105 replies to this topic

[icomet]

I need a grab n go, so I'm in the process of building one now, using classic parts. 

 

For now; Parks 6" mirror set, Cave Astrola primary mirror cell and Cave Astrola rotating rings. 

 

The mount, possibly the 1st generation, non upgradable, CG-5 AGT.

 

Clear Skies. 

[LukaszLu]

Single draw design.

You don't need a mount, you don't need eyepieces.

Erect image so you can observe ships in the harbor and birds too, and the optics

are excellent enough for astronomy.

This is my,

"Better to have a telescope and not need it than need a telescope and not have it" telescope.

Robert

A very beautiful, I would say "appetizing" instrument. It is quite popular in Europe - it has always attracted my attention when browsing sales offers, although I never decided to buy it, doubting its usefulness as an astronomical instrument. However, I have to rethink your motto. I admit that it opens up completely new purchasing prospects ;-)

[rcwolpert]

Since I gave away my Mayflower 814 and currently selling the 815, my grab and go would have to be my Questar 3.5. I can carry this out in one trip with an eyepiece already in place, and with the built-in Barlow viewing is easy and high quality.

 

[Bomber Bob]

What is it now... going on 70 years, and Questar is still The Portable Observatory.  I'm more likely to use my '58 Standard in Fall / Winter than Summer -- I don't like the idea of it over-heating in the shed.  (I never said that makes sense.)

 

Right Now, my Jaegers 6" F5 is most definitely NOT grab & go!   20# OTA on the Tall Meade SF EQ... nope, not gonna take that on a road trip.  It's bad enough setting that Rig up right outside the shed in this ungodly heat.  Maybe once it's on an AZ mount.  So for now, Stubby is the Big RFT of choice (& necessity!).

Edited by Bomber Bob, 23 June 2022 - 01:07 PM.

[steve t]

I need a grab n go, so I'm in the process of building one now, using classic parts. 

 

For now; Parks 6" mirror set, Cave Astrola primary mirror cell and Cave Astrola rotating rings. 

 

The mount, possibly the 1st generation, non upgradable, CG-5 AGT.

 

Clear Skies. 

Sounds like you've got the makings of a great grab n go scope.

 

The rotating rings are a great approach, I installed a pair on my 6" Newtonian, back in the 1990's, and they made a great improvement on the scope's useability.   

 

Steve T

[icomet]

Sounds like you've got the makings of a great grab n go scope.

 

The rotating rings are a great approach, I installed a pair on my 6" Newtonian, back in the 1990's, and they made a great improvement on the scope's useability.   

 

Steve T

Maybe it's to fool the "huddled masses" at a public viewing.  Set the scope up with the focuser in an awkward position and then ask what we're going to do about this.   

 

Clear Skies. 

[steve t]

 

[mdowns]

Hardly perfect but the coutler ct 100 was a pioneer in the grab and go concept. Very easy to grab with one hand and then hold with both while viewing. This is one I had and sold a couple of  years ago.

 

[Dave Trott]

Hardly perfect but the coutler ct 100 was a pioneer in the grab and go concept. Very easy to grab with one hand and then hold with both while viewing. This is one I had and sold a couple of  years ago.

 

DSCF2046.JPG

I could not agree more! Coulter scopes were often condemned for having mediocre optics but they offered a lot of telescope for a very reasonable price. The little CT100 was highly innovative in the way it was stored and assembled. To see one in operation here's my video:

 

 https://youtu.be/53TE4PXmiLA

[icomet]

Clear Skies. 

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[Dave Trott]

That is semi-portable. It is portable if you drive a Semi. :-)

Edited by Dave Trott, 24 June 2022 - 10:57 PM.

[CHASLX200]

Clear Skies. 

I would jump if it had the bigger 2.5" shaft mount and i could roll it out.  No way someone is gonna lift that OTA and mount it up.

Edited by CHASLX200, 25 June 2022 - 05:27 AM.

[Piggyback]

24 year old Piggyback presenting the Coulter CT-100 back at the 1980 Laupheim astronomy fair. I liked the concept and the scopes versatility. Perfect Grap and Go. Had it not been for the soft image it might have been a success.

 

[CHASLX200]

That was before the Paracorr days. Don't know how anyone can use a fast Newt without one.

[clamchip]

This is about as grab and go as Mr. Cave dare do, his "Easy-To-Carry" Super Compact 10 inch on your right.

I'm putting the finishing touches on mine and I must say it is very lightweight and compact.

Still a full thickness primary, Cave was not about to sacrifice optical quality just so you can get the scope in

your super compact 1975 Datsun B210 hatchback.

Robert 

 

Edited by clamchip, 25 June 2022 - 09:42 AM.

[deSitter]

24 year old Piggyback presenting the Coulter CT-100 back at the 1980 Laupheim astronomy fair. I liked the concept and the scopes versatility. Perfect Grap and Go. Had it not been for the soft image it might have been a success.

 

FAA Laupheim 1980_3red.jpg

I had that outfit! But my hair was on the way over the horizon by 1980

 

-drl

[deSitter]

Clear Skies. 

Who needs a counterweight with that DEC shaft? That must weigh 50 lbs by itself.

 

-drl

[Dave Trott]

Hardly perfect but the coutler ct 100 was a pioneer in the grab and go concept. Very easy to grab with one hand and then hold with both while viewing. This is one I had and sold a couple of  years ago.

 

DSCF2046.JPG

The Coulter CT-100 was a much more impressive telescope because it used a Folgers Coffee Can lid. If it had not been for that it would never have become famous.   

Edited by Dave Trott, 25 June 2022 - 12:24 PM.

[davidmcgo]

I replaced the primary in my CT100 with a Carton Optical 4.25” f4.5 when Sheldon Farowski offered them  The focal length was a little long for the length of the strut but a Borg helical focuser with 1.25” nose solved that nicely.  It is now a decent scope, still a lot of coma but at least this mirror is a decent parabaloid.  The original was close to spherical and went to mush above 35x or so.

 

Dave

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[Jehujones]

Hi Tony, It’s this one from Amazon:

 

https://www.amazon.c...0?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

I leave it with the axle resting in the notch as in the picture below, which allows the entire ball to act as one large altitude bearing, producing very stable movement in altitude; smooth azimuth motion is accomplished on the lower circular horizontal bearing surface which allows 360° of rotation.

that's a beautiful thing   reminds me of my "quick-adjust" laser mount.

 

[jragsdale]

I do have to say, with a good set of wheels and a smooth surface, just about any scope can be a grab and go. Had my Unitron 160 out last night and it was a quick push to setup, maybe 60 seconds and I was in the driveway roughly polar aligned and centering my target. It's a beautiful thing!

[Defenderslideguitar]

 Another easy  grab and go  the Pentax 75 edhf   nice lens    versatile   light   compact and with the sliding dew shield, it  goes in a bac pack if needed. Certainly, quality images in small easy package    While it goes great on the Twilight mount, it is small enough and light enough to ride on smaller tripods mounts    I have a tele-pod I have not used since I got it last year so I will try that out on a small tripod

 

 

a week ago   I used it with my solar filter made from silver black polymer and pvc tubing   and we followed the very large sunspot grouping....see pic

 

the other night   I woke up at 3.00 am and traveled north to the farm area in Easton    to see the five planets. I had binoculars   and the Pentax 75edhf    the Pentax performed well on Saturn and Jupiter while we waited for Venus to pop up in the East   Mars  was just ok      Finally, as dawn lightened the East, Mercury came into view down low       a nice grab and go indeed

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Edited by Defenderslideguitar, Yesterday, 11:41 AM.

[Terra Nova]

I don’t know why I didn’t do this from the outset. I removed the middle man so to speak. I mounted my ballhead’s arca-swiss style mounting plate directly to the Pronto’s TV clamshell, thereby omitting the need for the Baader clamp and the TV Vixen short rail. That eliminates nearly a pound of weight and moves the center of gravity closer to the center of the tripod. If I want to mount the Pronto on another mount I can easily put the vixen-style TV short rail back on the clamshell.

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[Defenderslideguitar]

My Pentax 75edhf uses a TV clamshell to TV made vixen style dove tail

 

when I got the 1990 TV Oracle it came with the TV clamshell    when I sold it, the buyer had another TV clam shell that allowed for mounting a finder scope. When I bought the Oracle back, I then had two clam shells     when I got the FC 76 I sold the Oracle again and included the clamshell that accommodated the finder and the other one fit the Pentax ,which was nice

[Terra Nova]

My Pentax 75edhf uses a TV clamshell to TV made vixen style dove tail

 

when I got the 1990 TV Oracle it came with the TV clamshell    when I sold it, the buyer had another TV clam shell that allowed for mounting a finder scope. When I bought the Oracle back, I then had two clam shells     when I got the FC 76 I sold the Oracle again and included the clamshell that accommodated the finder and the other one fit the Pentax ,which was nice

I like the clamshells on the smaller TeleVue scopes. I didn’t like it for my much longer and heavier Genesis SDF so I replaced it with a set of Joe N’s heavy Parallax hinged rings.