Grab and Go definition

We all started somewhere! We are a friendly bunch! Most of your questions can be posted here, but if you are interested in Astrophotography please use the new Beginner Astrophotography forum. The response time will be much better.
User avatar
Gordon Online United States of America
Site Admin
Site Admin
Articles: 1088
Posts: 8926
Joined: Wed Apr 24, 2019 10:52 pm
5
Location: Cottonwood, AZ
Status:
Online

I Broke The Forum.

TSS EAA Messier awards

TSS Photo of the Day

Messier Photo Awards

Article Award

Re: Grab and Go definition

#21

Post by Gordon »

I have 3 different setups that I use, they are all "grab and go" as I have to move them from the garage to the backyard. With that being said, I can truly say my SeeStar S50 is truly grab and go.....
Gordon
Scopes: Explore Scientific ED80CF, Skywatcher 200 Quattro Imaging Newt, SeeStar S50 for EAA.
Mounts: Orion Atlas EQ-g mount & Skywatcher EQ5 Pro.
ZWO mini guider.
Image cameras: ZWO ASI1600 MM Cool, ZWO ASI533mc-Pro, ZWO ASI174mm-C (for use with my Quark chromosphere), ZWO ASI120MC
Filters: LRGB, Ha 7nm, O-III 7nm, S-II 7nm
Eyepieces: a few.
Primary software: Cartes du Ciel, N.I.N.A, StarTools V1.4.

Image
User avatar
Unitron48 United States of America
Articles: 0
Posts: 3009
Joined: Sun May 12, 2019 12:48 am
5
Location: Culpeper, VA (USA)
Status:
Offline

TSS Double Star Visual Challenge

VROD awards

Re: Grab and Go definition

#22

Post by Unitron48 »

John Baars wrote: Sun Mar 17, 2024 9:29 am Grab and Go used to mean for me that I could pick up telescope, mount and tripod with one hand and "swing" it outside into the backyard. I needed no more than a minute or so for it. Since I am a bit older by now I prefer to do the same in two stages. Tripod and mount is stage one, telescope is stage two. It is the same setup though. I need a bit more than two minutes nowadays. The same telescope goes along to star-parties, outreaches and so on. So it must be quite transportable as well.
The weight of it all has become more and more important over the years. My 102mm F5 telescope weighs about 8.8 lbs and the mount/tripod about 13.5 lbs.
I'm with you, John. My grab and go is my Brandon 94 on one of my alt-az mounts. It's possible to make it in one trip, but why?

Dave
Unitron (60mm, 102mm), Brandon 94
Stellarvue SVX127D, Meade 8" SCT
http://www.unitronhistory.com

"Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better." Albert Einstein
User avatar
Bigzmey Online United States of America
Moderator
Moderator
Articles: 8
Posts: 8529
Joined: Sat May 11, 2019 7:55 pm
5
Location: San Diego, CA USA
Status:
Online

TSS Double Star Visual Challenge

VROD awards

Messier Visual Awards

Article Award

Review Award

Re: Grab and Go definition

#23

Post by Bigzmey »

Everyone would agree that Grab and go means easy to move and deploy in a short period of time.

If you take it literally though, it does imply one trip. Otherwise it would be grab and go, then come back and grab more. :D
Scopes: Stellarvue: SV102ED; Celestron: 14" & 9.25" EdgeHD, 8" SCT, 150ST, Onyx 80ED; iOptron: Hankmeister 6" Mak; SW: 7" Mak; Meade: 80ST.
Mounts: Celestron: CGE Pro. SW: SkyTee2, AzGTi; iOptron: AZMP; ES: Twilight I; Bresser: EXOS2; UA: MicroStar.
Binos: APM: 100-90 APO; Canon: IS 15x50; Orion: Binoviewer, LG II 15x70, WV 10x50, Nikon: AE 16x50, 10x50, 8x40.
EPs: Pentax: XWs & XFs; TeleVue: Delites, Delos, Panoptic & Plossls; ES: 68; Vixen: SLVs; Baader: BCOs, Aspherics, Mark IV.
Diagonals: Baader: BBHS mirror, Zeiss Spec T2 prism, Clicklock dielectric; TeleVue: Evebrite dielectric; AltairAstro: 2" prism.
Filters: Lumicon: DeepSky, UHC, OIII, H-beta; Baader: Moon & SkyGlow, Contrast Booster, UHC-S, 6-color set; Astronomik: UHC.
Solar: HA: Lunt 50mm single stack, W/L: Meade Herschel wedge.

Observing: DSOs: 3324 (Completed: Messier, Herschel 1, 2, 3. In progress: H2,500: 2268, S110: 77). Doubles: 2836, Comets: 38, Asteroids: 320
User avatar
John Baars Online Netherlands
Co-Administrator
Co-Administrator
Articles: 5
Posts: 2961
Joined: Sat May 11, 2019 9:00 am
5
Location: Schiedam, Netherlands
Status:
Online

VROD awards

TSS Photo of the Day

Article Award

Review Award

Re: Grab and Go definition

#24

Post by John Baars »

Otherwise it would be grab and go, then come back and grab more. :D
A two-grab&go :lol:
Refractors in frequency of use : *SW Evostar 120ED F/7.5 (all round ), * Vixen 102ED F/9 (vintage), both on Vixen GPDX.
GrabnGo on Alt/AZ : *SW Startravel 102 F/5 refractor( widefield, Sun, push-to), *OMC140 Maksutov F/14.3 ( planets, no GnG).
Most used Eyepieces: *Panoptic 24, *Morpheus 14, *Nagler 11, *Leica ASPH zoom, *Zeiss barlow, *Pentax XO5.
Commonly used bino's : *Jena 10X50 , * Canon 10X30 IS, *Swarovski Habicht 7X42, * Celestron 15X70, *Kasai 2.3X40
Rijswijk Public Observatory: * Astro-Physics Starfire 130 f/8, * 6 inch Newton, * C9.25, * Meade 14 inch LX600 ACF, *Lunt.
Amateur astronomer since 1970.
User avatar
Mike Q United States of America
Articles: 0
Posts: 1144
Joined: Mon Jul 03, 2023 3:23 pm
1
Location: Monnett, Ohio USA
Status:
Offline

VROD awards

Messier Visual Awards

Re: Grab and Go definition

#25

Post by Mike Q »

Bigzmey wrote: Tue Jun 25, 2024 6:32 pm Everyone would agree that Grab and go means easy to move and deploy in a short period of time.

If you take it literally though, it does imply one trip. Otherwise it would be grab and go, then come back and grab more. :D
So my 16 inch would be more of a grab and go and go again probably LOL. In all seriousness how many times have you drug the scope out only to realize the eyepiece is still in the house.
Orion Skyline 10 Inch
Orion XX16G
Stellina
AT102EDL
Meade 10" LX200
User avatar
pakarinen United States of America
Articles: 0
Posts: 4154
Joined: Fri Jun 14, 2019 3:33 pm
5
Location: NE Illinois
Status:
Offline

Re: Grab and Go definition

#26

Post by pakarinen »

Bigzmey wrote: Tue Jun 25, 2024 6:32 pm If you take it literally though, it does imply one trip. Otherwise it would be grab and go, then come back and grab more. :D
Lather, rinse, repeat.
=============================================================================
Man... That's some icky-tasting stuff!
=============================================================================
AT50, AT72EDII, ST80, ST102; Scopetech Zero, AZ-GTi, AZ Pronto; Innorel RT90C, Oberwerk 5000; Orion Giantview 15x70s, Vortex 8x42s, Navy surplus 7x50s
User avatar
Thefatkitty Canada
Co-Administrator
Co-Administrator
Articles: 0
Posts: 4934
Joined: Sat May 11, 2019 4:20 pm
5
Location: Ontario, Canada
Status:
Offline

TSS Photo of the Day

Re: Grab and Go definition

#27

Post by Thefatkitty »

Fun thread!

I have a G&G that is probably unconventional, but it weighs three pounds with the tripod, so a one-hand special. It's a 60mm at f/6.5 and costed me 35 bucks and my time to make it.


I call it "the Towatron". It's a mix of the objective from an early '70's Tasco 55VTE with a click-stop fucuser I got for $10 at a garage sale...

Tasco.jpg


There were two models of these; the 55VT and the VTE. The VT only did 45X, while the VTE was an amazing 60X! :lol:
What you did was extend the drawtube until it "clicked in" at the power you wanted; 15, 30, 45, and the VTE's bonus 60X...

IMG_7111.JPG


You can see there's lots of extra glass to make this all work. Throw in a .965 lens (and no diagonal with this), and you've got a dark drinking straw view. And the magnification varies with the lens used, so the indicators on the drawtube are essentially meaningless.

I bought a 60mm Celestron Astromaster 60mm LT at the local swap shop for $25. Nice scope; soft views. Fine focus was out of reach. But it comes with a decent 1.25 focuser and quite the drawtube length!

60LT.jpg


Hmmmm. I took the Towa objective from the Tasco, the focuser from the Celestron, and lined them up on a ruler to see if it would get focus. It did.
I cut the Celestron tube down to the measured length, made new holes for the focuser and put it together. I made sure I left enough inward travel room from cutting the tube so I could use my DSLR with it. I even blackened the doublet objective edges.

obj.JPG


Et voilà, the Towatron was born. The dewshield is a third of the length of the whole scope...

Towatron.JPG
Towatron02.JPG


The Japanese-made Towa objective is actually really good (it's a crapshoot with these old scopes) and it gives nice sharp views, and widefield as well. Great for the backyard for those warm casual nights with a beer or two or five ;)

For AP, it works for nature shots and even passing aircraft:

squirrel.jpg
Airplane.jpg


Also great for conjunctions (max view is a bit over 4 degrees). Some of the Moon and Venus, the last one being a daytime shot:

Moon_Venus_2018_07_15.jpg
Moon_Venus_2019-11-28_500PM.jpg
Moon_Venus_June19_2020_515AM.jpg
MoonVenus.jpg


As for ol' Luna, it's passable:

IMG_8168.JPG
Moon_60mm_2018-10-22.jpg


It won't win any awards, but for the price point and the ease of using it, it's a win for me :D

And for the record, you all have better quality grab and go's than I do!
Mark

"The Hankmeister" Celestron 8SE, orange tube Vixen made C80, CG4, AZ-EQ5 and SolarQuest mounts.
Too much Towa glass/mirrors.

Solar:
HA - PST stage 2 mod with 90mm ERF on a Celestron XLT 102 (thanks Mike!)
Ca-K - W/O 61mm, Antares 1.6 barlow, Baader 3.8 OD and Ca-K filters with a ZWO ASI174mm.
W/L - C80-HD with Baader 5.0 & 3.8 Solar film, Solar Continuum 7.5nm and UV/IR filters with a Canon EOS 550D.
🇨🇦Member of the RASC
User avatar
John Baars Online Netherlands
Co-Administrator
Co-Administrator
Articles: 5
Posts: 2961
Joined: Sat May 11, 2019 9:00 am
5
Location: Schiedam, Netherlands
Status:
Online

VROD awards

TSS Photo of the Day

Article Award

Review Award

Re: Grab and Go definition

#28

Post by John Baars »

Thefatkitty wrote: Fri Jun 28, 2024 6:47 pm It won't win any awards, but for the price point and the ease of using it, it's a win for me
I have often heard, read and experienced that the old objectives in those old Christmas-present telescopes were not even that bad. This is another example. The disappointments that envelop these kind of little instruments almost always came from the "hardware" around it.
I think you've made a worthwhile upgrade out of it. With double the fun, since you did everything yourself! Well done!

I suppose the old drawtube extender was no less than a long slow barlow with a variable projection distance. Good idea to take it out!
Thefatkitty wrote: Fri Jun 28, 2024 6:47 pm And for the record, you all have better quality grab and go's than I do!
Reminds me of several outreach parties I participated in with my little scope as well. There was always someone in the audience who commented that they didn't understand why the other participants were standing with those big guns. After all, in this little thing you could see just as well!?
Refractors in frequency of use : *SW Evostar 120ED F/7.5 (all round ), * Vixen 102ED F/9 (vintage), both on Vixen GPDX.
GrabnGo on Alt/AZ : *SW Startravel 102 F/5 refractor( widefield, Sun, push-to), *OMC140 Maksutov F/14.3 ( planets, no GnG).
Most used Eyepieces: *Panoptic 24, *Morpheus 14, *Nagler 11, *Leica ASPH zoom, *Zeiss barlow, *Pentax XO5.
Commonly used bino's : *Jena 10X50 , * Canon 10X30 IS, *Swarovski Habicht 7X42, * Celestron 15X70, *Kasai 2.3X40
Rijswijk Public Observatory: * Astro-Physics Starfire 130 f/8, * 6 inch Newton, * C9.25, * Meade 14 inch LX600 ACF, *Lunt.
Amateur astronomer since 1970.
User avatar
Baurice
Vendor
Vendor
Articles: 0
Posts: 1619
Joined: Sun Aug 18, 2019 10:42 pm
5
Location: England
Status:
Offline

TSS Photo of the Day

Re: Grab and Go definition

#29

Post by Baurice »

My grab and go equipment is my 15x70 binoculars.

I have a Skymax 127mm Mak on an EQ3 mount, which is hard for me to carry with my bad back.
User avatar
OzEclipse Australia
Moderator
Moderator
Articles: 2
Posts: 2856
Joined: Sat May 11, 2019 8:11 am
5
Location: Young, NSW, Australia, 34S, 148E
Status:
Offline

VROD awards

TSS Photo of the Day

Messier Visual Awards

Article Award

Re: Grab and Go definition

#30

Post by OzEclipse »

John Baars wrote: Sun Jun 30, 2024 5:19 pm
Thefatkitty wrote: Fri Jun 28, 2024 6:47 pm It won't win any awards, but for the price point and the ease of using it, it's a win for me
I have often heard, read and experienced that the old objectives in those old Christmas-present telescopes were not even that bad. This is another example. The disappointments that envelop these kind of little instruments almost always came from the "hardware" around it.
I think you've made a worthwhile upgrade out of it. With double the fun, since you did everything yourself! Well done!

I suppose the old drawtube extender was no less than a long slow barlow with a variable projection distance. Good idea to take it out!
Thefatkitty wrote: Fri Jun 28, 2024 6:47 pm And for the record, you all have better quality grab and go's than I do!
Reminds me of several outreach parties I participated in with my little scope as well. There was always someone in the audience who commented that they didn't understand why the other participants were standing with those big guns. After all, in this little thing you could see just as well!?
In the early 1980's, I bought a 2nd hand 60mm Tasco for USD25 to use as a manual guide scope. I wasn't concerned about the optics since I only needed to watch an out of focus star image on crosshairs. However, i found that the scope was made up of a 60mm front glass achromat element, with a 10mm diameter stop behind it. The focuser consisted of a plastic barlow and plastic zoom eyepiece. I pulled the whole thing apart, removed the objective and trashed the rest. Then I re-tubed it and machined a 1.25" sliding drawtube focuser on the back end. To my surprise, I found that the 60mm f6.5 objective at full aperture gave a quite decent image when paired with a decent eyepiece.

In 2002, I took the re-tubed scope to the Strzlecki desert in central Australia to observe a total eclipse.
Raelene_telescope.jpg
Raelene_telescope.jpg (23.28 KiB) Viewed 1129 times
.

On the way home, driving over rough corrugated roads, the lens cell rattled loose and the objective came out, trapped inside the lens hood by the lenscap it bounced round in the lens hood and chipped the lens all around the edges. For USD25 and 20 years service $1.25 per year, it didn't owe me anything and I then replaced it with an ST80 and later added an ED80 to my GnG stable.
Joe Cali (OzEclipse)

34 South - The Hilltops Observatory
Hilltops region, Young, New South Wales, Australia. [148E, 34S]


Amateur astronomer since 1978.....Web site :http://joe-cali.com/.....Total & Annular Eclipses Observed:18
Scopes: ATM 18" Dob, Vixen VC200L, Hand Made 6"f7, Stellarvue 102ED, Saxon ED80, WO M70 ED, Orion 102 Maksutov, Coronado PST
Binoculars: Celestron Skymaster Pro 15x70, SV Bony SV202 10x42ED
Mounts: Takahashi EM-200, iOptron iEQ45, Push Dobsonian with Nexus DSC, 3 ATM EQ mounts.
..............Losmandy Starlapse, Vixen Polarie and Skywatcher Star Adventurer compact trackers.
Eyepieces: TV Naglers 31, 17, 12, 7; Denkmeier D21 & D14; Pentax XW10, XW5.
Cameras : ZWO ASI2600MC, Pentax K1, K5, K01, K10D / VIDEO CAMS : TacosBD, Lihmsec.
Cam/guider/controllers: Lacerta MGEN 3, SW Synguider, Simulation Curriculum SkyFi 3+Sky safari
Memberships The Sky Searchers (moderator); Astronomical Association of Queensland; RASNZ Occultations Section.
User avatar
JayTee United States of America
Co-Administrator
Co-Administrator
Articles: 2
Posts: 5941
Joined: Thu Apr 25, 2019 3:23 am
5
Location: Idaho, USA
Status:
Offline

VROD awards

TSS Photo of the Day

Messier Visual Awards

Article Award

Re: Grab and Go definition

#31

Post by JayTee »

OzEclipse wrote: Fri Aug 09, 2024 1:35 am In the early 1980's, I bought a 2nd hand 60mm Tasco for USD25 to use as a manual guide scope. I wasn't concerned about the optics
And this is the reason why I bought the El Cheapo Brothers as guidescopes. They are both third hand 70mm f/5.7 and 80mm f/5 fracs of modest quality. They were $10 and $50 USD respectively.
JT
∞ Primary Scopes: #1: Celestron CPC1100 #2: 8" f/7.5 Dob #3: CR150HD f/8 6" frac
∞ AP Scopes: #1: TPO 6" f/9 RC #2: ES 102 f/7 APO #3: ES 80mm f/6 APO
∞ G&G Scopes: #1: Meade 102mm f/7.8 #2: Bresser 102mm f/4.5
∞ Guide Scopes: 70 & 80mm fracs -- The El Cheapo Bros.
∞ Mounts: iOptron CEM70AG, SW EQ6R, Celestron AVX, SLT & GT (Alt-Az), Meade DS2000
∞ Cameras: #1: ZWO ASI294MC Pro #2: 662MC #3: 120MC, Canon T3i, Orion SSAG, WYZE Cam3
∞ Binos: 10X50,11X70,15X70, 25X100 ∞ AP Gear: ZWO EAF and mini EFW and the Optolong L-eXteme filter
∞ EPs: ES 2": 21mm 100° & 30mm 82° Pentax XW: 7, 10, 14, & 20mm 70°

Searching the skies since 1966. "I never met a scope I didn't want to keep."

Image
User avatar
OzEclipse Australia
Moderator
Moderator
Articles: 2
Posts: 2856
Joined: Sat May 11, 2019 8:11 am
5
Location: Young, NSW, Australia, 34S, 148E
Status:
Offline

VROD awards

TSS Photo of the Day

Messier Visual Awards

Article Award

Re: Grab and Go definition

#32

Post by OzEclipse »

JayTee wrote: Fri Aug 09, 2024 11:08 pm
OzEclipse wrote: Fri Aug 09, 2024 1:35 am In the early 1980's, I bought a 2nd hand 60mm Tasco for USD25 to use as a manual guide scope. I wasn't concerned about the optics
And this is the reason why I bought the El Cheapo Brothers as guidescopes. They are both third hand 70mm f/5.7 and 80mm f/5 fracs of modest quality. They were $10 and $50 USD respectively.
JayTee
In March 1986, Halleys Comet was sporting a beautiful scimitar like tail about 4 degrees long. I invited friends and work colleagues out to a dark dead end country road east of the city for a 3am viewing. I had my 6" f7 and the 60mm refractor set up when they arrived. The 60mm refractor with a 40mm Kellner eyepiece was about 10x with a 4 degree field.

Everyone was very surprised that the view through the small scope and even by naked eye was better than the bigger scope. The 6" had a field slightly less than 1o at 40x and was really only looking at the coma and a bit of tail. The untrained observers couldn't appreciate the details they were seeing.

Many of them repeated their appreciation to me even years later because the appearance at that time was better than at any other time.

cheers
Joe Cali (OzEclipse)

34 South - The Hilltops Observatory
Hilltops region, Young, New South Wales, Australia. [148E, 34S]


Amateur astronomer since 1978.....Web site :http://joe-cali.com/.....Total & Annular Eclipses Observed:18
Scopes: ATM 18" Dob, Vixen VC200L, Hand Made 6"f7, Stellarvue 102ED, Saxon ED80, WO M70 ED, Orion 102 Maksutov, Coronado PST
Binoculars: Celestron Skymaster Pro 15x70, SV Bony SV202 10x42ED
Mounts: Takahashi EM-200, iOptron iEQ45, Push Dobsonian with Nexus DSC, 3 ATM EQ mounts.
..............Losmandy Starlapse, Vixen Polarie and Skywatcher Star Adventurer compact trackers.
Eyepieces: TV Naglers 31, 17, 12, 7; Denkmeier D21 & D14; Pentax XW10, XW5.
Cameras : ZWO ASI2600MC, Pentax K1, K5, K01, K10D / VIDEO CAMS : TacosBD, Lihmsec.
Cam/guider/controllers: Lacerta MGEN 3, SW Synguider, Simulation Curriculum SkyFi 3+Sky safari
Memberships The Sky Searchers (moderator); Astronomical Association of Queensland; RASNZ Occultations Section.
User avatar
Ylem United States of America
Articles: 0
Posts: 8279
Joined: Sun May 12, 2019 2:54 am
5
Location: Ocean County, New Jersey
Status:
Offline

TSS Photo of the Day

Re: Grab and Go definition

#33

Post by Ylem »

For me it's about getting out the door in one trip, not forgetting an EP AND NOT spilling my coffee!

Usually this means the ST80 :)
Clear Skies,
-Jeff :telescopewink:


Member; ASTRA-NJ



Orion 80ED
Celestron C5, 6SE, Celestar 8
Celestron ST80
Skywatcher 102 Mak
Vixen Porta Mount ll
Coronado PST
Bunch of Binos
A big box of Plossls
Little box of filters
:D




User avatar
Kanadalainen Canada
Articles: 0
Posts: 1960
Joined: Sat May 11, 2019 8:05 pm
5
Location: Winnipeg, Canada
Status:
Offline

TSS Photo of the Day

Messier Visual Awards

Re: Grab and Go definition

#34

Post by Kanadalainen »

I guess my opinion of a G and G definition differs from most, likely aligning with Alan's. I live in a white zone, so am quite used to travelling to get to Bortle 4 (farm - 45 km) or Bortle 2 (Sandilands park - 90 km) or cabin (Bortle 1 - 200 km). Grab and go means whatever I can stuff into my Jeep :). The stuffing of the Jeep equates to 15 min tops (full AP rig). At our cabin, I keep a 14" dob ready to go (for visual). I can have it ready in 10 minutes, which is a great help.
Dobsonian.jpg
I tried to get an image of myself holding the dob with one hand (mainly for @Thefatkitty but was spectacularly unsuccessful. :)


The synopsis is that my grab and go tolerance is hardly acceptable to most, but to get to nice skies I need to drive there - and the "go" part takes some thinking. My little city (25 years ago was only at 600k) is becoming rather large (2024 - 900k), and with it the LP becomes a bit of a problem.
Ian

Refractors: Stellarvue 70T; SW 120mm Esprit; "Mark Mk. II" - 60 mm Tasco f6; C80 doublet (1980s)
SCT: C8 Edge f10
Newtonian: 14.5" homebuilt strut dob (f4.5 ZOC mirror); Teleskop Service ONTC 8" newt f5
Mounts - Ioptron Skyguider pro, Astro Physics GTO900
Cameras and lenses - 2600MC, 2600MM, 290 mm mini, Canon 60D modded with Rokinon 10mm 2.8; Rokinon 135mm f2

"Mothers! It is there!" - Rafael Gonzales-Acuna, 2018.
User avatar
kt4hx Online United States of America
Moderator
Moderator
Articles: 4
Posts: 3889
Joined: Sun May 12, 2019 12:18 am
5
Location: Virginia, USA
Status:
Online

VROD awards

Messier Visual Awards

Article Award

Re: Grab and Go definition

#35

Post by kt4hx »

You've got some nice choices of observing sites Ian. Most certainly grab n' go is what suits the individual, and no one size fits all. I have very little gear that I could say I can carry it out in one trip, other than binoculars of course.
Alan

Scopes: Astro Sky 17.5 f/4.5 Dob || Apertura AD12 f/5 Dob || Zhumell Z10 f/4.9 Dob ||
ES AR127 f/6.5 || ES ED80 f/6 || Apertura 6" f/5 Newtonian
Mounts: ES Twilight-II and Twilight-I
EPs: AT 82° 28mm UWA || TV Ethos 100° 21mm and 13mm || Vixen LVW 65° 22mm ||
ES 82° 18mm || Pentax XW 70° 10mm, 7mm and 5mm || barlows
Filters (2 inch): DGM NPB || Orion Ultra Block, O-III and Sky Glow || Baader HaB
Primary Field Atlases: Uranometria All-Sky Edition and Interstellarum Deep Sky Atlas
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Astronomers, we look into the past to see our future." (me)
"Seeing is in some respect an art, which must be learnt." (William Herschel)
"What we know is a drop, what we don't know is an ocean." (Sir Isaac Newton)
"No good deed goes unpunished." (various)
Some people without brains do an awful lot of talking, don't you think?” (Scarecrow, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz)
User avatar
Caldwell 14 Great Britain
Articles: 0
Posts: 32
Joined: Wed Dec 06, 2023 8:43 am
Location: England
Status:
Offline

Re: Grab and Go definition

#36

Post by Caldwell 14 »

I think my outfit just about qualifies. It takes about 5 minutes to set up and no more. I have had large dobsonian telescopes in the past, I always end up selling them and buying another refractor. My refractors just always get more use. They work for me anyway, I must have had 10 of them.
Scope: TV 102
Mount: Gibraltar HD4
Eyepieces: Nagler Zoom; Delite 7mm, 9mm, 13mm; Plossl 32mm
Filter: Nebustar UHC type 2, er… that’s it!
User avatar
Richard South Africa
Articles: 0
Posts: 1207
Joined: Mon May 13, 2019 6:55 am
5
Location: South Africa/Czech Rep
Status:
Offline

Re: Grab and Go definition

#37

Post by Richard »

For me the best was an 90mm Mak on a simple eq1 mount , had a few but all gone its probably the only eq set up that one can grab and have a look and being a eq mount much better than some of the silly cheap alt/az mounts
I have a 127mm SCT on a Celestron SLT computer mount , yes I can pick it up the same but connect power etc , so is that grab and go ? when I used a simple 90Mak on an eq mount you set it up in seconds (not 100%) and you look for say 20 minutes , the SLT mount you have to align etc and even if you good at it it takes time
I suppose "grab and go" has a lots of meanings , grab and go have a look quick,grab and go and transport easy , Grab and go and go hiking , so each off those is a different set up
Reflectors GSO 200 Dobs
Refractors None
SCT C5 on a SLT mount
Mak 150 Bosma on a EQ5
Post Reply

Create an account or sign in to join the discussion

You need to be a member in order to post a reply

Create an account

Not a member? register to join our community
Members can start their own topics & subscribe to topics
It’s free and only takes a minute

Register

Sign in

Return to “Beginners forum”