Step One - a case of course!.....
Earla and I spent about 3 hours driving from Kmart, the baggage stores at two malls, Target and finally wound up at Wally World (Wal-Mart). Seems most small cases are designed to fit in overhead storage and have a size of 19". We found a few cases that were 20" and 21".
Fending off the Wal-Mart people who wanted to know what we were doing with a tape measure in their luggage department, we finally selected this case:
Don't bother searching Wal-Mart's web site, as of 05/15/04 they had a reference to the line but it still was a store only item.
Trick is we had no problems cutting up and modifying a $30 case but got squeamish when the price tag hit $50+ for some of the designer brands, which actually did not fit the scope as well. The Meade hard case was not even on the radar.
The only modification needed is to remove the collapsible handle as the metal tracks take up too much room.
One really neat aspect of the case is the foam can be placed behind the nylon liner which has a zipper for access, plus there are cinch straps inside to secure the scope. This leaves the scope sitting in a soft nylon nest.
A bonus is the two outside pockets, one that fits letter sized manuals, charts and maps and a smaller one that will hold the Autostar, accessory diagonal and an eyepiece or two.
What follows is my dissection and refit of the case.
Unfortunately I did not photographically document the removal of the handle. The lower ends are held to the case with two Phillips headed screws and they slide through holes in the handle housing. I took a close quarters saw and cut the plastic housings that protrude from the handle housing. These two square projections need to be removed so they do not hit the end of the OTA. Work carefully and slowly to remove the handle, you don't want to damage the liner. Vacuum out any debris before you install the foam!
The scope in "its nest". Note the sheet of 1" foam placed in the net pocket of the lid.
Detail view of the scope in the case, of note are the two cinch straps. The scope is held pretty well in place with out the use of the straps.
Case with scope removed
Here the liner has bee un-zipped to show the foam underneath. The case is lined with a 1" sheet of foam (grey) and an additional sheet of 1" foam (tan) is placed in the area of the OTA. The four corners have larger blocks (about 3" X 3", 6" high) placed to keep the scope from wandering around the case.