What Mount ?

[Stu1smartcookie]

1 hour ago, M40 said:

Fully loaded the 180 is 11.00kgs. This includes a losmandy bar. The skymax sits nicely on an heq5.

what size rings are those please 

[Stu1smartcookie]

Ok , so , AVX ordered from FLO ... for a delivery ( hopefully) tomorrow . 

[M40]

5 minutes ago, Stu1smartcookie said:

what size rings are those please 

They are orion optics rings, here's the linky...

https://www.orionoptics.co.uk/product/cnc-cradles-222mm-dia-to-fit-celestron-180mm-mak/

Not cheap plus my ones were not a tight fit so I put a thick belt of material plus draft excluder between ring and ota which worked perfectly. 

It is a bit of a task to fit them as the existing dove tail is fixed by loose nut and bolts but it can be done without affecting the collimation of the skymax. The corrector plate is held in place by three screws and it goes back in exactly the same position. Neil H and myself flocked the tube at the same time, that will affect the collimation but it is straight forward.

There are two topics in the diy astronomer section, one by Neil on the collimation and another by me on the handle/flocking. Neither Neil nor myself found a good source on the flocking/collimation of the skymax180. Captain Scarlet has done an excellent post on reverse engineering the Skymax180, again in diy astronomer so if you choose to do the handle, it would be well worth a read. All the best.

[Stu1smartcookie]

1 hour ago, M40 said:

They are orion optics rings, here's the linky...

https://www.orionoptics.co.uk/product/cnc-cradles-222mm-dia-to-fit-celestron-180mm-mak/

Not cheap plus my ones were not a tight fit so I put a thick belt of material plus draft excluder between ring and ota which worked perfectly. 

It is a bit of a task to fit them as the existing dove tail is fixed by loose nut and bolts but it can be done without affecting the collimation of the skymax. The corrector plate is held in place by three screws and it goes back in exactly the same position. Neil H and myself flocked the tube at the same time, that will affect the collimation but it is straight forward.

There are two topics in the diy astronomer section, one by Neil on the collimation and another by me on the handle/flocking. Neither Neil nor myself found a good source on the flocking/collimation of the skymax180. Captain Scarlet has done an excellent post on reverse engineering the Skymax180, again in diy astronomer so if you choose to do the handle, it would be well worth a read. All the best.

Many thanks for the above . I am not too confident regarding taking the 180mm apart at present but i think rings are a good idea . As for flocking etc , hmmm i'm a little hesitant but as they say , never say never .