Thanks for all the input. I am leaning towards the Scope Buggy.

But does it work? Good work nonetheless. Whatever fos... means.

Kaptain K: With all due respect, sir, if I may speak freely? (giggle.)Three may be too tipsy but equally workable and on the right track as far as saving money buying one less wheel. Good thinking. How about locking the two rear wheels and calling it a Larkspurwagon - LSW for short. Gotta have 4 to call it a wagon, besides buying 4 wheels in package deal may be more economic. (What a nut I am!)

Just saw last post. Nevermind.

OK, I assumed 4 wheels. Three would be fine, but my main point is still valid. Do not use casters for all the wheels. I write from persomal experience. You will think that it has a (malevolent) mind of its own!

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We haven't really tried much, but the best way we've found is simple - two 170lb guys to haul it around (me & my dad). I can see how it would be a bit of a problem to get around all by yourself - it's bulky and heavy, and although with 2 people it isn't bad, one would have a hard time.

The previously linked "scopebuggy" or "wheeley bars" sound like they would work pretty well for getting it around.

Here's an alternative. One big plywood base w/ rope attached to your John Deere riding mower? How's that for cheap?

I don't know.........how much is a John Deere riding mower? could I hook the telescope wagon to my Poulan self propelled mulching mower?

Only if it cost less than a John Deere. (giggle.)

Hi, newbie (to the board) here.

As my ID mentions, I have a Celestron C8. I like the versatility and ease of use, but I am thinking about getting another scope to get more crisp or contrasty views, possibly a good-sized refractor. Anybody have any experience or knowledge of Celestron or Meade 4-5" refractors? Probably don't have enough money for an APO.

Refractors are good for planets. Such scopes are priced by their primary objective lens' quality and their f/ratio. Search a lot of posts in this section which goes for many pages. You will find both scopes as titles somewhere. Light passing through glass lens changes its characteristics. Once light is altered it cannot be restored exactly as it was. To compare more modern designs would be worth it. WELCOME!

Celestron N5i - no tripod, use it table mounted. The only eyepiece I use is a Vixen zoom.

I found a cheap and easy way to move the scope. While waiting on my man to come home, the skies are clear and getting darker by the moment. I need a way to get the scope outside. I remembered the Super Sliders that I have to move furniture to I thought I would give them a try on the scope. It worked beautifully! The scope slid right over the threshold and on to the concrete patio like it weighed only ten pounds!
I am almost sure the Super Sliders are cheaper than a John Deere

Here are some photos of the sliders and scope:

http://www.bautforum.com/attachment....1&d=1143679405
http://www.bautforum.com/attachment....1&d=1143679338

Attached Images

	superslider.jpg (34.9 KB, 26 views)
	LX200Rsliders.jpg (23.9 KB, 26 views)

Sometimes, the low tech solutions are the best!

As W Edwards Deming used to say, "Gravity is cheap and reliable".

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"Arrrgh, the laws of physics be a harsh mistress!" -- Bender

Very nice solution. Unfortunately, it wouldn't work for us, but it looks like it works great for you.

On another note, my dad just ordered a ToU cam, so we should have some planetary images soon from our scope

Hoping to get some good ones next month: there's a multi day launch in the middle of nowhere, and we're taking the scope and camping out. With luck, there'll be no clouds.

In a week I make the exciting venture from 6" Dobs to 8" Dobs. Should be interesting...

I have a home-built 8" f/5 Dob that I bought from a local scope-builder. I'm (slowly) grinding the mirror of what's going to be a 6-7" f/22 Schiefspiegler for planet viewing. Our local astronomy club is heavily into scope construction, so the only factory-built pieces I have are eyepieces and associated things.

My dad has a (I think) 5" refractor built from the objective of an aerial reconaissance camera, and he just finished work on his 14" mirror. We also have quite a few other bits and pieces - we "inherited" some things from the astronomy department of a university, but they all need substantial work to become useable. The largest piece is a 16" mirror that was used for spectroscopy, but since it's about 3" thick we're considering slicing it in half to reduce cooling times. We also have some diffraction gratings, so I'm thinking of building a spectroscope.

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Sounds like a treasure-trove. Does anyone out there carry a spectroscope which can easily attach to a SLR Camera or maybe a filter/lens which can discern spectral lines from light sources of > 0 magnitude? A handy field tool which could fit in a back pack would be very cool.

Two Newtonian reflectors from that once-popular company, Hand-Made Telescopes: a 4.25" RFT and an f/8 8". The primary mirrors for both were ground, polished, and figured by yours truly. The 4.25 is on an Edmund GEM with tripod. The 8" is on a fork equatorial of my own design.

Plus a pair of 7X50 Jason binoculars when it's time to just cruise through the heavens.

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Oh, no Maksutov-Cassegrain then? Should we call you RFT from now on?

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That's fine by me.

Always wanted to get one of those scopes with a hole in the primary mirror, but things such as food and clothes for the family, mortgage payments, utilities, car loans, etc., always kept getting in the way.

Guess the BB handle could be considered wishful thinking. One of these days, though...and it has nothing to do with Alice.

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I'm a big fan of maks, but I still use my large Dob just as much. so here goes my list of favorites.

Synta Maksutov 150mm with 1900mm focal length - This ones a real hummer, every star party and astro meet people comment on how rich the contrast is on planetary vewing, not a sloucher on DS's either. A bit heavy to lug around though.

Skywatcher Mak 102mm 1300 focal length - This is one little champ to have as a grab and go, fantastic contrast and great dep sky viewing. I ended up ditching its EQ head, kept the tripod and used the ioptron goto cube head on the skywatcher mount. This made it very stable and usable as a cheap gps goto system.

GSO 10" dob with crayford and fan cooled mirror (www.andrewscom.com.au) - This thing kicks. Th