wow a lot of info there
I'm surprised at the boot space volume of the TT! I've been looking at the following hatchbacks as they seem to have quite a large bootspace, but not sure whether they will accommodate a 16" truss dob:
- Ford Focus
- Toyota Corolla (5 door hatch)
- Toyota Prius
- Nissan Pulsar
Other than that, option are a 4wd or station wagon.
I'd like to avoid the trailer option due to lack of space
Quote:
Originally Posted by Calibos
The load capacity is 290 litres with the back seats up and 700 Litres with the back seats folded down.
I've transported the scope once in the car since I got it in December '08. Not because it was too much hassle but because in January I embarked on an extensive modification program that has had the scope in pieces for months. Real life slowed things down. I thought I would be finished months ago!! That said, its not like I missed much observing opportunities. Weather has been dreadful in Ireland this year. Not that that is very suprising. It was always thus
The one time I transported the scope and my gear it was a breeze compared to transporting my old solid tube Orion XT12i 12" dob. With the Orion, I had to lie the base down because it was 30" tall. That took more space. The OTA had to lay somewhat diagonally across the load area because of its length,taking up more rear space while I still had to push the front passenger seat fully forward and tilt the seat-back rendering this seat unusable. Everything had to go in and come out in a particular order and stuff had to be wiggled and tilted and turned this way and that to get the stuff in and out.
While it was certainly amazing to see all this gear come out of the car it was a bit of a chore. It took concentration to load it when I was fresh minded heading off to an observing session. Coming home was a lot more frustrating. After a long session in the early hours of the morning, the 'oul braincells would be dulled. I'd invariably be standing at the back of the car scratching my head trying to figure out why everything wouldn't fit back in for the trip home, all the while the other guys looked on and chuckled to themselves
The LB16 was a godsend. The base while a lot bigger than the Orions didn't take up that much more space. Because it is 24/25" tall I was able to fit it in standing up and its 30" groundboard diametre meant it took up virtually the same footprint as the 30" tall Orion base on its side. The UTA sat inside the base and the Lower OTA lay on its side behind the base under the back window of the car. In other words, the scope took up 2/3's of the car leaving 1/3 free for other gear. This means I can either transport all the gear with straight lifts out of the car. ie. no creative packing techniques and head scratching or can creatively pack and transport a big 4 man tent and camping gear too!
The one thing was that although the base forks fit under the car roof and the sloping rear window, the actual roof lip where the hatchback meets the roof is lower. This meant I couldn't just slide the base up the car. I had to slide it up till a fork hit the roof lip and then tilt the base so the first fork went under the lip. Problem was, I had to climb into the boot to do this. I then realised that the clearance issue was only a matter of 1 inch. So I removed the old base feet. Screwed in 3 or those threaded inserts I talked about where the old feet were and fabricated 3 new feet with a bolt through them. Now I place the base in the boot, unscrew the 3 feet. Slide the base up the car and it clears the roof lip. All the while my feet remain on Terra Firma. I just screw the feet back on before I lift the scope out and put it on the ground.
So in other words I was able to fit a bigger scope in less space, with a lot more free space than the smaller scope all the while it being much easier to load and unload.
The icing on the cake was I managed to get the scope at a time when Meade UK were running a huge discount and the Credit crunch meant the British Pound hit parity with the Euro. I got a brand new LB16 for GBP968. With shipping to Ireland I paid 1100 Euro! It was 2400 euro on mainland Europe!! |