chair test

I finally had a chance to give RASC-member Dave Getgood's astronomy observing chair a good shakedown. I think this "small" version is an excellent design. Compact, light-weight, easy to set up and take down. Easy to carry with its integrated handle. The Velcro strap and nylon rope keep it closed during transport. It is quite stable during use.



I particularly like how low it goes. When I aim my catadioptric at zenith, without a star diagonal on the finder, I need to get right under the tube with my butt inches off the ground.



On a number of occasions, I have forgotten to take this inexpensive chair to my Mom's to test with the Edmund Newtonian reflector. I suspect it would work perfectly with the 6" telescope, given the short pier it is mounted on.

• model: small
• version: 2.0
  
• construction material: wood (solid pine), unfinished
  
• padded seat: no
• foot rest: optional (not included in test model)
  
• seat height (cm)
  
• minimum: 30
• maximum: 61
• dimensions, when closed (cm): 38W x 92L x 13H
• weight (kg): 3
  
• price ($CDN): <100

Sadly, this sturdy chair is too small or short for me when viewing objects at the horizon, again with the cat, on its tall wooden tripod. For example, while I was examining Saturn earlier, I could not set the chair high enough.

I would like to test drive the large version Dave's made. I briefly tried it at the CAO work party in May. But I need a longer session with it...

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Dave works like me with his do-it-yourself designs: he takes an organic approach. We change, improve, adjust, fix, optimise, re-evaluate, and evolve our inventions. Dave has already made improvements to the chair design which I have evaluated.