Anyone use a Losmandy G11 tripod with the CEM60?
Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2020 8:11 am
I want to use my G11 Losmandy tripod instead of the iOptron tripod, the one with the 2" legs. For some unknown reason, my tripod cannot handle my 11" EdgeHD, focusing is impossible because of a lot of vibration. The G11 is a beast and will not have any of these issues. I found both the OD of the G11 tripod and iOptron tripod is the same, 6". I checked out the pier plate (#8032) iOptron sells and from the initial observation, it looked promising, no plug and play since some modifications are needed.
On iOptron's website, they list the plate's diameter is 150mm or 6", but based on my dual measuring tape, 6" equals 152mm. The other question is the setback measurement between the plate's OD of 6" and the short vertical tube under the plate. This tube is designed to slide into the host mount tripod tube and this particular one is intended to fit various iOptron mounts and some non iOptron mounts. The list of other mounts didn't list the G11 tripod.
I guess another key measurement is how thick is the G11 metal tripod tube and whether the iOptron pier plate's set back is the same as the G11 tube thickness. If they are the same then theoretically the plate should slide into the G11 tube snuggly. I measured the thickness of the G11 tripod tube as 5mm, give or take. By looking at the CAD rendering I think the setback between the OD and the short verticle extension of the pier plate is 4mm, but I can't be sure based on the drawing. It's too close to call so I went ahead and emailed iOptron tech support, they have always been responsive to my questions in the past, but due to the surge of the virus, it sounds like they are on a limited schedule again.
If I get lucky and the pier plate slides into the G11 tripod tube, the second issue is securing them together. There appear to be some accommodations on the plate's verticle extension tube, one looks like a notch in the side and there is a small threaded hole as well. The top of the G11 tripod has three fairly large L shaped cutouts and it looks like they accept 3/8" bolts. I'm guessing the G11 mount has three permanent 3/8" bolts fitted to their connector and you simply lower the assembly and bolts into the L shaped cut-outs and turn the mount counterclockwise. Each bolt is probably threaded so a nut is used to secure the tripod tube to the top plate/mount. I would consider the pier plate a very good candidate if it passes the first step of sliding into the top of the G11 tripod tube. I'll likely have to fashion some way of securing the two parts together.
The big question is whether anybody here owns a G11 tripod and was successful in mounting the CEM60 on it. :Think:
On iOptron's website, they list the plate's diameter is 150mm or 6", but based on my dual measuring tape, 6" equals 152mm. The other question is the setback measurement between the plate's OD of 6" and the short vertical tube under the plate. This tube is designed to slide into the host mount tripod tube and this particular one is intended to fit various iOptron mounts and some non iOptron mounts. The list of other mounts didn't list the G11 tripod.
I guess another key measurement is how thick is the G11 metal tripod tube and whether the iOptron pier plate's set back is the same as the G11 tube thickness. If they are the same then theoretically the plate should slide into the G11 tube snuggly. I measured the thickness of the G11 tripod tube as 5mm, give or take. By looking at the CAD rendering I think the setback between the OD and the short verticle extension of the pier plate is 4mm, but I can't be sure based on the drawing. It's too close to call so I went ahead and emailed iOptron tech support, they have always been responsive to my questions in the past, but due to the surge of the virus, it sounds like they are on a limited schedule again.
If I get lucky and the pier plate slides into the G11 tripod tube, the second issue is securing them together. There appear to be some accommodations on the plate's verticle extension tube, one looks like a notch in the side and there is a small threaded hole as well. The top of the G11 tripod has three fairly large L shaped cutouts and it looks like they accept 3/8" bolts. I'm guessing the G11 mount has three permanent 3/8" bolts fitted to their connector and you simply lower the assembly and bolts into the L shaped cut-outs and turn the mount counterclockwise. Each bolt is probably threaded so a nut is used to secure the tripod tube to the top plate/mount. I would consider the pier plate a very good candidate if it passes the first step of sliding into the top of the G11 tripod tube. I'll likely have to fashion some way of securing the two parts together.
The big question is whether anybody here owns a G11 tripod and was successful in mounting the CEM60 on it. :Think: