AZ-EQ6 Pro Saddle/puck

[oymd]

The saddle on the mount is not the greatest piece of engineering, but it works OK with the vixen dovetail on my ED80, which is helped by the OTA being very light  

My problems started when I replaced the vixen style dovetail on my C11 XLT with the CGE dovetail, to improve stability. 

Getting the wide CGE dovetail into the saddle is now very very tricky, and I almost dropped the OTA! I have to loosen both bolts on the saddle to accommodate the CGE dovetail, and still it would barely fit, to the point that I dropped both bolts when I was loosening them.  Had to look for them in the dark in the garden. Luckily found both with the springs attached. 
 

To accommodate the width of the CGE dovetail, there is barely a quarter of a turn left before the knobs fall off completely!

Are there any LONGER replacement knob options you recommend or know of, or should I just get a couple of similar thread and size longer bolts from a tool DIY shop?

Or should I just get rid of the whole saddle and replace with ADM? And if so, which one? 

Also, sliding now the C11 on the CGE dovetail to balance in DEC is near impossible, and a disaster waiting to happen.  It is extremely rough, and the OTA does not slide, and with the knobs even slightly undone, there is good contact with the dovetail  

Thanks

[Merlin66]

I use a C11 on a NEQ6pro....

I removed the factory saddle and replaced it with a dual Geopik saddle.

I "upgraded" to a wider Losmandy dovetail, fitted a safety stop bar and run with the C11 OTA VERY far forward. Had to add a few extra weights to the front of the dovetail to get "best" balance.

You can see the new saddle (orange) and the safety bar in the image)

[oymd]

8 hours ago, Merlin66 said:

I use a C11 on a NEQ6pro....

I removed the factory saddle and replaced it with a dual Geopik saddle.

I "upgraded" to a wider Losmandy dovetail, fitted a safety stop bar and run with the C11 OTA VERY far forward. Had to add a few extra weights to the front of the dovetail to get "best" balance.

You can see the new saddle (orange) and the safety bar in the image)

That looks like some serious kit attached there!

Didn’t know that Geoptik do saddles. Thought just bags. 
 

I will look into it, as I would like to keep my existing CGE dovetail, as I’ve just bought it. 

[Pompey Monkey]

Cant help you on the saddle front other than i found the adm to be excellent on my heq5

However, if you only have a quarter turn of the bolts holding the dovetail, DO NOT USE IT! 

The usual advice on bolts is that you need a minimum of three turns with the threads engaged.

[oymd]

38 minutes ago, Pompey Monkey said:

Cant help you on the saddle front other than i found the adm to be excellent on my heq5

However, if you only have a quarter turn of the bolts holding the dovetail, DO NOT USE IT! 

The usual advice on bolts is that you need a minimum of three turns with the threads engaged.

which is what I find quite surprising, as the HEQ5, NEQ6, EQ6 and AZ-EQ6 can take a C11 easily, and surely there are members out there with this similar setup.

why am i the only one who brought this up? are my bolts short for some reason?

[Owmuchonomy]

Mine works fine with my 9.25" XLT.  Just a thought, is your spring loading working ok on the saddle?

[Scoobs767]

I feel your pain, and asked a similar question for my Atlas AZ-EQ-G...   My LX200 has a broad Losmandy dovetail that means the saddle clamp has to opened until the screws almost come off before it can be settled on the mount.... Screws will tighten well after this however and it is very secure once on.   Some of the issue might be just getting used to how to place the OTA, which is quite heavy.  I think as I get more accurate at placing it on, possibly the screws might not need to be widened so far.   I find it safest to (after the counterweights are on) place the tube on the saddle with the latitude nearly horizontal, tighten up the saddle and secure the OTA, and then adjust to the right latitude.   So I'm also looking for longer screws or may be a replacement saddle in the future.

 

[oymd]

2 hours ago, Owmuchonomy said:

Mine works fine with my 9.25" XLT.  Just a thought, is your spring loading working ok on the saddle?

Are you using a vixen or a wide losmandy/CGE dovetail?

[oymd]

1 hour ago, Scoobs767 said:

I feel your pain, and asked a similar question for my Atlas AZ-EQ-G...   My LX200 has a broad Losmandy dovetail that means the saddle clamp has to opened until the screws almost come off before it can be settled on the mount.... Screws will tighten well after this however and it is very secure once on.   Some of the issue might be just getting used to how to place the OTA, which is quite heavy.  I think as I get more accurate at placing it on, possibly the screws might not need to be widened so far.   I find it safest to (after the counterweights are on) place the tube on the saddle with the latitude nearly horizontal, tighten up the saddle and secure the OTA, and then adjust to the right latitude.   So I'm also looking for longer screws or may be a replacement saddle in the future.

 

Yes, once I manage to secure the dovetail, it’s all good. 
like you said, the main issue is to be able to fit the CGE dovetail in, I need to completely release the bolts to the point they almost fall off. 

[Owmuchonomy]

18 hours ago, oymd said:

Are you using a vixen or a wide losmandy/CGE dovetail?

Both.

[Scoobs767]

I bought a couple of M8 70 mm knobs off amazon and they are viable alternatives to the standard knobs, allowing the jaws of the dovetail clamp to be opened a little further than with the standard knobs (which have a length of 60 mm).  The only thing I don't like is that the new knobs have a smaller diameter than the stock ones, which makes turning them slightly harder.