Accessory rail for Nexstar 8i SE

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MaxBlancke United States of America
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Accessory rail for Nexstar 8i SE

#1

Post by MaxBlancke »


Last week, I discovered that the plastic mount for the sighting scope on my 8i SE had broken off and disappeared. I thought it best to install a better rail, anchored to both castings, which will allow me to stick better or different optics, lasers, or cameras in the future.
This is what I came up with-
rail.jpg
I mounted a section of Picatinny rail on top, which lets me use short firearms optics. In the image, I have a cheap reflex scope that was in my drawer.

The mounts to the front and rear castings were milled to match the radius of the castings, and the rail is parallel to the tube within 1/1000" in the length of the rail. I used two existing threaded holes in the back casting, and an existing hole in the front, which was not centered on the back two. The little offset bolt in the front is there to keep the front mount from rotating. I did a jeweled finish and waxed it, as it would show fingerprints easily if polished. If I decide I like it, I will probably anodize it when I am anodizing a more important project.

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Gordon United States of America
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Re: Accessory rail for Nexstar 8i SE

#2

Post by Gordon »


Very nice addition!
Gordon
Scopes: Explore Scientific ED80CF, Skywatcher 200 Quattro Imaging Newt, SeeStar S50 for EAA.
Mounts: Orion Atlas EQ-g mount & Skywatcher EQ5 Pro.
ZWO mini guider.
Image cameras: ZWO ASI1600 MM Cool, ZWO ASI533mc-Pro, ZWO ASI174mm-C (for use with my Quark chromosphere), ZWO ASI120MC
Filters: LRGB, Ha 7nm, O-III 7nm, S-II 7nm
Eyepieces: a few.
Primary software: Cartes du Ciel, N.I.N.A, StarTools V1.4.

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Lady Fraktor Slovakia
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Re: Accessory rail for Nexstar 8i SE

#3

Post by Lady Fraktor »


A good idea!
See Far Sticks: Antares Elita 103/1575, AOM FLT 105/1000, Bresser BV 127/1200, Nočný stopár 152/1200, Vyrobené doma 70/700, Stellarvue NHNG DX 80/552, TAL RS100/1000, Vixen SD115s/885
EQ: TAL MT-1, Vixen SXP, AXJ, AXD
Az/Alt: AYO Digi II/ Argo Navis, Stellarvue M2C/ Argo Navis
Tripods: Berlebach Planet (2), Uni 28 Astro, Report 372, TAL factory maple, Vixen ASG-CB90, Vixen AXD-TR102
Diagonals: Astro-Physics, Baader Amici, Baader Herschel, iStar Blue, Stellarvue DX, Takahashi prism, TAL, Vixen flip mirror
Eyepieces: Antares to Zeiss
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