[Fwd: Re: (meteorobs) OT: Telescopes]

[Woodchuk]

Build a foam rack to set the scope in. A piece of masonite as long as your tube and 
as wide as needed ~ 18 inches. Cut three pieces of ~18" x 6" x 2" Ethafoam. Cut out 
a half circle so that it fits the tube. Glue the flat side to the masonite and you 
have a sturdy rack and shock obsorber.
I have a piece of carpet on the bed of my pickup and the smooth side of the 
masonite slides in and out easily. I have been carrying my 12.5 inch dob this way 
for years. A well built scope does not need to lose collimation. My scope is rarely 
out of the truck.

Larry Wood

meteorsga at bellsouth.net wrote:
>  I don't really intend for this to be a meteor scope. My primary purpose is 
> minor planets, comets, planets and stellar observing/deep sky.
> 
> Getting an SUV for transport is, of course, not something I'm prepared to do.
> 
> My F-150 is pretty old and the shocks aren't that great. But I would be 
> driving slowly and carefully and the roads would all be paved save the last 1/2 
> mile or so.
> 
> By the time I throw in a hard-shell case the cost of an 8" Nexstar is at 
> $1,700.00.
> But I can get the 12" Dob, along with extra lenses and filters, for about 
> $1000.00. That savings and the better aperture means a lot to me. Surely 
> there has to be some way to load this thing in the bed of the pickup without 
> too much jarring around.
> 
>