Fit OTA to Celestron Nexstar mount

[PatrickO]

I have a Celestron Nexstar 4se with it's goto mount.

Can I fit a different OTA on the mount? Thinking of a refractor.

[Cosmic Geoff]

You could, but because of the weight capacity of the mount, it will have to be a small one, of lesser aperture than the orange tube. And unless it is a very small one, you will not be able to aim near the zenith, even when using a diagonal. So why bother?

[RT65CB-SWL]

As above.

[doublevodka]

It's possible, and something I considered when I had mine but as pointed out above there are limits just because of the way the arm that holds the ota is above the center of the mount.

Some more information here for you to read - https://www.nexstarsite.com/OddsNEnds/MountingOtherOTAs.htm (not my site, but useful for nexstar owners)

You'd probably just about get away with a short tube 80mm, but may need to set an altitude limit in the controller, so in the end it'll be fore you to decide if it's worth the hassle.

I've since moved to an AZ-GTi mount which is a bit more versatile, as the ota sits to the side of it, although I do still miss the little 4SE, it was surprisingly good and often overlooked due to its small size.