Mount a Skywatcher Pro 150 mak on a Celestron CGE?

[chuenmanc]

Hello there

Not been around for a while, mostly been spending the summer getting the house and garden into shape. Garden now has a very small lawn rather than pit of mud, so I've been back outside learning the autumn sky! Shame no planets are out in the evening.

Anyway, rather foolishly, I bid on a Celestron CGE on ebay that seemed to be going for a good price, and won it as the only bidder. Picked it up last night and its a monster! Anyway, the problem is I have a Skywatcher mak with a narrow Vixen/Synta dovetail. How do I get the scope to fit the mount? I can't find many possibilities. Will the Williams Optics combo plate thing work? I'm loathe to buy it for £100 though! Does anyone have any ideas?

Thanks.

[russ]

Checkout Ken Duzat's website in the states. He does an adapter plate for just about any combination. Here's a link:

http://www.kendauzat.net/other.htm

Russ

[russ]

Actually look approx 16 items down the page and you find this:

This "D" adapter allows the use GP/CG5 type dovetail bar scopes to be used directly onto the Celestron CI700 (or) the Losmandy G-11 mount.

Regards

Russ

[chuenmanc]

Fast work - thanks! Annoying thing is I did find that site, but didn't spot this one. I've emailed him and asked for a price.

[GordonCopestake]

You might find arthur can make you one up cheaper than ordering from the states, not sure though :shrug:

[chuenmanc]

Well, foolish in that I was hard pressed to justify the cost of the mak and HEQ5 earlier this year, but now I've spent double that amount on just a mount, and one that doesn't fit my OTA! My wife can't believe the cost of the 'tripod'.

The mount didn't come with any plates or adaptors - not sure if it should do. The HEQ5 did come with a couple of spare dovetails, which was a nice touch.

I got the price from Ken Dauzat - $138 + $32 shipping, so with duty on top it will probably be £100 - £110 or so. Bit pricey. Selling the OTA and not having to buy the adaptor would go some way towards getting a CGE dovetailed SCT. Loathe to sell it as it's a good scope, and I need to find out if I can live with the size of the CGE.

I started to make a temporary adaptor out of a bit of old skirting board, planed to fit the contour of the CGE clamp, and bolted to the Skywatcher dovetail. The clamp will probably destroy it after a few sessions but it *might* work as a temporary arrangement. Just need to find a source of 1/4-20 and 1/4-26 allen bolts, which I think are the size of the threads on the Skywatcher dovetail.

[GordonCopestake]

If the CGE was a good price you can always put it back on astro buy/sell and probably not make a loss. You can then use the cash to buy an EQ6 which is smaller than the CGE and has the right saddle. The CGE is probably the last mount you'll ever need but the EQ6 is still quite capable. For a MAK150 a CGE is overkill, and to be honest an EQ6 is more than enough capacity.

[chuenmanc]

Hi there

Yes, the seller even said a change of plans meant he'd be interested in buying it back if I ever did sell it. To be honest I'd stick with the HEQ5 if I don't get on with the CGE, though I suppose it depends on how much I like the Goto. I guess that's why I took a punt at the CGE really, to see what Goto was like. Also to see what kind of mount was worth over £3k. In the last couple of days I've been dreaming of getting a C9.25 or C11 to go on the CGE, though wifely approval has probably been maxed out already!

[russ]

Stig Fasteners will sell those bolts you need:

http://www.a2stainless.co.uk/

CGE is a great mount, be a shame to lose it. That said, an EQ6 Skyscan is all the mount you'll ever need. Have you tried Arthur. he maybe able to beat that price for the dovetail adapter.

Russ

[chuenmanc]

Thanks again Rus.

I actually found a shop called The Nut House nearby, and I bought their only two 1/4-20 bolts. It seems to have worked, and whilst not 100% stable, hopefully it'll last a few nights. I'll ask Arthur (Ambermile?) about a real adaptor at some point too.

Thanks for all the comments Rus and Gordon.

[MartinB]

Yes Arthur is Ambermile and he is your man. The CGE looks one very impressive mount. A bit OTT for visual but would be ideal for a imaging with a long focal length scope like that

[chuenmanc]

Yes, I've been thinking about that. I got the Astro Engineering Adap-T ring a couple of weeks ago, and a ring for my Sony digicam. Didn't have much success with the scope pointing at a tree, but I'm looking forward to giving it a try some night. I have been told its a very long learning curve though!