Joe, it's going to be many months, at least, before it's ready to be transported anyway, and Mike doesn't have a trailer for it yet. Remember that as of now, it is functional at a basic level, but not complete. The azimuth bearing is blocked-up on timbers temporarily, while Mike continues to work out details and fabricate parts. It's also on Steve's property, so anybody going has to have Steve's permission too. Erik: This telescope is a completely different animal than any "amateur" truss Dob made prior. Putting it together is literally like assembling heavy machinery on a construction site. This is a work of obsessive love for Mike, any work required to set it up, tear it down, and transport it is mere details to him. He just wants to look through it and let others look, and will do whatever it takes to accomplish that goal, as he has so-far. If practicality at any level were part of the equation, this telescope would never have been built. If you have Mike's phone number, call him and ask to look through it. I'm pretty sure he'll set something up for you. He's one of the nicest guys I've ever met. A big part of his motivation is so all of us get a chance to look through it. On Mon, Oct 21, 2013 at 11:54 AM, Joe Bauman <josephmbauman@yahoo.com>wrote:
Rather than urging Mike to go yo the great effort to set up at SPOC, I would prefer that we make a pilgrimage to are the monster. -- Joe