cfrommen

I still like to see a compact mount that allows me to do both: Alt-AZ and EQ. Something like the RST-135 but for half the price.

Found someone!

The title says it all. Can't find a suitable adapter that does what I have in mind. I am really a big fan of my tri-pier and would like to keep using it with my new Vixen AXJ mount. Anyone around with access to a workshop who could build an adapter for me? I have attached views of the mount base and the tri-pier top. I was thinking along the line of a set of 8 inch long risers that are bolted to the tri-pier top (either 3x M10 or 4x M8). On top of that a circular Al-disk (150 mm diameter; 20-25 mm thickness) drilled to take the mount with a central hole to pass through a M10 bolt that attaches to the mount base. Any better solutions? I am happy to pay for parts and labour 🙂 CS! Christoph

Just noticed the thread...maybe you are still interested and haven't found the optimal or most economic way yet? In addition to the already mentioned solutions, you could consider the following If you are only interested in Alt-Az mounts and if you can mount the C14 permanently inside a small shed/observatory or on a tri/quad-pod with wheel dolly if you plan on using it in your backyard 🙃: 10Micron: AZ2000 HPS; payload 50 kg. Price about €13.000 excl. VAT for export to UK. Expect to pay extra for counterweights and all accessories. The smaller AZ100 HPS (€9.200) is rated at 25 kg which might be sufficient for purely visual use. Planewave: L-350 Direct Drive mount; payload: 45 kg/100 lbs). Price at FLO (GBP 11.400). Overkill if you are using purely for visual and short-exposure photography. GeminiTelescopeDesign (GTD): MOFOD Mk III Fork Friction Mount 🤑; payload: 80 kg. Price about €12.400. BTW the price of these options is in the same order as that of a TTS Mammoth 300 observatory class mount (€11.500) mentioned above. The most economic solution might still be to buy a used Celestron Compustar GoTo fork mount for the C14 (if you can find one). Note that you will have to use an EQ wedge to polar align the mount once for the GoTo to work properly. This gives you at least the option to also do some photography with longer exposure time. Or find some used DSC solutions (e.g. Lumicon Sky Vector). Thinking a bit "outside the box" you could also acquire a DOB base, put the C14 inside, attach it to your pier/tripod and use e.g. a Skywatcher GoTo Dobsonian Upgrade kit. 😄 CS! Christoph

Very nice scope, Mark and welcome to the club 🙂 I recently bought an LZOS 130 f/9 (0.974 Strehl) from a colleague in Germany and am very happy with it. Instead of opting for the heavy APM tube with 3.7" focuser (an additional 2000 EUR at APM) he had mounted the cell inside a Bresser Messier 127L OTA and had kept the 2.5" HEXAFOC with 10:1 reduction. To be honest, I am really happy that I went with this lightweight solution. The OTA is nicely flocked inside and has a sufficient number of baffles (4). I never noticed any stray light or glare entering the tube. It also cools down quickly, and I can start observing already after 30 minutes or so. The 2.5" HEXAFOC is good enough for visual use and to avoid vibrations during focus change, I have ordered a Rigelsys nFOCUS which runs on batteries. The only downside that I see with the Bresser OTA is that it has a fixed dewshield and the scope is quite long. From dew shield to the end of the focuser the scope measures about 135 cm, so the momentum arm is quite long. It's challenging for my TTS Panther 160 Alt-Az mount but the Rigelsys Focusmotor helps to eliminate vibrations when changing focus or touching the scope. I had problems initially to get any of my eyepieces into focus with my 2" WO Diagonal. There were about 5 mm of inward focus travel missing, so I replaced the diagonal with a Baader Zeiss Prism with T2 connections and now I can reach focus. So far, I find myself just looking at the moon (an object that I neglected for many years) and enjoy those high contrast views and this enormous perception of depth in the craters, mountain ranges and the change between light and dark regions. I have not used the scope photographically besides for some lunar imaging with a CCD. Once I get a suitable flattener and reducer I might give that a try though. But so far, I am just happy to use the scope visually instead of spending time setting up the mount for imaging, dealing with guiding etc. and then post processing the data. CS Christoph

I really think that the EQ6-R Pro is the way to go in your case. Honestly, if weight wasn't my major concern compared to the CEM60, I would also choose this mount. But heart surgery forces me to really cut the load when carrying equipment. That's why I will probably opt for the CEM60 (non EC) as the next new mount for me. Trevor Jones over at AstroBackyard.com has gained a lot of experience with this mount (and also the CEM60) over the past months and he highly recommends the EQ6-R Pro. Don't worry about cable management so much. The money you save from buying the EQ6 vs the CEM60 can be invested in a Primaluce Eagle 3 (mixed reviews) or similar that helps you to cut down on cables and connections dangling around 😉 P.S. If weight is not an issue for you...I have a trusted Takahashi NJP mount (Temma PC) which should take care of your needs for many more years to come. The 25kg is too much for me to lift around that's why I was looking into the CEM60/EQ6-R Pro mounts. We just have to get it from Oslo to Bergen

I am located just 20 km east of Oslo. I usually buy from Teleskop-Express in Germany or from whatever country with the best exchange rate compared to Norwegian kroner 🙂 After paying 25% import duties it doesn't make a huge difference though compared to buying from a Norwegian dealer. The problem is more that you cannot get certain things in Norway. Astrosweden and Teleskop-Express have the best deals on EQ6-R Pro (12.500 NOK) currently. The CEM60 w/o tripod is available for 15.600 NOK from Teleskop-Express right now. There is a waiting time of 4 weeks, however.

I am undecided what mount to buy right now. iOptron CEM40, CEM60 or Skywatcher EQ6-R Pro. I will either use a lightweight refractor for widefield imaging (around 2.5 kg) or a 130 mm F6 APO (8.5 kg incl. tube rings and dovetail bar) plus CCD (0.5kg), 60m guidescope with rings and guidecam (1.5kg). The total weight for the larger imaging setup will be less than 12 kg incl all accessories. Question: will the CEM40 be sufficient for this job or should I consider the CEM60 instead? I also looked at the EQ6-R Pro as an alternative, but the additional 5 kg of weight compared to the CEM60 mount head is putting me off. I know the EQ6-R is an excellent and affordable mount but I am really concerned about the added weight 😞 Any suggestions? -Christoph

The only two things really bothering me is the limited latitude range (~60 degrees) as well as operating temperature (-10 degrees C) which makes in unsuitable for most of Scandinavia ? Otherwise a very portable and nice looking mount. Looks even better In combination with a red/black tri-pier. ?