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Left side mount Skymax 127 on AZ5


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Normally the AZ5 is a right hand side mounting, but since I got the Skymax 127 as an OTA mounting it righthand would result in the finder being at the 7/8 oclock position. Is there any issue with rotating the AZ5 around and flipping the 127 to do a lefthand mount? If not, is there a way to rotate the AZ5 slow-motion knobs so they are not then pointing toward the front of the telescope?

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I had the same issue with my Starmax 127 when trying to mount on my Vixen Porta II. The finder would be lower left and the focuser would be behind the eyepiece. Not optimal and I might of been able to live with it in due time but life is too short, so I put the 127 in a couple of rings, and rotated the 127 till all was right in the world again. I did have to remove the existing dovetail on the 127 so that I could put the rings on, but my Starmax is 20 years old and they weren't securing their dovetails with a bolt inside of the OTA at the time, so it was an easy task.

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37 minutes ago, cupton said:

I had the same issue with my Starmax 127 when trying to mount on my Vixen Porta II. The finder would be lower left and the focuser would be behind the eyepiece. Not optimal and I might of been able to live with it in due time but life is too short, so I put the 127 in a couple of rings, and rotated the 127 till all was right in the world again. I did have to remove the existing dovetail on the 127 so that I could put the rings on, but my Starmax is 20 years old and they weren't securing their dovetails with a bolt inside of the OTA at the time, so it was an easy task.

That was another possibility, but I cannot find a verdict on which rings actually fit the Skymax 127. There is also the possibility of attaching an L bracket onto the AZ5 so it becomes a bottom mount, but there I can't find an actual L bracket that attaches to a Vixen mount and has a vixen mount to attach a scope to. 

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Not available on Amazon anymore, but I got the Orion 144mm rings. Fit like a glove. Im assuming that any 144mm rings would work.

https://www.telescope.com/144mm-ID-Orion-Telescope-Tube-Rings/p/7374.uts

I was also looking at an L adapter from ADM that they had made specifically for the Porta II side mount. It was a more costly option, but it was an option.  Maybe ADM has something for you that you could use? Might be worth just shooting them an email and asking them. They were super friendly and helpful when I had asked the question a couple years ago.

Scopestuff is another vendor I have purchased a lot from over the years. Maybe they have something?

After mounting in the rings...

IMG_3206.jpeg

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Scopestuff's right angle mounting plate seems like it would work, but also looks like it would not provide sufficient clearance for the 127. Oh well, I guess I can simply use the AZ5 in left hand/straight up configuration and mount the 127 bit far back in the clamp to help balance things. 

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2 minutes ago, GazOC said:

The 140mm Skywatcher rings are a perfect fit on my blue 127mm Mak

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/tube-rings/skywatcher-telescope-tube-rings.html

 

 

 

To confirm - you have the newer Skymax 127? I saw on these forums that folks were using 140mm on older 127's, but the newer ones were measured at an outer diameter of 143mm and there was some concern about whether the 140mm rings would fit well. 

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1 hour ago, GazOC said:

No, mine is the older, blue model. I'm not sure but I'd guess the screw bolts on the rings could cope with an extra 3mm diameter 

Thanks for clarifying; I did not realize the older one was referred to as the blue one, thanks. 3mm does seem like a small impact at 140mm. For now I have simply ordered a 90 degree finder scope so should solve majority of issue. Hopefully either the rings come back in stock or other options open up. Thanks all for the input. 

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The "blue" is just the paint colour Skywatcher originally made the scope in.

They've freshened up and rebadged their scopes by  giving them a new lick of paint 2 or 3 times over the last 20 years or so without changing too much (anything!) optically 

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