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The StarChair 3000 is back.

Started by Lacerta, 09/16/2009 06:55PM
Posted 09/16/2009 06:55PM Opening Post
I wanted to let you all know that I was recently contacted by Chris Floyd the inventor and owner of the Sky Rover StarChair 3000.
He is back after some health issues and currently has a run of 20 StarChairs almost ready for shipping to new homes.
3 of these are ready now, with 17 more that will be ready in about a month, at which time he is planning to have his site www.starchair.com back on line.
Chris told me that the ones that are ready now use the same analog joystick to drive the StarChair about the sky.
This is a PC gamers' joystick and works quite well, but they are getting harder to find.
The other 17 will be using a Penny and Giles digital joystick, which is a high precision, industrial grade joystick that doesn't use the same internal moving components as does the PC joystick, and will have a very long life.
This change to the P&G joystick necessitated the input circuit be redesigned, which according to Chris is beta tested, and he is waiting for the double sided circuit boards to be delivered.

I have been using my StarChair for almost the past 5 years, mainly with my 25X150 Fujinons.
It has had some pretty large individuals taking rides in it, and lots of fidgety children, has traveled all over the US with us for more then 3 years stowed away in the storage bay of our motorcoach, all with no problems whatsoever ...... so I'm a happy StarChair owner.

I've done a number of modifications to mine, and this winter will modify the mounting system for my 25X150 Fujinons so they will have a gas strut assisted lift system to make it easy to add some other modifications, and to work similar to the normal binocular lift system that the StarChair comes with for mounting binos up to 110 mm.
I want to experiment using telescope optics with the chair, as it is the most comfortable way to observe the night sky.
I have a small 12 volt electric blanket that connects to the battery of the StarChair, and the existing accessory big Fuji mounting system can handle a load well in excess of 45 lbs, so I'm hoping to find the "sweet spot" between focal length and the appearance of vibrations that is really your head slightly moving from heartbeat/breathing and etc., that will allow the use of more powerful instrument than my 25X150 Fujis.
The StarChair is "encoder ready" so it can use any of the DSC systems out there.
I just recently changed from a JMI NGCMax to a Sky Commander and have been using 8K tic encoders. I am also experimenting with both the Celestron SkyScout and Meade MySky to use as finders, but mainly to add the multi-media (video and audio) to the ride.

I've asked Chris to provide some pricing info that I can pass on, and I hope to hear back soon regarding that.
I believe in late 2004 I paid just over $4k for the chair, and ~$1500 for the mount to handle the big Fujis, that and the shipping, import tax, and I hired an import broker to handle the paperwork for customs, the total delivered price was ~$6300 as I recall.
A fair sum to be sure. But when I look at all the money I've spent on different scopes that have me either climbing ladders, bent over/kneeling on the ground with little pebbles digging into my knees ..... just so I could get to to eyepiece, then spending many nights freezing my extremities off, all just plain making it an uncomfortable and physically tiring situation that negatively impacted how much time I actually spend at the eyepiece 'truly' observing ........ the comfort and warmth of a platform that's basically an overstuffed armchair with a heating blanket (which I added for less than $30) the StarChair is a bargain!

If my "uni-mount" for other optics works out, all I'll need to attach is a cup holder, 12Volt cooler and small pizza oven ....... and then I'm not coming in anymore!!

In any case ...... I'll post more information as I obtain it, and keep the forum updated on my modification's success or failures.


Best regards,

Gary


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Lacerta's attachment for post 48302

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Posted 09/17/2009 05:50PM #1
I just got the StarChair 3000 new retail price from Chris Floyd .
It will be $US6,095 plus freight and any import duty etc.. that your state might add.

After spending the past five years with mine, I can honestly say that I would gladly pay this if I didn't have one.
IMO the StarChair's $ per time period of 'actually observing' (that it provides as a result of it's total comfort for 'any' object position) is one of the best deals I've made in astro-gear purchases.

Best regards,

Gary

P.S. I have no affiliation with StarChair other than being a very happy customer that wants to share this unique observing experience with others.

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