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Webster Telescopes Forum • View topic - D14 Total Weight
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 Post subject: D14 Total Weight
 Post Posted: Tue Dec 14, 2010 2:40 pm 
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The website says the total weight of the D14 is 50 lbs. I just want to clarify that this also includes the mirror & cell?

Pretty amazing if that's the case. Thanks very much!

Kerry


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 Post subject: Re: D14 Total Weight
 Post Posted: Tue Dec 14, 2010 5:58 pm 
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It could be a little less, it just depends on the density of the wood. Some plywood formulations are very light, but not always available in the sizes we use (all top quality plywood is imported nowadays).

The local UPS Store has a legal for trade scale that has shown a 5 pound variation in the same D14 model. Since all of the hardware is the same, we can assume the only variable is the plywood.

Please remember that no matter what the weight, you still are unlikely to be able to lift the telescope and carry it around. You can lift a 50 pound sack of cement because you can get a grip on it and keep the center of gravity close to your body. You can lift a 50 pound barbell because it is symmetrical and again, close to your body. You would not be able to carry a 50 pound barbell with your arms extended in front of you.

Lifting a telescope is awkward and dangerous. There are moving parts, pinch points and often wires connecting the rocker box to the mirror box.

A few of our customers have told us that they have used threaded inserts to make our mirror cells removable in just a few seconds. That is great, but not a solution we suggest. Removing the primary mirror (the heaviest part of the scope) makes the scope body light, but it puts the most fragile and valuable part of the scope at risk. When you are cold and tired at 6am, that is probably the worst time to be handling bare optics.

We always say that if you are in a situation where you can't use the included wheels to move and load your telescope - it is safest to get help from a second person.

Naturally, everyone wants to just pick up a 14 or 18" scope and throw it in the backseat of their Fusion or Neon. But even if you can physically do it, you will soon become tired of doing it, because it won't be easy. Better to get a SUV or mini van and take the chore out of packing up your scope.

A set of vehicle ramps is $30-50. Much cheaper than back surgery. Please use our wheels!


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 Post subject: Re: D14 Total Weight
 Post Posted: Wed Dec 15, 2010 12:44 pm 
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Thanks Jim. I just wanted to be sure on the weight because my old 14.5 from a different builder was about 111 lbs with the GOTO system installed. The new ones are a bit lighter but are still as heavy as your 18" model, so when I saw 50 lbs. I was scratching my head a little. Thank you for the verification.

For over 6 years with my old scope I would pick up the rocker / mirror-box with the mirror and cell installed, which was right around 100 lbs., and carry it out to the car. You are correct - it gets old, especially as I get older! 50 lbs is no problem at all, but I will certainly heed your advice, which brings me to the next part.

The wheel-barrow handles aren't really conducive to my storage situation, which is inside the house in a bedroom. Navigating the front door, walkway through the house, hallway back to the bedroom, and then the doorway to the bedroom won't work well with long handles - I'll need a flat dolly of some type or removable wheels attached directly to the rocker box for a tilt-n-roll scenario. Otherwise I would just carry the rocker and mirror boxes separately, which is fine.

Appreciate your input.


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 Post subject: Re: D14 Total Weight
 Post Posted: Wed Dec 15, 2010 1:57 pm 
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A piano dolly with the largest wheels you can find might help you navigate your house maze:

http://www.harborfreight.com/1000-lb-capacity-movers-dolly-38970.html


Of course everyone's yard is different, but if it is possible, consider an outdoor shed to keep the scope in. The plastic ones offer insulation from the sun, so your scope will cool faster. Even a small shed will allow you to store a 14" scope fully assembled.

If your scope is already outside you will use it a whole lot more. Especially if you don't have to worry about waking everyone up rolling the scope down the hallway for a quick, early morning peek. We have some apartment dwelling customers who keep their scopes in trailers or sheds over by the maintenance buildings. They report that they use their scopes three times more often when they don't have to carry them out in pieces.


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 Post subject: Re: D14 Total Weight
 Post Posted: Wed Dec 15, 2010 3:03 pm 
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Thanks for the link to the mover's dolly. That should work.


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 Post subject: Re: D14 Total Weight
 Post Posted: Thu Dec 30, 2010 1:22 pm 
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Joined: Sat May 01, 2010 4:25 pm
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Location: England
interesting thread. Maybe a Platform Hand Truck would also work where wheel barrow handles are too long. Or it would also be simple to build a trolley from plywood and large pneumatic caster wheels, to more closely match the foot-print of the scope (possibly adding a rim to stop the scope toppling off).

I'm not sure how the D series servo-CAT scopes are disassembled. Is the ground board/ rocker-box/ mirror-box best kept together as a single unit for storage & transportation ? So in the restricted space senario, this unit would be lifted up onto the piano dolley and pushed along to get to the observing site or vehicle ?

Storage in a plastic shed; that is food for thought. The climate I have to deal with would probably need a dehumidifier running. Variations in temperature: is this not a concern affecting the longevity of the scope & aluminium coatings ?


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 Post subject: Re: D14 Total Weight
 Post Posted: Thu Dec 30, 2010 8:32 pm 
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Location: Detroit Michigan
jonW wrote:

Storage in a plastic shed; that is food for thought. The climate I have to deal with would probably need a dehumidifier running. Variations in temperature: is this not a concern affecting the longevity of the scope & aluminium coatings ?


The scope will be fine in a plastic shed; but the primary mirror will need a dew chaser or 15w light bulb to keep the dew off of the coatings.

_________________
Eric Webster
http://www.WebsterTelescopes.com


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 Post subject: Re: D14 Total Weight
 Post Posted: Wed May 11, 2011 8:10 pm 
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Back on the subject of moving the D14 with a "custom-fitted" dolley as per JonW's idea: if large, fully locking casters were used, I wonder if the D14 could be assembled and used while on the dolly??? Maybe not stable enough? Sure would be convenient.


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 Post subject: Re: D14 Total Weight
 Post Posted: Thu May 12, 2011 4:21 am 
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Joined: Sat May 01, 2010 4:25 pm
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Location: England
dvelte wrote:
Back on the subject of moving the D14 with a "custom-fitted" dolley as per JonW's idea: if large, fully locking casters were used, I wonder if the D14 could be assembled and used while on the dolly??? Maybe not stable enough? Sure would be convenient.


Hi, I've been there with my 10" dob. Built a custom dolly with large wheels. Could probably hold the weight of a motor vehicle. It was great for wheeling the scope about the garden to dodge the trees for catching a planet low on the horizon. There was a problem however doing observing with the scope in situ on the dolly. The locking castors were chosen very carefully to have hard rubber wheels - to offer some protection from bumps, but to avoid the scope bouncing about during observing.... But the actual problem I think was the locking mechanism, all these locking castors have a very basic lever system. When locked the castor can still wobble a bit. Basically the views are not that stable for high mag. The solution might be to build 3 adjustable feet attached at the end of bolts that can be deployed by turning the bolt. So when observing the wheels are held in mid-air.
For my forthcoming D18 scope, I plan to make a custom sized dolly with large pneumatic wheels. This will be to simply to roll the groundboard/rocker/mirror box assembly through my house, across the yard etc etc. When it comes to observing, the assembly has to be manually lifted off the dolly, down to the ground (a small lifting task I hope !).
Jon


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