Telescope Transports

[RitcheyPark]

Steve George just delivered 7 new telescope transport systems yesterday and helped us install them all. 3 refractors on tripods of various sizes and weights. One medium size and one large SCT on tripods. One small dob and one 36 inch dob weighing 750 pounds. All are super sturdy and move around with a silky smooth motion. Even the massive one for the big dob he especially designed moves around on my concrete patio
with little effort. These are finely crafted machines that will make any sized telescope much easier to use. Easier means more frequent in the telescope world.
Ritchey Park.

[Bigzmey]

Pics or it did not happen!

[RitcheyPark]

Had to go to to the hospital for a week the day after delivery
As soon as I get home I will send pics

[Ylem]

A 36" Dobby is certainly a big boy.
We have a 36" Newt permanently mounted in an observatory at CAAC in Charlotte.

[RitcheyPark]

Haven't heard of CAAC. Got any info? What is the focal length of your 36 incher?

[Ylem]

Haven't heard of CAAC. Got any info? What is the focal length of your 36 incher?

https://charlotteastronomers.org/observatory/

And my mistake, it's an f5 24"

We use a warehouse rolling set of stairs. But after starring into the EP for a while you can become disoriented, gotta watch your set coming down in the dark.

[RitcheyPark]

Wow. What an outstanding facility. A 24 " f/5 is nothing to sneeze at. And an 8"Alvan Clark!!! Just like to be near that one. What a dream scope. What a collection of scopes and observatories. Would love to attend a star party there someday.

[RitcheyPark]

Ritchey Park here is still under development. The main building is 180' long, 18'high, 50' wide with room for a commercial kitchen, showers, and bathrooms at some point. Its on a 40 acre site overlooking the Ohio River. Bortle3 to bortle 4. It's named after George Willis Ritchey of RC telescope fame.He grew up nearby. Our next goal is to aquire a Planewave 20 inch Ritchey Cretian for the AP enthusiasts. Gotta have a Ritchey telescope at Ritchey Park! Would also like to aquire a few George Ritchey artifacts. The local Historical Society
is involved. This site is willed to the John Glenn Astronomy Park in Logan, Ohio for future operations.
The CAAC site looks like a good one to model from.

[RitcheyPark]

Don't know how we got off the subject of telescope transports. Oh well. And as you mentioned a rolling set of stairs is a good option for your 24" f/5. Just hang on well in the dark. I've been looking at some mini scissor lifts. There's a lot of options for an eyepiece 9 or 10 feet in the air. Number one however I think is safety for the public.

[Mike Q]

On behalf of Bushman down at Ritchie Park, here are the pictures of his scopes on the new buggies.

[Mike Q]

There is also a video showing someone on effortlessly pulling the 36 inch across the room. I cant seem to get it to post. I have to say i am impressed with how easy it moves

[Mike Q]

Pics or it did not happen!

Pics are now up, i posted them for Bushman, he is still in the learning how to phase lol

[Mike Q]

https://photos.app.goo.gl/XLHrtKxFVMY2DJpCA

And here is the link to the video. This is Bushman's wife pulling almost 900 pounds

[Bigzmey]

https://photos.app.goo.gl/XLHrtKxFVMY2DJpCA

And here is the link to the video. This is Bushman's wife pulling almost 900 pounds

That's not a scope, THIS is the scope!

[Mike Q]

https://photos.app.goo.gl/XLHrtKxFVMY2DJpCA

And here is the link to the video. This is Bushman's wife pulling almost 900 pounds

That's not a scope, THIS is the scope!

I was hoping to have gotten down there Thursday, but health issues intervened. I will try and get down there before the star party October 5th to help him out

[Stevegeo]

I want to thank Steve B, and all that helped with the setp of all of these buggies, im not online much, and i rarely get to catch up on comments, good or bad.. the trip down 530 miles wasnt bad, going back after a long day of setp.. brutal .. but we managed..
Im very pleased with how things went, and meeting everyone.. i tried to make setup as easy and simple as possible.. for all.. looking forward to meeting again. Stevegeo