I have two 'operation modes' when I use my truss dob. The first mode that I have been using for 3 years is the setup and tear down mode. The dob is completely dismantled and placed onto a 'goods trolley' with foam pads at the base. I have been using this for quite a while and the advantage of this setup is that the scope can be kept 'small' on the trolley and it is easy to push this trolley around as the wheels are good. Also with this trolley it faciliates loading the telescope into my car. The disadvantage though it is the setup time. I would need about 20 min to fully set up the telescope from pushing to taking out the components, to assembling and collimating.
Recently, these past months I came out with another operation mode. This mode has been what I wanted for a long time, but the problem is it is very hard to find this kind of trolley. This trolley or rather, the Americans call it 'Hand Truck'... its not a vehicle
, is only sold in a few hardware shops (local kind and not found in shopping centres). I got this Hand Truck at a local shop in King George Avenue near Jalan Besar. Cost about $50 I think..around there. This kind of trolley is used for carrying cartons of drinks. I bought some foam (those used for camping) and secure the bars that are in contact with the telescope. I also stick a thick cardboard at the base (the base has big gaps) so that the foot of the telescope can rest on it. This method ensures that my truss dob is 'push and go'. Setup time is 5min. In terms of assembling is just placing my telrad finder and connecting the Argo Navis Digital Setting circles connection. Voila..and doing collimation. Collimating is very quick as the scope holds its collimation well and I just need to twick a tiny bit to get it right. The picture on the right shows the two setups. The goods trolley (left of that photo) and the hand truck (right of that photo). The other pictures just show the telescope as in what it looks like when it is placed onto the handtruck. I actually tie the fully assembled telescope sans telrad onto the hand truck using 3 bungee cords. The bungee cords are secure enough to hold the telescope.
