Connecting scope to mount?

[Keener_7]

In the next week or so I will be purchasing my first telescope mount, a Celestron advanced VX. Until I get a decent APO scope I want to mount my current Skywatcher 8 inch Dob tube onto it, just for visual and to familiarize myself with the mount. What other bits would I need to do this? I have been looking but i'm not 100 percent sure. Would these items work?

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-mounts/skywatcher-telescope-tube-rings.html

in the 235mm size.

along with;

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/adm-guidescope-rings-and-systems/adm-vixen-style-universal-dovetail-bars.html

not sure what length.

Thanks,

[brantuk]

Yup it's the 235mm rings for the 200P and I have the 14" dovetail on mine.

[haitch]

The dovetail looks a bit OTT. Wouldn't this...http://www.firstligh...ing-plates.html suffice?

Assuming you have the solid tube and it's OD is 235mm then the rings should be fine. Edit - beaten to it :/

[Keener_7]

Thank you both for you help. Just a bit confused when you say solid tube. It is all one piece, not a truss type.

[Keener_7]

Another question. The mout comes with one 11lb counterweight. My skywatcher plus accessories will weigh in at just over 20lbs. do you think I will need another weight or is it hard to say?

[YKSE]

Most likely you'll need another 11lb counterweight.

When I mounted my ED80 on EQ3-2 (two counterweights, 1,8kg and 3.42 kg), I tried to balance the OTA (weighs around 3kg with accessaries) with the 1.8kg counterweight only at first, but it couldn't be done - even the counter weight is on the end of the shaft, therefore I'm using the 3.42kg counterweight.

[haitch]

Thank you both for you help. Just a bit confused when you say solid tube. It is all one piece, not a truss type.

Sorry this thread slipped through the net on my list of subscribed threads. You'd know if it was a flex tube rather than a solid tube as it would extend out with bars in the middle section instead of tube.

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[haitch]

You'll probably need another weight but might just get away with it if the bar is long enough.

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[Keener_7]

yea, its a soild tube then. I'll probally hold off on ordering an extra weight, best to just wait and see I suppose. Thanks again.

[haitch]

I don't believe in perfect balance anyhow - I find it best to let the mount lift very slightly so, if the scope is rising, make it slightly heavier than the counterweight. If the scope is moving down you'll need the weights to overbalance slightly.

I find it gives smoother tracking that way.

[Keener_7]

So I just got back from vacation yesteday and there was a package at the post office for me. It was my mount and tube rings! The dovetail wasn't in stock so I sould be getting that in a week or so. After 10 hours of driving I put the mount togeater and tested it, every thing seems to work fine. "Might as we'll try it outside I thought" so I put my travelscope 70 on it and brought the thing out into the yard.

I enterd all the info in the handcontroller and did a 2 star align and 1 calibration star. Slewed to M31, boom right in the center. " Might as we'll attach the camrea". So to make it short I got this image:

Its not "great" by any means but its somthing. This was just a quick test for fun. I had no accurate aligniment, was using a travelscope 70, used .jpegs with my 1000D and was dead tired. But I can tell that this is gonna be fun, so as a warning you should expect quite a few questions from me in the comming months.

see you in the fourms!