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Is there a Dovetail bar to fit ST102 to EQ3-2 ?

Pappy Nick

By Pappy Nick
in Discussions - Mounts

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Pappy Nick

Pappy Nick

Posted
Posted

Hi ...

This, at first sight, seemed to be a relatively easy thing to do. But I am unable to find a definitive answer.

The ST102 came on the AZ3, therefore I have the tube rings. I assumed that these would fit onto the Skywatcher medium dovetail that I already own but there is snag - the holes that match up are threaded and the thread doesn't appear to match the bolts that came with the tube rings. I'd seen that Skywatcher do a short dovetail bar but when I went to buy one I could immediately see that it wasn't anything like the other two sizes and, according to the product description, is only for the EQ5 and EQ6 mounts.

Can anyone confirm that the short dovetail bar will fit an EQ3-2 or, failing that, offer an alternative product/method of fixing.

Cheers M'Dears

Nick

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Moonshane

Moonshane

Posted
Posted

hi Nick

I am pretty sure that SW tube rings (for some daft reason) have M6 on one side and Whitworth 1/4 on the other side (this may be to match camera threads for piggybacking). could you not drill and tap some new holes in the dovetail bar to match? I presume your AZ mount had a dovetail clamp too and I'd expect that to fit the EQ3-2.

does the EQ3-2 have a clamp or a flat bat and two bolts? I thought it had a clamp so should fit any standard dovetail?

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Pappy Nick

Pappy Nick

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@Moonshane

The AZ3 is one weird beast ! It just has a flat plate on top that the tube rings bolt onto.

@JamesF

That's the little blighter ! On paper it looks like it should do the job, it just doesn't look like a standard SW dovetail, and appears to only recommended for an EQ5 or 6.

Thanks for the input though chaps, I think I'll just have to "mod" the medium bar ;)

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Pappy Nick

Pappy Nick

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I have one of those short dovetails. The ball-head for my camera is mounted on it. It's no wider than a standard Skywatcher dovetail. What were you wanting to fit it on?

James

I just want to bolt my ST102 onto it and whack it on my EQ3-2. But as I mentioned before, from the pictures that all of the retailer are using, it doesn't look like the medium or long bars, which is why I'm seeking a bit of clarification. I notice from your sig that you own a EQ3-2, is there any chance that you could tell if that short bar would fit ok ??

Much Cheersness :-)

Nick

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JamesF

JamesF

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My EQ3-2 has the old design head without a dovetail clamp. I have retro-fitted a third-party clamp which it fits fine. That said, I see absolutely no reason why it wouldn't fit a standard EQ3-2 clamp. It's no wider than the standard dovetail overall, but just has some sloping cut-outs for the clamp bolts instead of being, well, dovetail-shaped all the way along. If you're at all unsure though, just drop FLO a line. I feel sure they'll confirm that it will fit.

James

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prusling

prusling

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Can I be cheeky and take this slightly off topic - although it may be relevant to the OP.

I too have an ST102 - bought with an AX goto mount so the scope has a short 8cm dovetail fitting which has three sunk positions for the dovetail clamp screw to hold it.

I now want to fit the ST102 to an EQ5 (actually CG5) and it fits fine in the central sunk position but that doesn’t allow any fore/aft adjustment for balancing.

I’ve looked at the ‘small’ 15cm ST dovetail you mention and seen pictures of that with an ST102 using tube rings but there still seems to be limited fore/aft potential as I plan to attach a DSLR. One of the downsides of a short-tube refractor I guess...

I’m therefore trying to get hold of an Altair 180mm dovetail bar which would fit directlyon the scope between the dew shield and the focuser and use that directly in the dovetail clamp without scope rings. I’m a bit worried whether the dovetail clamp would bite well enough to hold it? Supply also seems to be a problem.

I didn’t think that the SW 21cm would be suitable for the scope?

Any thoughts on what setup would give me a lot of fore/aft adjustment?

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