Telescope Reviews: Scope Storage?

· Get a Cloudy Nights T-Shirt

· Submit a Review / Article

Click here if you are having trouble logging into the forums

Privacy Policy | Please read our Terms of Service | Signup and Troubleshooting FAQ | Problems? PM a Red or a Green Gu… uh, User

You are not logged in. [Login]

Entrance · Main Index · Search · New user · Who's Online
FAQ · Calendar

Equipment Discussions >> Equipment

Pages: 1

Escher
scholastic sledgehammer

Reged: 08/30/07

Loc: Fenton, MI

Scope Storage?
#5540024 - 11/26/12 10:18 AM

I have Two mounts and three OTA's - what do you folks do to store your unused OTA's?

Post Extras:

hottr6
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 06/28/09

Loc: 7,500', Magdalena Mtns, NM

Re: Scope Storage? new

[Re: Escher]
#5540027 - 11/26/12 10:25 AM

I store them horizontally on the wall. I mounted some shelf brackets, and wrapped the bracket in pipe wrap to protect the tube, though anything could be used.

Post Extras:

Mariner@sg
super member

Reged: 06/28/12

Loc: Little Red Dot

Re: Scope Storage? new

[Re: hottr6]
#5540065 - 11/26/12 10:49 AM

Ditto. Preferably in an air-tight container/box with lots of silica gel bags.

Post Extras:

Project Galileo
professor emeritus

Reged: 11/14/07

Loc: Jefferson County, Colorado

Re: Scope Storage? new

[Re: Mariner@sg]
#5540086 - 11/26/12 10:57 AM

I made brackets to mount them on the wall of my family room. They display nicely and are always a conversation piece when people visit. Colorado is very dry so humidity/moisture is not a concern. Radiant heat keeps dust down too. They are in their rings and ready to roll by just lifting them off and setting them in the CGEM.

Post Extras:

Midnight Dan
Postmaster

Reged: 01/23/08

Loc: Hilton, NY, Yellow Zone (Bortl...

Re: Scope Storage? new

[Re: Project Galileo]
#5540158 - 11/26/12 11:33 AM

I keep mine in padded cases stored on a set of utility shelves in a spare room in the house.
-Dan

Post Extras:

roscoe
curmudgeon

Reged: 02/04/09

Loc: NW Mass, inches from VT

Re: Scope Storage? new

[Re: Midnight Dan]
#5540178 - 11/26/12 11:48 AM

My mounts and tripods stand in a corner, with plastic bags over the mounts to keep dust off, my smaller scopes lie on a shelf, the biggest one in the cardboard box it came in, if it's not out in the obs, where it's covered with an old bedsheet.
Russ

Post Extras:

Mike E.
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 01/26/10

Loc: Moonstone Observatory

Re: Scope Storage? new

[Re: roscoe]
#5540304 - 11/26/12 01:26 PM

They go into their designated cases, and are stored in a secure location.

Post Extras:

csrlice12
Post Laureate

Reged: 05/22/12

Loc: Denver, CO

Re: Scope Storage? new

[Re: Mike E.]
#5540342 - 11/26/12 01:46 PM

I'll gladly store someone's scope. I'll even take it out once and awhile and let the light photons give the OTA a good scrubbing...It will also be kept in the company of other scopes, so it will not be lonely. All my other scopes are well behaved and get along well with eyepieces.

Post Extras:

Doug Culbertson
Post Laureate

Reged: 01/06/05

Re: Scope Storage? new

[Re: Escher]
#5540402 - 11/26/12 02:20 PM

Quote:

I have Two mounts and three OTA's - what do you folks do to store your unused OTA's?

Unused OTAs?

I store all of my telescopes in an unheated/uncooled well ventilated observing shed next to my observing pad. The EON is kept in its case, the Starmaster and XT10i just sit there uncovered.

Not to sound like a smartass, but isn't having a place to keep your equipment the main purpose of an observatory? If I had your setup, I would have cases for the OTAs and store them in the bays of the POD.

Post Extras:

Warren914
member

Reged: 03/21/12

Loc: Nova Scotia, Canada

Re: Scope Storage? new

[Re: csrlice12]
#5540404 - 11/26/12 02:20 PM

I leave my 3-1/2 inch refractor and Criterion RV6 outdoors on the front porch. Both are pointed downwards with hope that any dust will not settle on the optics. Clearly less than optimal, but there is just nowhere else to keep them. The Z12 has a spot in the corner of my dining room and gets carried outside while viewing. It sits vertically with the covers in place.

Post Extras:

bherv
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 03/10/06

Loc: WMass

Re: Scope Storage? new

[Re: Escher]
#5540462 - 11/26/12 02:56 PM

Right now since my pickup is not on the road, I keep the base and LTA of my 16" Lightbridge in the back along with the base for my 8" Dob. The UTA and the OTA for my 8" are in the back seat. My 5" OTA is in a plastic trunk in my basement. My eyepiece and accessory cases are kept in my bedroom.
Barry

Post Extras:

Jon Isaacs
Postmaster

Reged: 06/16/04

Loc: San Diego and Boulevard, CA

Re: Scope Storage? new

[Re: Escher]
#5541526 - 11/27/12 04:53 AM

Quote:

I have Two mounts and three OTA's - what do you folks do to store your unused OTA's?

Interesting question... Most of the time I am not observing so all my equipment is not being used. As to where do I store it... I store it all over the place. My three larger Dobsonians live in a garage out in the mountains, my 12.5 inch F/6 equatorial lives in the garage here in the city and most of the rest of it lives in a side room that they share with the washer-drier and the cat box... I keep the RV-6, my 10 inch Dob assembled, a couple of GEMs assembled and one of my 80mm-100mm refractors on a mount but the rest are on shelves or on a table.

Currently there are three scopes at work. My PST is there because I sometimes do outreach solar during the lunch break. Also there are two Meade 80mm F/11s on loan to my research group for use in imaging shock waves using high speed Schlieren photography...

Jon

Post Extras:

Pages: 1

Extra information

6 registered and 18 anonymous users are browsing this forum.

Moderator: Jarad, tecmage

Print Thread

Forum Permissions
      You cannot start new topics
      You cannot reply to topics
      HTML is disabled
      UBBCode is enabled

Thread views: 450

Jump to

CN Forums

Home

Cloudy Nights LLC
Cloudy Nights Sponsor: Astronomics