Mount question - EQ3-2

[Nigeyboy]

Morning all,

Quick noob question that I know you SGL sages will be able to answer!

Over the weekend I picked up a use EQ3-2 mount off ABS. Its barely been used, and picked it up for only £100, so am pleased! Question is - the gap on top of the mount shown in the pic below - do I need a dovetail bar to fit in here:

Sorry if its a silly question!

Thanks in advance

Nige

[jambouk]

Yes.

[Marky1973]

Ideally yes, but it depends on what you are going to stick in there - I was able to fix my ED70 in the puck without any dovetails as it had a vixen style shoe on the bottom and this was enough to hold it in place with both screws... turn the puck 180 degress and the small silver screw holds the shoe in place and supports it to prevent slipping... never had any trouble with that - anything larger, then you will need a dovetail.... I was lucky that, with my scope, camera etc, the mount balanced!

tried to do the same with a quick release plate from my DSLR and that didn't work at all..... at least not in any way that I would have been happy to let go... short basic Skywatcher dovetails are pretty cheap though...

[Nigeyboy]

I will be putting a SW 102 Short Tube on it if that helps!

[Avocette]

Hi Nige, and welcome to the EQ3-2 owners group! Most Sky-Watcher telescopes that you might want to attach to your tripod already come with a dovetail bar either bolted directly to the tube (OTA - optical tube assembly) or fixed to two tube rings. Some smaller telescopes have a very short bracket which has a camera thread in it for mounting on a photographic tripod - not sure what your SW 102 comes with.

[Marky1973]

I'm not sure, and it may depend on where you get it from, but the startravel 102 looks like it might come with rings and a dovetail, so you may well be okay to get started? Might need to double check with the people you are buying from.

[Nigeyboy]

Thanks for all the replies – I think I will telephone the order to double check. Think I will be getting it from FLO.

Getting excited now!! Still, weather forecast here in Derby is rain, rain and then some more rain . . . . . hope it clears up for my trip to the lakes next week!

 

 

[Astro Imp]

Thanks for all the replies – I think I will telephone the order to double check. Think I will be getting it from FLO.

Getting excited now!! Still, weather forecast here in Derby is rain, rain and then some more rain . . . . . hope it clears up for my trip to the lakes next week!

 

 

Give them a ring, you will get all the help you need.

Good look.