Biggest setup you'd hump regularly

[radiofm74]

29 minutes ago, Stu said:

My most readily ‘humped’ large scope was a Sumerian Alkaid 14” which was unbelievably portable for such a large aperture. Best trip was down to Pembrokeshire on a family holiday, and it fitted in the boot easily along everything else needed! Should never have sold it!

 

Oh gosh… the 14" went complete in that small black suitcase? You're giving me ideas! Set-up / tear-down time?

[Vroobel]

14 hours ago, LondonNeil said:

I continue to be impressed! Particularly those shifting big dobs often. I gave my 12" classic tube to my brother and nephew at they leave it in the dinning room and just open the sliding door to the garden and lift it out, for me it was load the car. 

Now it's az gtix,  st120 and mak127,  small trolley made from an old Pram,  and I tow it to the open green space at the end of the street.   I feel quite lazy compared to many here!

I look longingly at C8s currently but the realisation that it's not just the 5.6kg of ota but 22kg of tripod, mount,  counterweight and ota and my brain says 'no!'  Some here must by humping more weight and bulk though,  well done!

 

I thought we talk about the stuff which we travel (or plan to travel) with, so didn't mention my regular rig(s). 

I use a Celestron CGX, it's head weighs 20kg, I don't remember the tripod weight. Presently I use 4" Altair APO and mono camera with filter wheel, EAF, etc. - 10kg in total. For wider fields I use 2" Askar, also in the mono configuration, around 5kg. The heaviest is a 10" F/5 Newtonian which weighs 17kg without the accessories. The CGX mostly stays disassembled in a shed, 5m from its place when I'm imaging, all OTAs are kept at home. 

The CGX isn't the heaviest mount which I work(ed) with. I also have an ATM heavy EQ fork mount which weighs 90kg in total. Of course, I have to assemble it every time I want to use it. It's heaviest part, a wedge, weighs 36kg. I had to buy and adapt wheeled platforms to manage the wedge and a fork. 

Well, not to far, only 5m, but try to do it a few times, then you start thinking about a lightweight CGX... 😂

https://www.astrobin.com/4sm2ql/

[Vroobel]

7 hours ago, VNA said:

... CGX mount stay outside as there is no rain to speak of for at least 6-8 month of the year.
 

 

Yes, you shouldn't post it in the British forum... 😂😇

Edited June 10 by Vroobel

[michael8554]

Where I come from you don't include "humping" in polite conversation.

Plenty of other verbs for carrying you could use........ 🙂

Michael

[apaulo]

obviously youv never humped a hod michael hahah

[PeterStudz]

From the title I assumed it was along the lines of “biggest setup you’d regularly carry a significant distance on foot”. If so then pictures of “big stuff” in cars/vans doesn’t count if all you are then going to do is just setup close to your vehicle. Visual is also very different from astrophotography. I’m into observational astronomy.

Personally I can’t think of a situation where I’d take any kit far from my back garden or far from the car. So it comes down to what I can fit into my car. Well, to be more exact “what I can fit into the transport I’m using”. Eg I can’t take my Dob on an aircraft. But I could and would take a massive telescope in a van if I had one. 

Far more important is setup time when I get to the destination. I can’t be bothered with all that polar aligning, star aligning, balancing, fiddling with weights, bolting lots of little bits together…. Especially if I have my daughter with me or some other kids/friends. 

Edited June 10 by PeterStudz

[radiofm74]

16 minutes ago, PeterStudz said:

From the title I assumed it was along the lines of “biggest setup you’d regularly carry a significant distance on foot”. If so then pictures of “big stuff” in cars/vans doesn’t count if all you are then going to do is just setup close to your vehicle. Visual is also very different from astrophotography. I’m into observational astronomy.

Personally I can’t think of a situation where I’d take any kit far from my back garden or far from the car. So it comes down to what I can fit into my car. Well, to be more exact “what I can fit into the transport I’m using”. Eg I can’t take my Dob on an aircraft. But I could and would take a massive telescope in a van if I had one. 

Far more important is setup time when I get to the destination. I can’t be bothered with all that polar aligning, star aligning, balancing, fiddling with weights, bolting lots of little bits together…. Especially if I have my daughter with me or some other kids/friends. 

Well, they do count provided your car is some distance from your flat. The order of business is “what can you walk 10’ to your car, load, set-up and then go back without undue effort”. In this vein the pic of a 14” dob into a small (and I’ll bet pretty heavy) suitcase is very relevant to me…. It might lead to unwise expenses

[Elp]

41 minutes ago, PeterStudz said:

Far more important is setup time when I get to the destination

Also depends on weather temperature and wind gusts. You're less likely to spend time setting up if it's cold and windy, especially for imaging setups (too many gusts and it's no point unless doing wide field).

[saac]

12 hours ago, Elp said:

I didn't think the hump related to heaving a mass and generally concur with what you've said, hump sounds like a lift and lumping is a carrying around action ("what are they lumping around in that bag?").

I think there may be lots of regional interpretations going on with this one. Here, if you were "humping then dumping or lumping"  it generally conjured up the image of something unwieldy and difficult to carry, something that would take a serious amount of effort. So you wouldn't hump a bunch of flowers from the florist to home. However, you would hump your weekly shop from the supermarket to home. 

Jim 

[Stu]

3 hours ago, radiofm74 said:

Oh gosh… the 14" went complete in that small black suitcase? You're giving me ideas! Set-up / tear-down time?

It did indeed, well apart from the poles that is, they went in the roof box but are quite compact.

Some more pictures of it here:

Pretty quick to setup, probably 15 to 20 mins if I recall correctly, including collimation.

[PeterStudz]

2 hours ago, Elp said:

Also depends on weather temperature and wind gusts. You're less likely to spend time setting up if it's cold and windy, especially for imaging setups (too many gusts and it's no point unless doing wide field).

I’m fine with the cold (although I don’t think anyone enjoys being cold!) I’m not a fan of observing in a strong wind.  My garden is sheltered so the wind has to be considerable before it becomes an issue. But I also find, maybe just coincidence, that in windy conditions seeing is often poor, especially for planetary. Mind, that could be down to me usually observing in an urban environment. 

[LondonNeil]

5 hours ago, saac said:

I think there may be lots of regional interpretations going on with this one. Here, if you were "humping then dumping or lumping"  it generally conjured up the image of something unwieldy and difficult to carry, something that would take a serious amount of effort. So you wouldn't hump a bunch of flowers from the florist to home. However, you would hump your weekly shop from the supermarket to home. 

Jim 

Exactly.   Humping in my (essex) dialect would be pretty much this,  it's a physically challe effort to get something from a to b. Not a superhuman effort but a enough to make you think about it. 

[niallk]

On 10/06/2024 at 09:48, PeterStudz said:

From the title I assumed it was along the lines of “biggest setup you’d regularly carry a significant distance on foot”. If so then pictures of “big stuff” in cars/vans doesn’t count if all you are then going to do is just setup close to your vehicle.

Far more important is setup time when I get to the destination

Well, I do have to hump my 15" mirror box to and into my car!  That 2" mirror in the mirror box is something I can carry, but picking up and setting down carefully does put a little strain on the lower back due to the size, tbh.

I'm with you on the no fuss setup & teardown - that's one reason I chose the Obsession.  And nicely designed for moving around outside with the detachable wheelbarrow handles.

[PeterStudz]

12 hours ago, niallk said:

Well, I do have to hump my 15" mirror box to and into my car!  That 2" mirror in the mirror box is something I can carry, but picking up and setting down carefully does put a little strain on the lower back due to the size, tbh.

I'm with you on the no fuss setup & teardown - that's one reason I chose the Obsession.  And nicely designed for moving around outside with the detachable wheelbarrow handles.

Yes, I can certainly see that. Although, maybe not in your case, it can come down to carrying stuff that’s awkward, rather than (or maybe as well as) being heavy.

Using our “small” 8” Dob as an example. Until I put a nice sturdy and comfortable handle on it I found the OTA a chore to “hump”. With a handle it’s a breeze to carry. Even Alice, when she was 10, could easily carry it short distances via the handle. Without a handle she couldn’t even begin to carry it.

I find it easier/less awkward to carry the base outside followed by the OTA. Now, I can lift both but it’s awkward. For a short distance (out into the garden or a short distance from the car) this is no bother at all. But if I had to go a significant distance by foot it’s just not practical. Although if I ever had to do that I’d take my daughter and she could carry the OTA, while I carry the base plus accessories. Small children do have their uses 😀

Edited June 12 by PeterStudz

[radiofm74]

I just discovered a kind of critter that I did not know existed and might be relevant to this thread… ultra-fast dobs! For instance Mel Bartels' "Zip Dob". It might be of purely academic interest to most of us, but gosh ain't that a thing of beauty…

https://bbastrodesigns.com/ZipDob/ZipDob.html

 

[LondonNeil]

Interesting!  There is something beautiful about that. 

[radiofm74]

16 hours ago, LondonNeil said:

Interesting!  There is something beautiful about that. 

Definitely. I'd kill for that zipDob. Trouble is, they all seem to be fairly small-brew builders and they're across the pond… But if anyone comes across an European builder of ultra-fasts I'd be interested to know!

[OK Apricot]

For me it would have to be the kit I have already, I couldn't go any larger without it being permanent - EQ6-R and 250P Quattro. All in all it weighs in the region of 65kg, and I have to lug that from our small 1 bed bungalow out the door, down a step up and step, then up a few more steps then twisting at the hips for a hard right onto the Astro Podium. 

Perhaps a simple enough task for a relatively fit and strong 31yr old, the bulging L5-S1 however......