Transporting Telescope by flight

[Vinay]

Hi,

I think this group is the best place to seek some opinion and get expert advice on this topic.

How advisable it is to transport a telescope particularly in long journey flight. Particularly putting it in check-in baggage.

Checked about it in CN, there people seems to be hesitant to do this.

SCT's like C8/LX200 OTA need more careful handling. I don't know even if packing in very good casing like from pelican would be good idea?
DHL might handle it in a good way but cost will offset the advantage of getting one.

I am thinking of purchasing one from abroad and get it by flight to India.

Regards
Vinay

[keerthi kiran]

Hello Vinay,

I'm really scared about that.

Last week I came back by Air India from UK. My suitcase was badly manhandled and has bruises all over the place. They just throw it like crazy...

If you are getting it by flight, please make sure it is thoroughly packed and even then, expect that when you receive the scope, it would have loose parts, may be dents and so on...

Regards,

Keerthi

Vinay

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[Vinay]

Thank you Keerthi for the advise. 

I tried to contact Indian dealers for a price list, so as to make a comparison!.

The lukeworm/pathetic response of the dealers in India make me unhappy. Add to it one will hardly find someone selling OTA's.

I tried to contact Interphoto and AudoViso, I guess my emails went into trash bins!!.

Both of the dealers represent well respected brands, but their response is pathetic!.

C-Sky was very fast and good  in response!. 

I found none selling TAK officially!.

Vinay

[sathya kumar Prasanna]

Hi Vinay,

I used to work in a telescope showroom and we used to ship many telescopes abroad. But we used to always warn customers that its best not to ship a reflector by flight. UPS, FedEx are better, but we advice they still ship mainly refractors or cassegrains by them. Newtonians are most vulnerable to damage. You may also ask Dr Suresh because he got an Astrotech 12" Newtonian all the way from the USA. Have the box in a double layer with foam in between layers and then between inner layer and OTA. Have the box marked Fragile GLASS etc etc and you should be fine.

Thanks and Regards

Sathya

https://www.facebook.com/SathyakumarSharma

[Akarsh Simha]

Hi

Hemant has transported his telescope across countries by air. I think
that telescope has already seen three continents.

The way he did it -- he always carried the optics in his hand-baggage.
Since it is a simple Newtonian reflector, it is really easy to
dismantle the optics and carry them. AFAIK, he carried both primary
and secondary mirrors in his hand-baggage, and stuffed his clothes and
other things into the remaining optical tube -- essentially used the
tube as his suitcase.

Of course, I'm sure his tube suffered a few dents, but his telescope
is fully functional. Maybe the airport personnel had to see the dentist.

Regards
Akarsh

[Akarsh Simha]

Hi Vinay

Yes, I have heard similar things about Indian dealers. My friends at
IIT Madras were trying to buy a mount and they said that no one
responded to their queries -- except for Galileo Telescopes. I've
heard good things about Nilesh Vayada's customer service at Galileo,
from Dr. Suresh and others. I've almost always bought my stuff from
OptCorp anyway, so I don't have first hand experience, although I did
meet Nilesh at Ramanchery some day.

I have heard good things about C-Sky too. In fact, I remember having
coffee with Mr. Kalpak Raut in Chennai and he was very
forward-thinking with respect to his business. I really liked his
attitude, and he is also on this forum.

My friends at IITM said they didn't hear back from Audo Viso etc.

Regards
Akarsh

[Vinay]

Thank you Akarsh and Sathya for sharing your experience. Very helpful.
I will weigh all the options and will decide. I have plenty of time before I move back.

Vinay

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[Anirudha Ambekar]

I recently brought an ED80 from the US. The deal response is one thing but what baffles me the most is the price difference! The C80ED I bought for about 22000 and I was quoted 60k plus tax for an equivalent skywatcher model here in India.

Any way, I transported it by disassembling the optics from the tube. I carried the objective with me in the hand luggage and checked the tube in with my luggage.

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Anirudha