What would you do?

[inline_online]

I had a great outreach session at the South Perth foreshore on Saturday night. Things started getting quiet at about 9pm so i headed home and started to put the scope away (Tak FS-128 and EQ6).

The Tak was in the storage space and I started to put away the EQ6. The problem is I stuffed up and moved the EQ6 the wrong way and it started to fall out of the cupboard. I didn't want to damage the Tak so I took evasive action and put my head in the way.

I've never had an EQ6 fall onto my head before and hopefully you guys haven't either. It did a fair bit of damage to my bald dome but the Tak is still in pristine condition so I'll count this one as a win. My wife thinks I am an idiot but there's nothing new there hahaha. I just think i'm lucky that I didn't buy the Losmandy Titan. I reckon i'd be in hospital if I had.

[FlashDrive]

Courageous act Dan .... next time have a ' Hard Hat ' at the ready.

Col...:D

[rrussell1962]

Inspirational Dan. I would like to think I would have been quick thinking enough to do the same. The second thing I would do is reorganise the cupboard.

[Somnium]

i don't think you will find anyone here that will think you did something irrational. letting the thing fall is not an option, i mean do you really need your whole head ?

[rally]

Warning to all amateurs - For the safety of users, Please ensure EQ Mounts are heavily padded !!!

Glad the Tak survived.

[Nebulous]

Ouch! I can feel that from here! At least consider wearing a beanie when head butting heavy mounts Dan.

[LewisM]

Taking one for the Tak is worthy of a Victoria Cross - courage in the face of devastating enemy manoeuvres. :)

[Kunama]

Yes, save the Tak. If​ it had been an AP or TEC I would have saved the noggin.....

[LewisM]

PMSL... absolutely PMSL :) :) :P :P

[dannat]

reported to CN admin -you & lewis should be banned form there fairly promptly

[deanm]

I once had to let my hand be crushed by an EQ6 to save a C11 which I'd just fitted but hadn't done up the vertical securing bolt - & forgotten to put the counterweights on first!
Very sore, but C11 survived & mount only suffered chipped paint!
Dean

[FlashDrive]

:lol::P

[LewisM]

Ah well, that leaves but few to stir the Yanks.

Actually, that leaves the Yanks all by themselves. Someone kindly play the Last Post.

[el_draco]

Drop it... without hesitation. You could have cracked your skull and had a brain bleed. Not funny.

I faced the same dilemma a couple of months back when I got caught out lifting something awkwardly and a lot heavier than I anticipated. I'd didn't drop the item and ended up in surgery a week later after some serious complications. Missed 6 weeks of work and will never be able to lift a decent sized scope again.... "Stuff" can be replaced; your health can't

[LewisM]

Actually, Rom is right. I suggest you send the FS-128 to me to look after to avoid future complications and awkward decisions.

Joking? Who's joking? :)

[inline_online]

I can't skate to work at the moment as it's way too painful to put my helmet on. If only the helmet had been on at the time.
This weekend i'll be looking at a new way to organise scope cupboard. This will not be happening again.

[sil]

I think I may have :( Just as the lesser of two weevils.

A few weeks ago I had a tripod with polarie & camera attached fall over. Was a sickening feeling. And worse the sound it made hitting concrete. But part of the legacy of my stroke a few years ago is balance problems and dizzy spells, Standing is difficult and walking even worse and at night close to impossible for me as I need to see the ground plane to orient my balance. So I have gear on tripods set up in garage and I use them as my walking stick to get to my shooting position/seat. It was during this that one of the tripod leg segments decided to shorten itself and when I put it down I felt it topple. If I'd held I would have toppled too so either way it was going down so I froze to regain concentration and focus on getting to my chair. 30min later I was up to trying to retrieve the gear and assess my loss. Net outcome a broken battery cover on the polarie, nothing bent, no lens cracks, and camera worked fine for my imaging session. My nerves were a wreck however.