Fetch..... the comfy chair!

[erick (Eric)]

Just came across this.

Made in Gawler, SA! $US6,950 (observer and binoculars not included )

http://www.starchair.com/index.html

[Paddy (Patrick)]

Not...THE COMFY CHAIR!!!???

[stephenb (Stephen)]

Is there an AN encoder kit for it?

[erick (Eric)]

I'm sure the site says encoders can be easily fitted - so Argo Navis "joystick-to" entirely do-able.

Perhaps we skip the toilet/shower/bathroom/kitchen for the clubhouse and get one of these?

[erick (Eric)]

I've just heard - I might be able to get a ride in one of these in the next two weeks - with big binos fitted

Do I dare? - my wife would kill me if I got a hankering to own one of these

[phranticsnr (Dan)]

Remount it on an electric wheelchair base for mobility and I would sell one of my less-favoured body parts to own one.

[gary]

Originally Posted by glenluceskies

Is there an AN encoder kit for it?

Hi Stephen,

Some Starchair owners have been using an Argo Navis on their Starchairs for
some time.

Only last week we spent some enjoyable time cruising some spectacular night
skies in a Starchair that the owner had taken to Coonabarabran and that was
equipped with giant Fujinon 25x150 binoculars.

They are indeed a really fun and comfortable way to observe and when you
rotate way back toward the zenith, it is fabulous to get the weight of
your legs if you have been standing up observing all night.

A couple of years ago we had some visitors using them one night and whilst
a few of us were gathered around chatting, we gradually came to realize that
the current occupant of the chair had managed to fall asleep!

We will be installing encoders and an Argo Navis system on a Starchair
for a customer in the coming weeks.

Best Regards

Gary Kopff
Managing Director
Wildcard Innovations Pty. Ltd.
20 Kilmory Place, Mount Kuring-Gai
NSW. 2080. Australia
Phone +61-2-9457-9049
Fax +61-2-9457-9593
sales@wildcard-innovations.com.au
http://www.wildcard-innovations.com.au

[astroron (Ron)]

They look fantastic, but I would spend the money on a 20" scope
She wouldn't see much as she still has the covers on the Binoculars:roll eyes:

[Phoenix (Steve)]

Very nice indeed - but you wana make sure those binos are attached securely or it will be a trip to the hospital!

Cheers

[gary]

Originally Posted by Phoenix

Very nice indeed - but you wana make sure those binos are attached securely or it will be a trip to the hospital!

Cheers

Indeed. What's more, when a new observer is positioned in the chair, the binos
need to be carefully adjusted to suit the observer. This is best done with the
assistance of at least one additional person, apart from the observer themselves.

[erick (Eric)]

Originally Posted by gary

Some Starchair owners have been using an Argo Navis on their Starchairs for some time.

Have they developed a TPAS model?

[gary]

Originally Posted by erick

Have they developed a TPAS model?

Hi Eric,

One of the tricky things with them is once those big binos are slid back and
locked into place up to your nose, your own FOV becomes somewhat constrained
to what appears in the binos themselves and outside of that, what you can see when
you glance down towards your lap and what you can see to the left or right on
either side of you.

It can be challenging to actually know exactly where they are pointing and if you look
at the struts above the binos, one can appreciate it is not a simple matter of
mounting a Telrad there either.

One thing nice about them is that since you are "locked-in" you end up looking
at all the pieces of sky between two arbitrary targets. Most of us don't have
our eyeballs up to the eyepiece on telescopes when we slew them and for
that matter, most people tend to move hand-held binos away from their
eyes and go naked eye for a moment when re-orienting themselves to somewhere
new. However, with the Starchair, you are in for the whole ride and you appreciate
that there is a lot of "good stuff" between any two arbitrary popular objects.
So getting between A and B is half the fun. Sometimes, when you are in the
middle of A and B, you stumble across something of interest and want to
know what it is. That is where the Argo Navis MODE IDENTIFY can become
useful.

Best Regards

Gary Kopff
Managing Director
Wildcard Innovations Pty. Ltd.
20 Kilmory Place, Mount Kuring-Gai
NSW. 2080. Australia
Phone +61-2-9457-9049
Fax +61-2-9457-9593
sales@wildcard-innovations.com.au
http://www.wildcard-innovations.com.au

[erick (Eric)]

That is interesting Gary. The mechanicals remain much the same, but one has to take into account that some things the observer is doing are quite different from the regular telescope observer. "Outside the square" stuff

[Wavytone]

Never mind the binocs... I reckon that chair could easily accommodate a 100mm f/7 refractor or a 6" SCT.