Dobsonian 12" F/5

[Adrius]

Hey all, im from Australia, and i just recently bought a Dobsonian D=304mm , F=1520mm, F/5, and im wanting to Modify it, Most of All im Wanting to Add Wheel's or some Kind of Addition to it To Move it Around Alot Easyer, Anyone Here Done anything Simular to a Dobsonian Mount? im eather thinking maybe Adding Another Base to the Bottom with Wheels or going with 2x hook on Stick Elevation Wheels on Each Side.

Any Ideas?

other modifications to my scope im pretty knowledgefull about, more mechanical when it comes to going to a hardware store is where i usally get stuck, prob gonna end up modding it intense adding camera mount, etc which is usally not normal on a large Dob, might even mod it even more and add computer features to it. personally thats what i love about big newtonian dobs, its fun as hell to mod the hell out of them. and you get some great satisfaction out of it, lot harder then modding an equatorial, but the harder, the more satisfaction i say.

[Ant]

Hi Adrius,

Never owned a Dob so I think I'm about the last person to help you. I have seen pic's of some large dob bases being moved around on what looks like a big skateboard.

Ant

[Adrius]

yar board with wheel's im looking to do something alittle more stylish though, hahaha, maybe i should do some hardware store observations! and see if i can get foldable wheels etc. that would be cool

[daz]

I think Astroman is probably the best person to advise on this project.

He has built one or two in the past !

[Astroman]

Thanks for the recomendation, Daz. 8) I think I'm on my 12th scope or so.

Anyway, a friend of mine actually came up with a neat idea for his 16" F/4.5. He mounted 2 wheels at one end of a couple 2x4's. The other end he fashioned into handles. He notched them along one edge to accomodate two L-shaped "handles" facing down on either side of his rocker box. The whole thing turns his entire scope into a kind of wheelbarrow. Place the handles under the rocker box, lift, and off he goes!

[FLO]

Any Ideas?

You will find several here:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/skyquest-telescopes/

Personally, I think two of the easiest and best dob' mods are:

a) fix a carry handle onto the tube.

fix a pocket or box on the side of the mount for books/charts/eyepieces etc.

Steve

[Adrius]

yar was eather thinking of going with the crappy board + wheels or 2x wheelstick wheelbarrel technique, these are both pretty common though, was thinkin him maybe wanna try something differ, but probly end up going with these