Ball handle

The first modification I've made to my stock Zhumell dob construction was the ball shaped handle underneath the OTA for more comfortable scope pointing and star tracking. The pink high density closed foam bounce ball, which I found in my son's old toys bin, fitted that role just perfectly. Its size feels good in the palm of a hand, and the soft foam material provides especially good feeling in cold temperatures compared to the ice-cold metal of the OTA or other solid handles I used in the past.

After experimenting with different postures behind the eyepiece, I used a convenient location for a brass bolt (3/16") with the wide head and some steel washers for the spacer to install the ball in the convenient place suitable for work behind the eyepiece, as well as on the knees behind the Telrad. There is only one hex nut on the inside of the OTA, so the ball has some freedom of motion around its position as it is being pushed or pulled around. It is also rotating around that axis with some friction. At first, I thought about fixing that with another nut on the outside, but after the thorough field testing decided to keep it rocking free as it is now.

Carrying handles

This telescope is quite heavy and bulky to move around. So I've decided to add some handles to make life easier. The most typical approach is to bolt down some furniture handles to the OTA. But I don't like such an idea because the steel of the tube is quite flexible and will require a lot of back support (from inside) to safely accept carrying handles. Also, it's quite an additional weight.

My perfect solution was to add two rings of 1/2 inch thick climbing rope, loosely wrapping the OTA above and below the altitude trunnions. The tiny bungee cord between is just keeping the lower ring from sliding and allows quick disconnect. It's not for carrying!

I can grab both ropes with one or two hands on any side of the OTA and reliably hold and carry it in any position from horizontal to vertical conveniently and securely.