It's arrived! From 4" to 11" :D

[ChrisEdu]

lovely scope mate hope you get first light soon took me around 8 days to get mine. but when i did god it was worth the wait enjoy mate

8 days?!?! Looking at the weather forecast tonight, things don't look good for the next few days.

At this rate I'll be using it to view the IOW instead of stars!

[ollypenrice]

Do this quickly: get a bolt fastened into the top end of the dovetail so that, while you are balancing in Dec, it cannot slide through the mount's saddle plate to certain death!!! For good measure do the same at the other end as well because, when balancing, you need to turn the dec round to reverse the movement of the dovetail in the mount. You're making me nervous!

I'd go for a 2 inch diagonal PDQ along with a nice 26 Nagler or 35 Panoptic. You need to open out the view with an SCT. Better to do this than go for a reducer which will only be of benefit on 1.25 EPs. The baffle tube is what limits you with these scopes so reducer plus 2 inch widefield is a waste of time.

Olly

[ChrisEdu]

I've put some tape on to show where the OTA needs to go in the mount to be balanced, as I have also done with the counter weights. So, if everything goes back to where the tape is, it should all be balanced nicely. OK - I realise this will change if I add some large accessories.The bolt idea does sound interesting as a precaution, though. I just wish, when fitting the OTA into the mount it felt a bit more locked-in or certain that it is in the mount. I find it doesn't have much of a 'positive' feel to it, if you know what I mean.

[Merlin66]

I agree 110% with Olly!

Get a dovetail safety clamp or fit a safety angle to the dovetail....lifting and positioning 14Kg of expensive scope at night...holding it in place while trying to tighten the holding screws on the puck is just asking for a disaster.

[ChrisEdu]

I agree 110% with Olly!

Get a dovetail safety clamp or fit a safety angle to the dovetail

Any particular recommendations?

[Merlin66]

I've just bought the Losmandy dovetail clamp from Astrodevelopments...looks OK

[Astroegg]

Makes your old scope look like a finder

For a second I thought that was what you had adapted your setup for! Lovely looking scope though.

[m.tweedy]

I've just bought the Losmandy dovetail clamp from Astrodevelopments...looks OK

Got mine as well.

I am getting confuzzled as to what I have said and in which thread:confused:

[AztecastroMcJ]

Michael's links for safety clamp,

and saddle dovetail are here

http://stargazerslounge.com/equipment-help/153261-cg5-c11-help-tips-advice-please.html

[ChrisEdu]

Michael's links for safety clamp,

and saddle dovetail are here

http://stargazerslounge.com/equipment-help/153261-cg5-c11-help-tips-advice-please.html

Thanks