OMG, it's huge!

[Tannehill]

Yes, I agree. I haven't seen the 16" solid tube GSO, but I can't imagine it's that portable. Beyond 12" I'd only get a truss, also. That 12" was just at the edge of that envelope allowing easy manipulation through doorways and into and out of the vehicle...

I looked (Google) but haven't found a "truss kit" vendor here in Oz. Someone who sells the parts to create your own truss kit (UTA, truss poles, rocker, ground board, etc). Anyone who can lease or owns a CNC machine could fairly easily churn out all the plywood pieces and sell them in the relevant sizes (10, 12, 14, 16, etc) with Ebony Starand Teflon already applied or in pieces to apply yourself. Kinda like the TeleKit in the US, you supply the mirror but assemble the provided pieces yourself. As the bigger mirrors become more affordable (12" and above) now, I think it has merit. And, to be honest, good plywood beats out particle board for sustained durability.

Is there such a product here that I couldn't find?

As the cars in the US shrink (about time, we are petrol pigs) I think there will be increasing interest in the collapsible rocker box units which hinge over and lay flat for easier transport. Mainly for solid tubes...but some truss designs happily mate with these....
http://www.astronomy-mall.com/FirstBase/

Scott

[PhilW]

I haven't come across local kits, but there are plenty of folk with routers who can help produce the bits.

A variant on the collapsible idea: you can make the UTA ultralight (eg a single upper ring, like the Bartels designs). Then the balance point moves down the tube, & the rocker box can be ultra low profile. As can the mirror box - or just remove it entirely, as per Greg Babcock's scopes. These ideas have found their way into the Obsession Ultra Compact.

Phil

[goober (Doug)]

Paul Kemp from NZ build a collapsible 13"...

http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~michellekemp/Telescope.htm

[erick (Eric)]

Originally Posted by goober

Paul Kemp from NZ build a collapsible 13"...

http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~michellekemp/Telescope.htm

Paul's base (rocker box?) seems to be solid, not collapsible? His OTA is dismantleable.

[PhilW]

Here is a shot of the 14" in the back of the Jazz, which is the smallest car it travels in. I put the components under the seatbelts when on the road. With a bit more effort than I exerted when I built it, truss scopes can be made more portable than this (eg the UTA can be made to nest inside the mirror box; single upper ring; lower profile mirror box etc).

Phil

[erick (Eric)]

All of you who thought I couldn't get a 12" tube into my Lancer, well, here it is!


Given I have to remove half the back seat and have to manipulate it via the inside of the car having the driver's seat right forward and the passenger's seat lying back with headrest removed, I'm not sure how practical it will be

[Tannehill]

Well done. I'd never have thought it possible. Or did you take my spiral saw comment too seriously?

And who cares whether it's practical or not? Practical...that's for spouses, not for us....(Scene from Treasure of the Sierra Madres: "Practical? We don't need no Practical....")

Originally Posted by erick

All of you who thought I couldn't get a 12" tube into my Lancer, well, here it is!


Given I have to remove half the back seat and have to manipulate it via the inside of the car having the driver's seat right forward and the passenger's seat lying back with headrest removed, I'm not sure how practical it will be

[PhilW]

There is a slightly troubling resemblance to the famous (if apocryphal) Darwin award, wherein the hero attached a rocket engine to his car:

http://www.darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin1995-04.html

[goober (Doug)]

Well done, Eric! I got mine into my Astra.... once!

[Gargoyle_Steve (Steve)]

Great job of squeezing it into the car Eric, well done.

And a great big "Welcome" to the 12" Club as well!!