Fitting a 4'' refractor onto already loaded GEM

[yuklop]

Hi All,

I have a fantastic old telescope shown in the picture below. Its does a great job, but it is 31kg, and as such one can't just whip it off the mount and use shorter focal length OTA's on a whim. I used to really enjoy experimenting with different OTA's. So I really want to mount a second OTA, e.g. a 4'' refractor for wide(r) field views and the odd photo.

I could try and piggyback it on the Cass, but that adds even more weight, and even more counterweight. What's your thoughts about mounting a second scope on the counterweight side of the mount, so it effectively acts as a counterweight itself. Or does that result in balance hell? Anyone done something like this before?

Thank you.

Dan

[johnturley]

4 minutes ago, yuklop said:

Hi All,

I have a fantastic old telescope shown in the picture below. Its does a great job, but it is 31kg, and as such one can't just whip it off the mount and use shorter focal length OTA's on a whim. I used to really enjoy experimenting with different OTA's. So I really want to mount a second OTA, e.g. a 4'' refractor for wide(r) field views and the odd photo.

I could try and piggyback it on the Cass, but that adds even more weight, and even more counterweight. What's your thoughts about mounting a second scope on the counterweight side of the mount, so it effectively acts as a counterweight itself. Or does that result in balance hell? Anyone done something like this before?

Thank you.

Dan

Interesting looking mount, it looks like an Astro Systems (Luton) or a Bedford Astronomical Supplies (Peter Drew) one. 

John 

[yuklop]

You are spot on. The details of the mount are in this thread: