by Jason Newquist
This is a brief report on the mock-up of the Premium DHQ 10 inch tube I "assembled" tonight.
The objective was to build a tube a few percent larger thanthe PDHQ 10, and determine if it would fit into my Japanese coupe (a 1999 Acura CL - with no folding rear seat) -- or if I'm screwed until I replace this vehicle with a larger one.
Some rough eyeballing with a tape-measure and a sufficiently long map case indicated that the PDHQ 10 *should* fit, but seeing as I'm going to spend about $1000 on the thing, I felt justified in spending $15 on some posterboard and duct tape, and an hour's work on the project.
I used some fairly firm posterboard stock which I wrapped into three tubes such that the diameter of the tubes comes out to be 13" (compared to the 12.75" spec on the web site). Each of these was about 28 inches long, affording plenty of overlap to assemble into a single 64"-long tube.
Once assembled, I measured it. 64.25" long, and anywhere from 12 to 14 inches in diameter because of some folds in the posterboard during assembly. The tube was vaugely boxish, but this was also fine. I'd just remember to rotate the tube if I encountered any tight spots to see if I had a problem with the 14" axis, or if the problem applied to even the 12" axis. As it happened, it didn't matter.
Once measured, and brought downstairs to the car, I scooted up the passenger seat, folded it all the way back, and I siddled the tube into place with just a few motions. It fit!
Once inside and resting on the passenger seat, it had plenty of play between butting up against the front dash and the rear headrest. Since the back seat headrest is a cushion, I figure a simple pillow at the front end to help buffer it against the dashboard (which is faux shiny plasticky wood crap) should be all I need to keep anything from scraching. Finally, I was easily able to wrap the passenger seatbelt over the tube.
This light tube felt fairly secure, so I imagine that the PDHQ with the mirror cell -- 57 lbs. according to the web site -- won't be sliding around much at all. If f the primary is toward the front of the car, it should be well-supported, since the passenger seat is scooted way up toward the dash. Even if not optimal support, it's probably good enough for my 60-90 minute drives to toward the moderately dark sky sites local to the south SF bay area.
The driver-side back seat can house the base, and the trunk can hold my chair, roll-up table, books, eyepiece chest, and other materials -- even my 4" refractor! However, I won't be able to bring any guests until I get another car, unless I could conspire to get the mount into the trunk. But that would subject my guest to a rather tight ride in the back seat right behind me, with next to no leg room. Not very comfortable.
The guest issue is, admittedly, secondary. The important thing was to verify that I could get the scope into the car, which I did with enough room to spare to allow me to sleep easy tonight. I'm very pleased. It was worth the hour's work and the few bucks to prove to myself that this scope doesn't require a truck, SUV, or station wagon to haul around. It *can* fit into a coupe of moderate size.
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Updated on 06/04/2001 11:19:34 PM