Defork a C8?

[redjmp]

I have a C8 with the byers worm gear but no tripod.

I am debating whether or not to spend money to get the tripod and wedge or if I should mount the scope on an eq mount.

I see a few used C8 mounts from deforked units for sale so I can only surmise that people have been deforking these.

But why?

I have seen a cg-5 and I find it hard to believe that its tiny gear sets perform better than the byers drive.

Even on bigger eq mounts, the gears are smaller.

How can they track more accurately with smaller gears?

Or do people defork them because they are too unstable with the stock tripod?

[resonator77]

Fork mount telescopes are not suitable for imaging, you could use it with a wedge but if you want precision and ease of use during imaging session then an equatorial mount is a way to go.

[Daz1969]

Agree with resonator, i deforked mine and put it on a HEQ5 pro mount,Rock solid ,way better then the fork and a must if you want to do any imaging:)

A wise upgrade - go for it!!

Daz

[Earl]

I de-forked my LX and dont regret it.

[brantuk]

I didn't defork mine cos it would be sacreledge and I love it as it is anyway. However for imaging I may get a similar but larger ota and mount it on an HEQ6 or something like that. Good fork mounts are fine for imaging nearby stuff cos you can keep exposures short, but for dso's a greater degree of tracking accuracy is required for longer exposures