Improving balance of Mak on my Alt/Az mount.

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John Baars Netherlands
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Improving balance of Mak on my Alt/Az mount.

#1

Post by John Baars »


This is what my GnG Maksutov scope looked like.
IMG_1445 (638x850).jpg

I still found a little disadvantageous that the powerful viewfinder was above the tipping point. This naturally caused balance problems, especially in the zenith. The high base on which the entire viewfinder group was placed was actually too high. Today I made the decision, removed the high base-foot and reattached the base to the tube, but in such a way that the large viewfinder is right beside the telescope.
IMG_1660 (680x581).jpg
This required some drilling and tapping and the tube had to be opened. I encountered other problems too. Bolts that turn out not to be M4 and, moreover, too short. And then it also turns out that I cannot drill by hand as cleanly as I would like. Column drill would have been handy ...... so, a small slotted hole had to be milled, by hand of course... haha.

But .. succeeded. And the scope no longer sinks into the zenith. The small 100 gram RDF has little influence on the remaining imbalance, the eyepieces the most.
The viewfinder group from left to right: 18.5X50 viewfinder with 4.4 degree field of view, sun viewfinder, red dot finder.
Refractors in frequency of use : *SW Evostar 120ED F/7.5 (all round ), * Vixen 102ED F/9 (vintage), both on Vixen GPDX.
GrabnGo on Alt/AZ : *SW Startravel 102 F/5 refractor( widefield, Sun, push-to), *OMC140 Maksutov F/14.3 ( planets).
Most used Eyepieces: *Panoptic 24, *Morpheus 14, *Leica ASPH zoom, *Zeiss barlow, *Pentax XO5.
Commonly used bino's : *Jena 10X50 , * Canon 10X30 IS, *Swarovski Habicht 7X42, * Celestron 15X70, *Kasai 2.3X40
Rijswijk Public Observatory: * Astro-Physics Starfire 130 f/8, * 6 inch Newton, * C9.25, * Meade 14 inch LX600 ACF, *Lunt.
Amateur astronomer since 1970.
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Bigzmey United States of America
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Re: Improving balance of Mak on my Alt/Az mount.

#2

Post by Bigzmey »


Nice mod John! Dual mounting brackets provide convenience, but like you I have also discovered that one get less shakes and balance issues mounting finders straight to the OTA.
Scopes: Stellarvue: SV102ED; Celestron: 9.25" EdgeHD, 8" SCT, 150ST, Onyx 80ED; iOptron: Hankmeister 6" Mak; SW: 7" Mak; Meade: 80ST.
Mounts: SW: SkyTee2, AzGTi; iOptron: AZMP; ES: Twilight I; Bresser: EXOS2; UA: MicroStar.
Binos: APM: 100-90 APO; Canon: IS 15x50; Orion: Binoviewer, LG II 15x70, WV 10x50, Nikon: AE 16x50, 10x50, 8x40.
EPs: Pentax: XWs & XFs; TeleVue: Delites, Panoptic & Plossls; ES: 68, 62; Vixen: SLVs; Baader: BCOs, Aspherics, Mark IV.
Diagonals: Baader: BBHS mirror, Zeiss Spec T2 prism, Clicklock dielectric; TeleVue: Evebrite dielectric; AltairAstro: 2" prism.
Filters: Lumicon: DeepSky, UHC, OIII, H-beta; Baader: Moon & SkyGlow, Contrast Booster, UHC-S, 6-color set; Astronomik: UHC.

Observing: DSOs: 3106 (Completed: Messier, Herschel 1, 2, 3. In progress: H2,500: 2180, S110: 77). Doubles: 2382, Comets: 34, Asteroids: 255
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helicon United States of America
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Re: Improving balance of Mak on my Alt/Az mount.

#3

Post by helicon »


Good modification John and should contribute to ease of use.
-Michael
Refractors: ES AR152 f/6.5 Achromat on Twilight II, Celestron 102mm XLT f/9.8 on Celestron Heavy Duty Alt Az mount, KOWA 90mm spotting scope
Binoculars: Celestron SkyMaster 15x70, Bushnell 10x50
Eyepieces: Various, GSO Superview, 9mm Plossl, Celestron 25mm Plossl
Camera: ZWO ASI 120
Naked Eye: Two Eyeballs
Latitude: 48.7229° N
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