needing advice about a dovetail

[cards47]

hello all, I have a Celestron se6 telescope  and I was wondering if the dove tail that the 6se has  (its an 8'' cge dovetail) if it is compatible with the Celestron 8se.and the other half of my question is. I have a heq5 pro mount ,will the same mount work on both the 6e and the 8se mount.(or will I have to buy an 8'' dove tail for the 8se.

I'm looking  at purchasing an 8'' se celestron tube assembly from a friend of mine,(you may be asking yourselves why don't  I try my 6se dovetail and put it on his 8se(well its because he lives in Texas)so that is why I'm coming in here for some advice.im a newbie and wanting to learn, we learn by asking questions to our fellow peers..

and will  the  8'' dove tail holes match up with the 6'' dovetail..

 

[doublevodka]

@cards47 have a read here for some useful information - https://optcorp.com/blogs/astronomy-gear/how-to-attach-telescope-accessories

The newer HEQ5 mount has a saddle that will accept Vixen and Losmandy dovetails, so should fit the CGE type dovetail bar, if you have an older type with only Vixen compatibility, then you might need to purchase a Vixen dovetail bar, for example - https://www.firstlightoptics.com/dovetails-saddles-clamps/celestron-cg5-vixen-style-dovetail-bars.html

Hope that helps a little, the replacement bar may be easier that swapping between the two tubes.

[Cosmic Geoff]

The dovetail used on the C6 SE and C8 SE (known as a Vixen dovetail) is a standard size, so will be the same width on the 6 SE and 8 SE OTAs.  I don't know why your 6inch tube should have a 8" CGE  dovetail on it , or what size that is.  

If you buy a 8 SE tube it will have a Vixen dovetail on it because that is part of the C8 SE kit.   (unless the seller has removed the dovetail to annoy you).  If the 8" tube is actually from some other Celestron package, it might be fitted with the wider Losmandy dovetail.

I don't know whether the HEQ5 Pro accepts the Vixen or the Losmandy dovetail - maybe both. You will have to look it up.

BTW the colours of the Celestron SCT tubes usually indicate which kit they were bundled with when new, e.g. SE = orange. 

[cards47]

On 09/02/2024 at 02:40, doublevodka said:

@cards47 have a read here for some useful information - https://optcorp.com/blogs/astronomy-gear/how-to-attach-telescope-accessories

The newer HEQ5 mount has a saddle that will accept Vixen and Losmandy dovetails, so should fit the CGE type dovetail bar, if you have an older type with only Vixen compatibility, then you might need to purchase a Vixen dovetail bar, for example - https://www.firstlightoptics.com/dovetails-saddles-clamps/celestron-cg5-vixen-style-dovetail-bars.html

Hope that helps a little, the replacement bar may be easier that swapping between the two tubes.

 

Thankyou  for the advice you gave me on here it sure does help. It's nice having people on here willing to help a newbie.

[GrumpiusMaximus]

A C6 and a C8 are very nice scopes indeed.  Enjoy!

[Gonariu]

I have a C8 SE, I think the mount is compatible but the problem is another: while the SE mount is fine for the C6, with the C8 it is barely sufficient for visual use and when focusing the optics it vibrates a lot.

[AstroMuni]

On 09/02/2024 at 09:40, doublevodka said:

f you have an older type with only Vixen compatibility, then you might need to purchase a Vixen dovetail bar, for example - https://www.firstlightoptics.com/dovetails-saddles-clamps/celestron-cg5-vixen-style-dovetail-bars.html

Or purchase https://www.firstlightoptics.com/sky-watcher-mount-accessories/sw_heq5_dual_saddle.html

🙂