steven bellavia

Is that from NEAF? I was there both days, and really liked the William Optics setup at Woodland Hills. I should have spent more time there, but I already own four WO scopes. But five is okay too. I liked the black/blue one. Was that a 91FLT with a WIFD? Or a larger scope? The black/red one was definitely a 91 (because I took the lens hood off and looked)

All done! I made an adapter plate out of 1/2" thick, 3-inch diameter 6061 aluminum: https://www.mcmaster.com/1610T19/ Drill and tapped a center hole for 3/8-16, and then 3 thru-holes to attach to the bottom (using the previous screws). I did not have to counterbore, as the ArtCise tripod top plate has 6 openings of which three can be made to match the screw heads. I could have just used a 3/18-16 bolt to put it all together, but I liked this knob better: https://www.mcmaster.com/6092K56/ Steve

Hi, Almost 2 years later, but I stumbled upon this thread because I want to use a lighter tripod with the Twilight I head (like the Innorel or ZWO carbon). Yes the head does come off, and no tools, as you can use one of the nuts on the shaft and and the "handle" to "double nut" it, and the handle has enough torque to remove. And once off, I then removed the lower section of the head (3 screws, and same allen wrench as others) and also tightened the center nut shown in the image. The mount is the best it has ever been. I wIsh I had discovered that sooner. It was always a tad bit sloppy. But now it is rock solid. I hope to to make a 3-inch diameter aluminum disk with a brass insert to allow attachment to the carbon tripods. Thanks for this thread!

First of all, myself and everyone who owns either a SkyWatcher EQ6-R Pro or an Orion Atlas needs to give Astro Baby a huge thank you, for this web page: http://www.astro-baby.com/EQ6%20rebuild%20guide/EQ6%20Strip%20Down%20Home.htm I just wanted to add that the newer mounts have holes in the main RA nut, making it much easier to remove. I made a make-shift spanner wrench with a piece of scrap aluminum and the back side of two 5/32" drill bits spaced about 2.0 inches apart. After that, it is all the same as the Astro Baby page. Hopefully you can see some images here. I also don't like the RA clutch mechanism. It causes the worm gear-collar (an integral part) and the bearings to distort, which I believe adds to periodic error. I propose a solution more like the disk brakes on a car., and happy to share that concept (I am thinking of building my own mount). Steve