Dovetail bars

[Guest]

I wondered if someone could explain the ins and outs of dovetail bars. There seems to be many different types and I'm not sure about the compatibility between the various combinations of scope and mount.

I have a SW HEQ5 mount with a SW Newtonian scope. The scope sits in two rings which are mounted on the dovetail bar. The dovetail bar fits in the channel on the mount and is held in place by two large hand screws. 

I was looking at a different scope which says it has a Losmandy style dovetail mounting plate on the bottom.  Would that be compatible with my mount and if not what would I have to do to make it fit?

Also have I got the terminology right? Is the "dovetail" the channel that the "dovetail bar" fits into?  

Is the SW dovetail the same as the vixen dovetail?

Cheers

Steve

 

[Soligor Rob]

Hi Steve, The HEQ5 accepts both the vixen and the Losmandy rails, I have just changed my Vixen for a Losmandy type rail, my Evostar 150ED sits a lot more rigid with the larger sized Losmandy Rail.

I think you'll find Vixen is just a generic name for the smaller size Rails, though if i'm wrong I'm certain someone will explain.

[Robindonne]

Maybe I’ve had an old version of heq5 but it only accepted vixen style.   Im not sure if nowadays heq5’s accept also losmandy (wider) bars.  
 

A losmandy bar is more solid and for larger scopes a better option.   If a mount doesn’t have the option to clamp losmandy bars, you can upgrade the mount head to accept losmandy style. Or even a combination of losmandy/vixen style the red one in this photo

Edited May 28, 2021 by Robindonne

[nfotis]

The recent version of HEQ5 accepts both types of dovetails.

If you have an older version (like me), there are various options:

https://www.telescope.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=132366

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/sky-watcher-mount-accessories/adm-dual-saddle-upgrade-for-heq5-neq6-avx-zeq-ioptron.html

and other variations between these two extremees

N.F.