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How to Select an Orion Padded Case for your Telescope
How to Select an Orion Padded Case for your Telescope

We amateur astronomers are a somewhat nomadic bunch, by necessity. Unless you're lucky enough to live in an area with extremely dark skies and clear seeing conditions year-round, chances are good that you have to hit the road to a remote location with inky black skies when the stargazing bug strikes. Or, at the very least, you move your telescope and mount from its storage spot in the house or garage out to that dark corner in the yard for a night of observing. Whether you're moving a telescope near or far, your valuable astronomy gear deserves a safe and convenient mode of transport. We highly recommend using one of our affordable Orion Padded Cases any time you need to move or store your telescope. Their thick padding will help protect your telescope from dings or scratches during transport, and they'll keep your telescope free of dust and dirt when it's not being used.

Orion Padded Cases come in many different shapes and sizes, but you may not know exactly which case is best for your needs. Let's go over some helpful tips on how to shop for a padded case for your telescope, telescope mount, or both!

Some Orion padded cases can hold both a telescope optical tube and a telescope mount and tripod. These cases feature a padded divider inside the case to keep the optical tube separated from the mount and tripod. These cases, identified by a "C" on our online Padded Case Chart, even feature hook-and-loop straps inside to keep any counterweights secured during transport. Some other Orion padded cases are intended to hold the telescope optical tube only. These cases are identified by a "T" on our online chart. We also have Padded Cases for field tripods, and for equatorial mounts and tripods, which are marked with an "M" on the chart. We even have a few Padded Case Sets specially designed to hold all the optical tube components of our large, but portable SkyQuest XXi and SkyQuest XXg Truss-Tube Dobsonian telescopes.

    If you have an Orion telescope, consult our online Padded Case Chart to find the most appropriate case:

  • Find your telescope in the left-hand "Name" column, or use your telescope's item number to locate it in the "Stock #" column of the "Your Telescope" section of the chart.
  • Once you've found your telescope, look in the "Stock #" column within the "Compatible Padded Cases" section of the online chart for the item number of the padded case best suited for your telescope.

    If you'd like to use an Orion padded case for a telescope of a different brand, or have an older Orion model that no longer appears on the online chart, follow these simple tips to help you select the most appropriate padded case:

  • First, remove your telescope optical tube from the telescope mount & tripod. Be sure your telescope's dust caps are installed.
    • Remove any telescope eyepiece, diagonal, finder scope, or reflex sight from the telescope
    • If your telescope uses tube rings for coupling to an equatorial or altazimuth mount, you can leave the tube rings attached to the optical tube, along with any dovetail mounting plates that may be attached to the tube rings.
  • Use a tape measure to measure the length of your telescope, including the dust caps.
  • Next, collapse your tripod's legs to their shortest length, remove any accessory tray or spreader from the tripod, and fold the tripod down to its smallest size.
  • Use the tape measure to measure the length of your collapsed tripod.
  • Consult our online chart and look at the right-most column, "Dimensions"
    • Find the case that best matches the dimensions of your collapsed gear

 

If you're having difficulty selecting a padded case, call our Customer Service department at 800-676-1343, Monday through Friday 6:00 AM - 6:00 PM Pacific Time and Saturday 8:00 AM - 1:00 PM Pacific Time. Our friendly and knowledgeable Customer Service staff will help you find the best case for your telescope.

With an Orion Padded Case, your telescope will be ready for stargazing adventure wherever you go, whether you're heading miles down the road, or just a few steps out the back door!

Details
Date Taken: 07/30/2013
Author: Orion Staff
Category: Accessories

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