How to pack imaging set up for travel?

[InTheWakeOfStardust]

Hi all! I'm looking forward to taking my set up on holiday with me, but I have a question about how to pack everything up. I have a Zenithstar 73, with flattener, guide scope, guide cam, Canon 700D, Asiair Pro, and obviously dew heaters/filters etc. Before when I have travelled, I have taken everything apart and packed it all up individually in the boxes they were shipped in...but its a real pain having to disassemble and reassemble everything constantly. To get the refractor in its shipping case I have to remove the dovetail and carry handle, and change the position of the tube rings. It's easy enough to reassemble...but a pain if I am just heading a couple of hours up the road and back. 

So! I'm wondering if it's OK to travel with mmy imaging rig ready to use, and if so, if anyone has any case recommendations to keep it protected? Thanks! 

[ONIKKINEN]

Oklop bags, get yourself some of them.

This one is quite popular: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/telescope-bags-cases-storage/oklop-padded-bag-for-small-telescopes.html

I have an Oklop bag for my newtonian OTA, an old Nike sports equipment bag for an AZ-EQ6, a backpack for various fragile and small items and another shoulder carried bag (not pictured below, the small carrying case and contents of the open bag moved there) and of course the tripod which just goes in hand, no need to worry about the tripod since its just 3 steel tubes so nothing fragile here.

Everything carries to my car in 2 trips, although its a bit of a pain to carry. I would recommend you get the multi-purpose Oklop bag and then any sports bags or similar you can find for the rest. Just dont bump them into walls or doorways like a neanderthal (like i have!) and everything will stay intact. Take care in placing the bags in your trunk in a way that they are not allowed to roll around or move. Have never bothered to carry the bulky boxes all the stuff came with.

[InTheWakeOfStardust]

25 minutes ago, ONIKKINEN said:

Oklop bags, get yourself some of them.

This one is quite popular: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/telescope-bags-cases-storage/oklop-padded-bag-for-small-telescopes.html

I have an Oklop bag for my newtonian OTA, an old Nike sports equipment bag for an AZ-EQ6, a backpack for various fragile and small items and another shoulder carried bag (not pictured below, the small carrying case and contents of the open bag moved there) and of course the tripod which just goes in hand, no need to worry about the tripod since its just 3 steel tubes so nothing fragile here.

Everything carries to my car in 2 trips, although its a bit of a pain to carry. I would recommend you get the multi-purpose Oklop bag and then any sports bags or similar you can find for the rest. Just dont bump them into walls or doorways like a neanderthal (like i have!) and everything will stay intact. Take care in placing the bags in your trunk in a way that they are not allowed to roll around or move. Have never bothered to carry the bulky boxes all the stuff came with.

Thank you! I'll 100% check out that Oklop bag. It's mainly just for the imaging train, my CEM26 comes with a fab aluminium case and like you, I never worry about the tripod haha. I can't say I'll never bump them into anything (I have, sadly, dropped this imaging train on concrete before, luckily the only damage was an easily replaced dew shield/lens cap and some minor scratches). But the bag looks like exactly what I need! 

[LordLoki]

Not sure if your scope would fit. I have a redcat 51. And I use the Lowepro ProTactic BP 450. It fits the redcat, zwo asi 1600 and all the stuff I need including 150wh battery. Fotos below. Very nice to transport gear. 

[Louis D]

I wrap my gear in bubble wrap and then put it in the gym bag(s) for transport.  That way, it's somewhat protected from inadvertent bumps.

[Dark Raven]

I have to travel for my imaging sesions and I use Lowepro Pro Trekker BP 550 AW II

It is airplane cabin carry on compatible and I have taken it on planes, trains, buses and car rides. I also wrap most of the gear in bubble wrap. It fits my full AP set up with AM5, RC51 and 18Ah battery. Few pics below

It also fits my bigger scope but barely 

 

Pelican and alike cases are the best way to go.

 

Edited August 16, 2023 by Dark Raven

[Elp]

Thick yoga mats are excellent for additional padding, don't cost much and you can cut up to size.

[Louis D]

On 16/07/2023 at 13:44, ONIKKINEN said:

no need to worry about the tripod since its just 3 steel tubes so nothing fragile here

You could wrap the legs in the appropriate inner diameter pipe insulating foam for a bit of impact protection and to keep them warmer to the touch in winter.

[Elp]

If travelling by air check if photo tripods are allowed on the planes as carry on, might have to go with hold luggage.

Edited August 10, 2023 by Elp

[josefk]

The beauty of that Lowepro gear @Dark Raven and @LordLoki  show above is that it is endlessly configurable and really great quality. I have a large Lowepro bag that must be more than 20-years old and, apart from one buckle that i snapped by treading on it, it's still going strong and looking good. Been setup several different ways for various camera and optical kits over the years so i always have a use for it and find it valuable to have.

[InTheWakeOfStardust]

On 08/08/2023 at 21:21, LordLoki said:

Not sure if your scope would fit. I have a redcat 51. And I use the Lowepro ProTactic BP 450. It fits the redcat, zwo asi 1600 and all the stuff I need including 150wh battery. Fotos below. Very nice to transport gear. 

Sorry for the late reply! I totally forgot I'd posted, then logged in to a bunch of great advice 😄 

 

This bag looks amazing! I do have something pretty much the same already tbh, for when I'm flying abroad and I take the rig apart to pack it up small enough to fit in hand luggage. I was mainly looking for a padded bag I can ferry around the UK in the car, which is big enough to keep my entire imaging train intact so I don't have to keep faffing around reconnecting everything when I hop from place to place (I enjoy roadtripping and stopping in different places each night; having to take everything apart and pht it back together every single night is a pain). 

I decided on an Oklop bag for "small refractors" - which is actually massive. Big massive. It's probably designed to take a small mount and tripod as well, so plenty of extra storage space, and my entire imaging train fits in there easily, with extra bubble wrap to be on the safe side. 

[InTheWakeOfStardust]

On 09/08/2023 at 19:19, Louis D said:

I wrap my gear in bubble wrap and then put it in the gym bag(s) for transport.  That way, it's somewhat protected from inadvertent bumps.

Thank you! I went with a padded bag from First Light ultimately, but I have added some bubbles wrap for that extra protection.

[InTheWakeOfStardust]

On 09/08/2023 at 19:43, Dark Raven said:

I have to travel for my imaging sesions and I use Lowepro Pro Trekker BP 550 AW II

It is airplane cabin carry on compatible and I have taken it on planes, trains, buses and car rides. I also wrap most of the gear in bubble wrap. It fits my full AP set up with AM5, RC51 and 18Ah battery. Few pics below

It also fits my bigger scope but barely 

Sometimes during the work week I am just lazy and stick it fully assembled in to the child seat...

Probably a bad idea, but no harm so far...

Pelican and alike cases are the best way to go.

Neat bag! And thanks for the reply

I've flown this imaging train (not the mount though) across the globe in a backpack similar to yours, and I'm super happy with it. but I do have to take the entire thing apart to get everything to fit (cameras disconnected, dovetails disconnected, guidescope and asiair disconnected, tube rings on OTA moved so the dew shield can be fully retracted etc). It's a bit of a faff to set back up again when I'm just roadtripping within the UK. My other telescope has a wooden box made especially for it, with its original shipping foam, but I change my rig around quite often so cutting foam out to match the shape of the whole rig is difficult.

I love the child seat photo haha! I have definitely been guilty of throwing the sucker on the back seat of the car and just keeping it in place with the seat belt. As you say, probably not good for it at all, but I really didn't want to have to take it apart and put it back together again. 

I eventually got myself a padded bag for "small telescopes" from FLO - it's actually massive, easily fits my entire imaging rig plus plenty of accessories/another telescope (I think it's meant to fit a small tripod and mount as well). Added some bubble wrap for that extra but of protection and I'm roadtrip ready! 

 

[Louis D]

3 hours ago, InTheWakeOfStardust said:

I love the child seat photo haha! I have definitely been guilty of throwing the sucker on the back seat of the car and just keeping it in place with the seat belt. As you say, probably not good for it at all, but I really didn't want to have to take it apart and put it back together again.

I usually just put my 8" Dob vertically in a corner of the back of my van and simply bungee cord it in place.  It works just fine.

[Guest]

For my 10 inch dob it goes into a padded bag and i just lay it on the back seat of my truck with room to spare.  Now if i were transporting an imaging rig that potentially could cost thousands of dollars i would not hesitate to spend money on a hard case that could hold it mostly assembled.  Heck that might even be a good wood working project.