My Scope's too heavy!

[Geoffw]

A sad admission - my 9.5"  Celestron GPS s getting too much for me as I dig deeper into my eighties!

It can't be housed outside, so has to be hauled in and out via steps etc to set up in the garden..  Consequently it is getting used less and less., and I'm getting more and more miserable and frustrated about it.  I can't really afford (justify to my wife!) purchasing new scope at my age, but I would like to try and pick up something 2nd hand that would be easier to handle .  Perhaps  around 10kg or less in weight.

Your thoughts would be appreciated.

[catburglar]

If you’re happy with the optics & focal length could you defork it and put it on a different mount? The bare OTA would probably be around 10kg and the mount (say iOptron AZ pro with counterweight ) would be about the same.  2 smaller packages might be easier than one single heavy package?

[Louis D]

Do you have a garage or similar perhaps that you could leave it setup in on a dolly/trolley/wheely bars/scope buggy and wheel it out to the driveway to observe?

Someone on SGL recently converted a broken motorized mobility chair into a motorized scope buggy to make moving it even easier.  If you're handy with wood, a non-motorized version isn't too hard to put together.

[Geoffw]

2 hours ago, catburglar said:

If you’re happy with the optics & focal length could you defork it and put it on a different mount? The bare OTA would probably be around 10kg and the mount (say iOptron AZ pro with counterweight ) would be about the same.  2 smaller packages might be easier than one single heavy package?

Is it possible to defork it, and return itto the goto mount later if I sold it?

[catburglar]

Never done it, but this thread on cloudynights  seems to suggest it’s pretty straightforwards (this is the 8 inch, but I’d expect the c925 to be the same) and reversible if you did want to sell later. https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/452009-de-fork-nexstar-8-gps/
 

You can also get radius blocks and a dovetail bar from FLO so you can use whatever mount you wish…

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/adm-vixen-type-v-series/adm-vixen-dovetail-for-ota.html