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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 ส.ค. 2024
- This short video shows you how to add castering wheels to your large Dobsonian telescope base to make it easier to transport. I also show a tip for keeping it from rolling away.
#heavy #telescope #wheels
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#dobsonian
#telescope
#astronomy
I can hear Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty sing it now... Stop Draggin' my Dob around.
Thanks! I just updated the thumbnail image!
I also have a 12" Dob . My solution was to install adjustable legs with jam nuts to hold steady. Roll out , adjust legs to raise casters off the ground w/speed wrench and hex key. Very little stress and strain.
That's a really good way to quickly get leveled. I wish I'd used your method from the start! Thanks for watching.
Hi, can you post a pic of your base with the adjustable legs and casters? Would like to see the spacing. Thanks!
I have mine strapped to a 2 wheel furniture Dolly from harbor freight. The kind with big wheels with air in them. A few bungees to keep the tube held tight and I can roll it over grass and hills and floor plates in doorways,etc. And it stays attached to the Dolly while stored.
Thank you for watching! In hindsight, I wished I'd used a dolly or at least bigger wheels. Mine works okay, but the wheels are too small. Clear skies!
UPDATE: I've since found that castoring wheels are MUCH more affordable at Harbor Freight.
Great video! I use a handtruck to move around my AD8. I have a gravel driveway where I do my observing, and casters really wouldn't be suited for that rough, bumpy terrain.
Gravel is a tough one. As you found out, you need big tires.
I fitted longer rubber feet to the base in order to slide my sack trolley underneath the base. I just wheel it to my observing site where I place it on my EQ platform for tracking. Clear skies 🔭.
That's a clever way to get it loaded up onto the trolly.
Thumbs up, and overall totally agree. That said, how have the casters fared the last two years, since they're installed with screws? If on concrete or hard surface exclusively, they're probably still in place. If on gravel, dirt, lawn, etc., perhaps separating the base to install the casters with bolts/nuts/washers would make it last forever, this side of a flood situation. I was a camera scenic in the film industry, and my home built on-set paint cart featured pneumatic 10" casters I installed with screws. Day three of using it, we were filming in a remote location featuring zero pavement to roll carts on. The large casters themselves did great. The screws pulled out of the plywood and frame material after perhaps 15 minutes of moving it around in a soft substrate. I wrestled with it for the long day, but got the set of bolts that evening to replace my faulty engineering. That cart lasted a decade, until I retired from film and passed it on to a friend. Wide fender washers under bolt heads and lock nuts kept things from pulling out. Screws could very well rip out of particle board on a heavier Dob base, which is why I'm mentioning it. I love the wood block idea. Stacking different thicknesses would be great for someone (like me) pulling the scope out onto a sloped gravel driveway in the mountains. Last night I struggled at zenith with my XT8, partly because the base was at an incline. I'm considering a 12" dob, which is why I came to this video.
Thank you for sharing. So far, I haven't had any problems with the castor wheels, but so far mine has never left pavement (driveways, sidewalks, parking lots). I did recently switch out the wheels to larger diameter wheels (with locking hubs). Exciting to hear from somebody in the movie industry - I was always curious about the production side of things. Clear skies!
Awesome Dobsonian content!
I just bought a Orion XT10 plus and I’m planing to do some of these mods. Thanks for the great videos!
Thank you. Great buy on the Orion. I think you'll find that the XT10 has superb mirrors. Have fun. Clear skies!
I have the Zhumell 12 inch dob. I have developed the same back pain as you. LOL. I put the Base on a 4-wheeled furniture cart. However, we have a stone patio, where I observe from. That poor scope hits every bump on the way. I am thinking about getting inflatable castors and letting some of the air out to absort the bumps and impacts of moving the scope.
The idea of the softened pneumatic tires is a really good one. Thanks for watching!
There are locking casters that you can use.
You are correct. I looked into using those, but I couldn't get my foot to actuate the mechanism on my telescope. I'm sure there are a lot of styles out there though that would probably work very well.
Hand truck is better. It goes up and down stairs, over grass, and thru dirt. No bending over, no blocks to carry around,
Thanks for watching! Hand trucks have their place for sure. In my workshop, the castoring wheels are great because they take so little effort. They just glide out of the door and into the driveway. I did have a hand truck for the super heavy Orion XT10g that I used to own. Clear skies!
Wow!! I was wondering how to keep it from rolling away (locking casters of course) but also how to level it with casters on. The blocks answer both. Thank you!!
Happy to help. I've since replaced the wheels with slightly larger wheels. Makes for a smoother movement across the garage.
I'm going to do the same thing, but use 5" casters that should roll pretty easy over various surfaces. Also using ones that are locking which should work OK for that. Thanks for the video!
The bigger the wheels the smoother rolling, but may be more likely to tip over. Be careful and have fun.
Hi from Israel,
Just bought a 12" GSO dobsonian. Ordered heavy duty straps with handles.
Thing is, the dark site that I travel to requires a walk on uneven ground of say 100m.
Hope I'll survive...
Carrying one of those big telescopes 100m would be a lot of work. Stay safe!
I used to use a set of Wheeleez. They are marketed as a kayak cart. Learn a few knots, secure it to one end, and you can roll it wherever you are going on big soft inflated wheels.
Buy a sack trolley and a couple of bungee cords. Sorted. PS:- ( inflatable tires is a huge plus).
I hope youre still alive
The wooden blocks are a good idea with or without the wheels. (I am frequently thinking of how to best raise my Dob for less bending over.)
For large elevation changes (for leveling), the wooden blocks are very handy.
I went to harbor freight and bought a square furniture dolly with castors on it. Its basically 2x4s in a square with castors attached. I placed my 10 in Zhumell on top of it and hammered some nails next to the square to keep it in place. If I want all I have to do is to pick it up and remove the furniture dolly.
Nice! It sounds like there are many ways to make our Dobs mobile. I think your solution is ideal for a lighter-weight 10" or smaller Dob. In this video, the 12" Dob would be too heavy/awkward to lift up and off as one piece. Ultimately my goal was a three-point support that could be rolled around and over small obstacles. It's a bit of a challenge to level the base with four points of contact as opposed to three, so I would likely have to remove it from the dolly. Not a problem if you're on relatively flat terrain. Thank you for the comment - more proof that there are many ways to reach a common solution.
@@reflactor I just leave it on the dolly at all times. I don't brace it or remove the dolly. I debate whether I should have gotten a 12 inch over a 10 inch. I am glad I did not get an 8 inch.The 10 inch is just a little bit more portable and likely will fit in a car where the 12 is questionable so it may have been a good choice. A bit off subject lol! The GSO dobs that you and I have are the best in my opinion.
Thank you for all the amazing content!
I used similar wheels on my 10" dog which come with brakes
I'm glad you found it helpful! If I could do this over again, I would definitely use castors with brakes. Even if only one of them had a brake, that would be helpful. Clear skies!
Where did you get your handle straps from on the 12"?
I bought them on Amazon. They are the 6 foot version of the Strap-A-Handle.
@@reflactor Thank you!
they do make locking casters.
I've thought about upgrading them to locking, but haven't had the time so far.
I just got a 10 in Skywatcher Dob. I wondered about wheels. Thanks for the tips! New sub!
Thanks for watching! Since I made this video, I've upgraded the wheels slightly to a larger diameter and they came with locking mechanisms. You can buy them really affordably at Harbor Freight ($6 each?). Clear skies!
I love the idea, but the lip from my garage to my driveway is a bit of a drop. I don’t believe those casters would be big enough to clear. Plus my driveway is on a slant so I would need leveling adjustment. Great idea.
Thank you for watching. My garage lip is about 1.5 inches. I did end up building a ramp. In hindsight, I wish I would've used bigger wheels. Clear skies!
Different size casters are available.
Where did you get the straps? I'm looking for 2 for my XT8.
I bought them from Amazon. I got the 8 foot long ones where were too long. I'd recommend the shorter ones: amzn.to/3xDkPLa
This almost killed my telescope mirror because it was ticking...
I'm afraid I don't know what that means. Ticking?
@@reflactor it was shaking my bad
In the video, you mentioned that you had the mirror resurfaced. who did the work? Thanks.
Jeff Decker at Majestic Optical Coatings in Ruckersville, Virginia. He did a great job with very fast turnaround time.
@@reflactor thank you
I’m planning on getting a 12” but I don’t have a garage and was thinking about using a hand truck, would that work?
It might work great. That's how I moved around my 10" GoTo early on in my hobby years. I wrapped each of the metal pipe parts of the hand truck with pipe insulation as a cushion.
how are those lifting straps on the 12”?
What size are the Caster wheels???
What size are the wooden blocks???
In this video they were small, on the order of 1.75 inches in diameter or 2 inches. I've since upgraded it to 3 inches with locking casters. The wood blocks were just 2x4's with holes cut out to hold the old conical feet.