reply on this and wish you and your the very best and lots of luck in the new address my friend.......

                                           My very best regards,  McKinnell.       aka     Tom

 

PS,  are you still in Essex mate or out of area???

[mckinnell]

Stu, Just to say that, i have some time ago, not to long as such, but, sent up some pic of the completed dolly and NEQ6 Pro on it, it is a monster at first glance, but as stated on the US site, it is going NO WHERE!! but, it really IS very stable and rolls in and out very smoothly indeed, but, that all and only so, on how smooth you construct or is already flate and level, which i can confirm, is, have a hunt around, i know it`s out here in the forum some place, hopfully give you agood heads up on where and what i am contriving to portray, as best as i humbly can.

                                             Very best regards and best wishes,    McKinnell,      aka    Tom.

                                                  

[uk_friendly_fire]

The Microsoft engineer says "build a bigger garage."

The Linux engineer say "dig a trench a the garage door." 

(•‿•)

[johninderby]

2 minutes ago, uk_friendly_fire said:

"dig a trench a the garage door." 

(•‿•)

Err FLOOR 🤔

[uk_friendly_fire]

That's the problem using phones with corrective text enabled

[johninderby]

Just now, uk_friendly_fire said:

That's the problem using phones with corrective text enabled

Tell me about it. 😁😁😁😁😁

[mckinnell]

I tell my phone much, it say xxxx you mate, then i turn it off lol lol lol !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!