Travelling with a dobsonian

[GiveItAGoGavo]

Gday guys,

Im hoping to make my purchase of (again.. hopefully) an 8" dobsonian in the next few weeks. Not sure where I will get it from or what brand as yet but I suppose ill be looking at spending upwards of $500 for this bit of kit.

My worry, is with transport of the unit. Storage space isnt so much of an issue as I drive a medium-sized 4wd so i can slap it right in the back there.. what worries me is damage to the unit when I take it away, which is really why I want the scope in the first place. I like to travel to some more "remote" places and the star fields always blow me away, Ive always wanted to go there with a scope and Id like too, but Im worried that the scope will be damaged in transit.

My question is.. is this scope subject to damage from shock/vibration in the car? Would a bit of a rougher (4wd for example) trip damage any particular components of the unit?

What might be a better scope if this one is subject to damage from shock/vibration?

Of course I realise optical equipment is always best kept unshocked and unvibrated, but it might not be avoidable at times if I am travelling on some of the rougher tracks!

Cheers

[GeoffW1]

Hi,

I have done a few car trips with a 300mm dob, and found that I should:

- take the guidescope off

- put the tube on a seat with the seat belt on, and arrange the sticky-out bits carefully

- put the base anywhere you can, it is robust

- always collimate it after arrival

I reckon you should pay more attention if anything to cushioning of your EPs. The dob tube is reasonably robust.

Cheers

[seanliddelow]

I have managed to get my whole 12" dob on a trolley, so that would be no problem for you. Taking the finderscope off is probably a good idea but I did not find it nessecery. You should be weary and try to avoid the ditchy bitumen roads in some parts of the country but with smooth road my scope has never got damaged. You could also try to use foam to cover some parts of the dobs base for shock absorbtion.

[mswhin63]

8" DOB should not be too hard to fit in, but i would measure the length of the tube and check the measurement available in your car. Make sure though you have for teh DOB base. You will need to split it.

Also keep the packing because I use the white foam mounting on a 3mm MDF board to store the tube while transporting. I don't have any photos but I don't need to remove any parts off the scope. I though have a Station Wagon and a small Citreon Berlingo van. The SW is so easy the Berlingo tube fits OK the mount sit in the passenger seat seatbelted

[barx1963]

I put my 12" in the back of my little wagon on its trolley and use a ratcheting strap thingy to hold it down. I make sure the tyres on the trolley are nicely inflated and that gives plenty of cushioning. I covers it with a doona so any other kit I have in the back won't stratch it. Always collimate when you get there! Although when I had the 8" loaner, I took it away several times and it never needed any collimation!

[Blue Skies]

I bought a cheap foam mattress to transport my dob around and it works pretty well. Always expect to have to collimate after a journey as it will still experience some bumps. Also you want to make sure the tube can't roll around, so wedge a few things around it, like sleeping bags, other boxes, anything that will keep it in place. Biggest dangers is large potholes or the like, which might give the scope a big jolt. Slow down on corrugated roads, they can be a killer too.

[Chillie]

As Malcolm says, keep the packaging. I've only kaken my 12" Dob out of town once. I have an 1986 Nissan D21 KingCab ute with a pickup body. I put the OTA in the foam packaging between the wheel hubs with blankets jammed at either end and an old sleeping bag on the top. I also had the taunao (Spelling?) cover over the top. I put the base on the passenger's seat which was laid back.

About 3km of road was very corrugated (around 20 - 30kph max) near the destination. But everything worked OK when I set up.

[mswhin63]

If your measurements make the tube a little too large to fit in the car comfortably consider the option of collapsable DOB. May even be able to go for a larger scope.

[GrahamL]

your scope will be fine , lay it on a blanket , I have taken my 10 "
on a 400 km plus trip without to much of a problem, speaking of 10" did you see theres one for sale in buy and sell quite close to you ?

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=52773