EQ1 modded for travel scope

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I have an old EQ1 which came with a 4.5" Newtonian ( way to heavy for the mount:D:D). I have modded it with a TS Vixen dovetail clamp to work as an alt-az mount, similar to the mini-giro (not as good probably, but if I get the mini-giro, I will need the dovetail anyway). All that was required (besides the clamp) was a short length of 20x20mm square-section aluminium tube, three M6 screws, of various lengths, and one wing-nut. Three holes were drilled in the aluminium: two of them 150mm apart to attach to the EQ1, and one in between. The front hole is used to fix the tube + dovetail clamp to the EQ1, the middle attaches the dovetail clamp to the tube, using the wing nut which is inside the tube. The rear hole is used to attach the tube to the EQ1. By pointing the polar axis vertically, I get quite a stable, lightweight alt-az travel mount. I will replace this head by a mini-giro when funds allow, but in the mean time I am quite happy with the result. Quite usable even at 120x

[damnut]

:icon_salut:Nice work and ingenuity, this should also be posted in the 'credit crunch' section. Great re-use of a redundant mount..