Dovetail Mount on a Celestar C8

[krobbo]

Hi everybody. 

Just managed to get my hands on a good used NEQ-6 mount. I'm looking at de-forking my Celestar C8 Delux? I've purchased a Farpoint Vixen dovetail bar but have some issues with it & I'm wondering if there's anyone else here who's done the same thing?

I have some issues which are;

1. The plates don't match the mounting holes on the scope! I've read that this is a bit of an issue? I can re-drill and tap the front assembly to fit the plates, but I shouldn't have to? The bar is supposed to be a C8 fit, part number FVC8, 2 screws on the rear cell & 1 on the front cell ( never thought this was enough!!). I can't seem to find a plate & adapters that are correct for fitting this type of Celestron configuration?

2. The dovetail plate only fits with 1 screw at the front & 1 at the back !?!? Now I know I tend to over engineer things, but are 2 screws enough to carry a load of the OTA, Guidescope, adapters & CCD cameras/DSLRS?? That's a lot of load for 2 screws to my mind??

So if anybody has any experience on this I'd really appreciate it !!

Cheers!

[Gasman]

Hi Krobbo

I did exactly the same as you some time back ,deforked a Celestar 8 onto an Eq6 mount. If memory serves it was a Losmandy bar I used which matched the tube exactly I had to do no drilling or suchlike but for the life of me I can't remember how many screws held the tube on ?. I think I still have the bar which I altered which now holds the guide scope on top of my refractor, I'm back home tomorrow so will have a look!

Steve

[krobbo]

Thanks for the info Steve appreciate it. If you could have a look that would be great before I take a drill & taps to my scope!

[RT65CB-SWL]

If the dovetatal bar fits the mounts cradle OK... then you could do what I did to my 'modded' ETX105 - use a couple of Jubilee rings...

I did not fancy drilling and tapping the tube just in case a bit of swarf manages to find its way onto the optical surfaces once I cleaned and re-assembled everything.

BTW - that is a 2" SCT star diagonal on the back of the ETX!

[newbie alert]

I have the farpoint losmandy for total rigidity...superb product...and as you say it's only fixed by 2 bolts..theres other predrilled holes thou

[Gasman]

Good idea of Phil's to have the jubilee clips as an added safeguard ?

Steve

[RT65CB-SWL]

5 hours ago, Gasman said:

Good idea of Phil's to have the jubilee clips as an added safeguard ?

Steve

Now you come to mention it... I may even get a pair of larger Jubilee rings and add them to my C6 too!

[Gasman]

Hi again

Had a look and not much help though. Looking on an old pic I had it looks like there was some curved shaped pieces between the tube and the bar. I seem to think the tube was connected to the bar by two screws either end but not 100% sorry, don`t know if the pics help or not ;-).

 

a shot from the bar on my refractor

cheers

Steve

[krobbo]

Thanks for all the info dudes appreciate it! Apparently Celestron changed the bolt fittings in the 2000's to 2 at the front cell & 2 on the rear cell. I spoke to the supplier of the plate & he didn't even know there was a difference! The Losmandy plate is larger and more secure than the Viixen size plate, wish I'd waited until I'd bought the mount then I'd have got the Losmandy plate, but I'd still have to mod the front cell, which it looks like I'm going to have to do. 

Celestron do a plate that's a direct fit but it states that it's for their CGE mounts so I'm not sure whether this will fit the plate on the NEQ6? 

Phil I'd use the jubilee clips as a safety feature on mine but not sure about it as the primary clamp on a 8" scope loaded up with cameras & guidescope? 

At least I've got EQMOD talking to the mount now !! 

 

[krobbo]

Steve it looks like you've the Losmandy plate, it comes with much better radius plates, yours must be a newer scope if it has 2 screws on the front cell for the radius block. What Crayford focuser you using? Do you image through it at all? Do you use a field flattener? I'm asking as I was thinking about doing the same mod but read that it can cause back focus problems for imaging? Nice setup though !!

[Gasman]

Hi k

I no longer have the scope as I flogged it to a mate a few years back in its original fork config. I think it was a Revelation focuser but I used the Celestron focal reducer . It was a lovely scope but had a bit of mirror flop which became a pain. I have a 120mm Espirit refractor now which I use for spectroscopy ☺.

Cheers

Steve

[krobbo]

Took the plunge and bought a Skywatcher ED 80 PRO for the NEQ6 for astrophotography. Going to leave the C8 on the fork mount apparently when  you de-fork it the forks tend to ping out & can be a real pain to remount it. I'll still try it for photography but it'll mainly be for visual work. Thanks again for all your input !