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NKT
super member
Reged: 09/23/09
Posts: 155
Loc: CT
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I've been scouring the net trying to come up with a solution. I found a case that can hold the CGEM mount but nothing really for the tripod and OTA.
So what are others doing?
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CGEM800
Orion 80ED
Canon XSi/Meade DSI II
Find fellow amateur astronomers: www.ScopeBuddies.com
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Lane
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 11/19/07
Posts: 1494
Loc: Frisco, Texas
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I use this for the mount:
Hardigg Storm Case IM2700
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CGEM, ORION SIRIUS, AT Voyager
OTAs: C6, C8, C9.25, C11, Pronto, ED80
Orion 9x63, Fujinon 10x50 & 16x70
Ethos 13, 17 Nagler 9t1,12t4,16t2,22t4 Panoptic 27,35
Antares 1.6x, TV Powermates 2x & 4x, TV Barlow 3x, TV Plossl 8,11,13
Baader Hyperion 21, 8-24 Zoom, UO HD Ortho 6,7,9,12,18
TMB Planetaries 3.2,4,5,6,7,8, Pentax XW 10,14,40
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NKT
super member
Reged: 09/23/09
Posts: 155
Loc: CT
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That was the case I liked for the mount. I like it because it's relatively cheap 
How do you transport the OTA and tripod?
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CGEM800
Orion 80ED
Canon XSi/Meade DSI II
Find fellow amateur astronomers: www.ScopeBuddies.com
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Lane
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 11/19/07
Posts: 1494
Loc: Frisco, Texas
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I use this for the tripod with the pier extension attached. Hakuba Light Stand carrying case. Good padding and comes in several sizes. If you are not using the pier extension on your mount then you might be able to find a large photo tripod bag to fit. But I would suggest using the pier, because it lets you put the telescope up at a comfortable height without having to extend the tripod legs. The medium size Hakuba bag will fit that setup perfectly.
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CGEM, ORION SIRIUS, AT Voyager
OTAs: C6, C8, C9.25, C11, Pronto, ED80
Orion 9x63, Fujinon 10x50 & 16x70
Ethos 13, 17 Nagler 9t1,12t4,16t2,22t4 Panoptic 27,35
Antares 1.6x, TV Powermates 2x & 4x, TV Barlow 3x, TV Plossl 8,11,13
Baader Hyperion 21, 8-24 Zoom, UO HD Ortho 6,7,9,12,18
TMB Planetaries 3.2,4,5,6,7,8, Pentax XW 10,14,40
Edited by Lane (11/05/09 09:52 PM)
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Lane
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 11/19/07
Posts: 1494
Loc: Frisco, Texas
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I use this case for C11 OTA. They come in all sizes.
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CGEM, ORION SIRIUS, AT Voyager
OTAs: C6, C8, C9.25, C11, Pronto, ED80
Orion 9x63, Fujinon 10x50 & 16x70
Ethos 13, 17 Nagler 9t1,12t4,16t2,22t4 Panoptic 27,35
Antares 1.6x, TV Powermates 2x & 4x, TV Barlow 3x, TV Plossl 8,11,13
Baader Hyperion 21, 8-24 Zoom, UO HD Ortho 6,7,9,12,18
TMB Planetaries 3.2,4,5,6,7,8, Pentax XW 10,14,40
Edited by Lane (11/05/09 09:48 PM)
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NKT
super member
Reged: 09/23/09
Posts: 155
Loc: CT
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Cool, thanks!!!
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CGEM800
Orion 80ED
Canon XSi/Meade DSI II
Find fellow amateur astronomers: www.ScopeBuddies.com
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Lane
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 11/19/07
Posts: 1494
Loc: Frisco, Texas
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The Pelican 1600 fits the mount too, but the foam is a little sturdier in the Hardigg case and the latch system on the Hardigg case is much better. I did not use the bottom two layers of foam in mine, instead I used the original white shipping foam, cut up and reglued for a more snug fit. Unfortunately these case are not light, so carrying the mount in the case takes some effort. I think the two together probably weight about 50 lbs.
--------------------
CGEM, ORION SIRIUS, AT Voyager
OTAs: C6, C8, C9.25, C11, Pronto, ED80
Orion 9x63, Fujinon 10x50 & 16x70
Ethos 13, 17 Nagler 9t1,12t4,16t2,22t4 Panoptic 27,35
Antares 1.6x, TV Powermates 2x & 4x, TV Barlow 3x, TV Plossl 8,11,13
Baader Hyperion 21, 8-24 Zoom, UO HD Ortho 6,7,9,12,18
TMB Planetaries 3.2,4,5,6,7,8, Pentax XW 10,14,40
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Lane
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 11/19/07
Posts: 1494
Loc: Frisco, Texas
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I used a little Hardigg case for my weights.
--------------------
CGEM, ORION SIRIUS, AT Voyager
OTAs: C6, C8, C9.25, C11, Pronto, ED80
Orion 9x63, Fujinon 10x50 & 16x70
Ethos 13, 17 Nagler 9t1,12t4,16t2,22t4 Panoptic 27,35
Antares 1.6x, TV Powermates 2x & 4x, TV Barlow 3x, TV Plossl 8,11,13
Baader Hyperion 21, 8-24 Zoom, UO HD Ortho 6,7,9,12,18
TMB Planetaries 3.2,4,5,6,7,8, Pentax XW 10,14,40
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NKT
super member
Reged: 09/23/09
Posts: 155
Loc: CT
|
|
Quote:
The Pelican 1600 fits the mount too, but the foam is a little sturdier in the Hardigg case and the latch system on the Hardigg case is much better. I did not use the bottom two layers of foam in mine, instead I used the original white shipping foam, cut up and reglued for a more snug fit. Unfortunately these case are not light, so carrying the mount in the case takes some effort. I think the two together probably weight about 50 lbs.
I found the Hardigg case on B&H and it seems they have a version with wheels. That would be perfect for me!
I'm going to put together a shopping list for the Hardigg case for the mount, light stand bag for the tripod and Orion softbag for the OTA.
Have you had any issues with the softbag? Any worries about protection?
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CGEM800
Orion 80ED
Canon XSi/Meade DSI II
Find fellow amateur astronomers: www.ScopeBuddies.com
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EdKiefer
super member
Reged: 04/09/07
Posts: 158
Loc: NY, LI, USA
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so does pier extension make mount more stable at same height ,than having legs extended ?
Any pics of pier extension on mount assembled ?
nice cases for all parts of scope .
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Celestron C-8
Canon XSi
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Lane
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 11/19/07
Posts: 1494
Loc: Frisco, Texas
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I think having the tripod legs extended might be just a tiny bit more stable than using the pier. But I only noticed it on the C-11. They are both rock steady with the C8. But when you have those legs extended then the footprint of the setup is pretty big and it interferes with using your observing chair. Another concern I always have is having one of legs loose and collapse, that actually happened with my old telescope and it got dented when it hit the ground. So I just don't extend tripod legs now unless I really need to, especially if I going to walk away from the telescope for any length of time.
The Pier Extension is the one avertised for the Atlas. I will post a pic after lunch.
Edited by Lane (11/06/09 11:31 AM)
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Lane
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 11/19/07
Posts: 1494
Loc: Frisco, Texas
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Here is a pic of the pier assembled on the mount. I leave the bottom section attached to the tripod all the time. Notice the big rubberized bolts at the top compared to the little silver hex screws at the bottom. The pier only comes with the silver hex screws so I strongly suggest you do what I did and replace them. It is easy to lose those litte ones in the dark. You can get big bolts at Ace hardware (not at Home Depot or Lowes) Then you notice I glued a long metal extension to them so they would stick out far enough that I could turn them easier. Those metal extensions can also be found at ACE.
--------------------
CGEM, ORION SIRIUS, AT Voyager
OTAs: C6, C8, C9.25, C11, Pronto, ED80
Orion 9x63, Fujinon 10x50 & 16x70
Ethos 13, 17 Nagler 9t1,12t4,16t2,22t4 Panoptic 27,35
Antares 1.6x, TV Powermates 2x & 4x, TV Barlow 3x, TV Plossl 8,11,13
Baader Hyperion 21, 8-24 Zoom, UO HD Ortho 6,7,9,12,18
TMB Planetaries 3.2,4,5,6,7,8, Pentax XW 10,14,40
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Lane
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 11/19/07
Posts: 1494
Loc: Frisco, Texas
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|
A shot of the what stays attached to the mount when you separate them.
--------------------
CGEM, ORION SIRIUS, AT Voyager
OTAs: C6, C8, C9.25, C11, Pronto, ED80
Orion 9x63, Fujinon 10x50 & 16x70
Ethos 13, 17 Nagler 9t1,12t4,16t2,22t4 Panoptic 27,35
Antares 1.6x, TV Powermates 2x & 4x, TV Barlow 3x, TV Plossl 8,11,13
Baader Hyperion 21, 8-24 Zoom, UO HD Ortho 6,7,9,12,18
TMB Planetaries 3.2,4,5,6,7,8, Pentax XW 10,14,40
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Lane
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 11/19/07
Posts: 1494
Loc: Frisco, Texas
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|
And here is how that attaches to the mount:
--------------------
CGEM, ORION SIRIUS, AT Voyager
OTAs: C6, C8, C9.25, C11, Pronto, ED80
Orion 9x63, Fujinon 10x50 & 16x70
Ethos 13, 17 Nagler 9t1,12t4,16t2,22t4 Panoptic 27,35
Antares 1.6x, TV Powermates 2x & 4x, TV Barlow 3x, TV Plossl 8,11,13
Baader Hyperion 21, 8-24 Zoom, UO HD Ortho 6,7,9,12,18
TMB Planetaries 3.2,4,5,6,7,8, Pentax XW 10,14,40
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EdKiefer
super member
Reged: 04/09/07
Posts: 158
Loc: NY, LI, USA
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Thanks for the pic's Lane .
I see you mention using C-11 on the CGEM ,how do you like that combo , I realize AP would be limited ,especially at f10 but overall is it fairly stable ?
If I ever got C-11 I think with CGEM is good value.
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Celestron C-8
Canon XSi
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Lane
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 11/19/07
Posts: 1494
Loc: Frisco, Texas
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|
Quote:
Thanks for the pic's Lane .
I see you mention using C-11 on the CGEM ,how do you like that combo , I realize AP would be limited ,especially at f10 but overall is it fairly stable ?
If I ever got C-11 I think with CGEM is good value.
I don't think you would want to try AP with that setup unless you are protected from the wind. Wind gust can definitely push that big profile ota around a little bit on this mount, enough to mess up your photo.
For visual it works very well. It will shake a little while you are touching the focus knob but you can easily find focus. I have seen plenty of other setups where you need an electric focuser to be able to focus easily due to all the vibration when you touch the ota. That is definitely not needed here. When you let go of the scope the vibration goes away in about 1 second provided you are using vibration suppression pads or have modified your tripod as I have to keep it from vibrating.
I went to our dark site a few weeks ago and had to deal with windy conditions. That was the first time that has happened while using the C11. One wind gust even blew the dew shield off of the scope. I found with the dew shield off, a mild constant wind was not a problem. Heavy wind gust still caused some minor vibration that made it difficult to view the fainter stars.
Overall though I was pretty pleased at how well it performed in a windy situation and to me that is really the best test of stability.
But if I had known in advance there was going to be that much wind up there, I would have taken the C8 instead. The C8 on the CGEM is a rock in virtually any condition.
--------------------
CGEM, ORION SIRIUS, AT Voyager
OTAs: C6, C8, C9.25, C11, Pronto, ED80
Orion 9x63, Fujinon 10x50 & 16x70
Ethos 13, 17 Nagler 9t1,12t4,16t2,22t4 Panoptic 27,35
Antares 1.6x, TV Powermates 2x & 4x, TV Barlow 3x, TV Plossl 8,11,13
Baader Hyperion 21, 8-24 Zoom, UO HD Ortho 6,7,9,12,18
TMB Planetaries 3.2,4,5,6,7,8, Pentax XW 10,14,40
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EdKiefer
super member
Reged: 04/09/07
Posts: 158
Loc: NY, LI, USA
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thanks Lane, that kind of what I was thinking, from looks of mount seems it be good visual. I have old Celestron 8 fork mount with wedgepod base (probably one of less stable but light fork mounts with wedge). its also not great with AP work but I have done it with film but you need to use radial guider and constantly correct .
I would probably defork the C-8 and use that with CGEM for AP .
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Celestron C-8
Canon XSi
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