A telescope mount

[Thefatkitty]

Judging by the title of this thread, I can imagine you're thinking, So is it an EQ or an Alt-Az that you built?

Neither. I have two EQ's and three Alt-Az mounts. One of my EQ's is a SW AZ/EQ5, but I think I need a controller for it. I need to look at this one day so I can finally do the HA thing, but that's another story.

For now I use the old CG4 that came with my C80-HD for both that scope (W/L) and my WO 61mm for Ca-K. I modified the mounting on both scopes so that I can use 1/4" wingnuts (like yours truly) to attach them to the mount. Old style mount; it was just tube rings that screwed into the mount head, not a Vixen or Losmandy type mounting.

A piece of flatbar and two 1/4" bolts welded in:

It does work; I have 5 scopes that can ride solidly on this mount thanks to that idea, including the old orange C80 you see behind my HD. Here's both scopes on said CG4:

All my scopes are on shelves in the basement. The problem or thing I don't like about the WO scope is that with the 50mm finderscope and Sun finder, it was a little tall and wobbly. I can lean it into the wall, but it never sat without pressing on something. I must be getting old for something so trivial to bother me

Regardless, I fixed my dilema . I took part of a large hinge, two pieces of 1/4" roundbar and two skateboard wheel bearings and made this; I even painted it as close to WO red as I could find:

And now? Now I sleep at night knowing my little Ca-K scope is all safe and secure

Ok, I should probably do something a little bit more constructive now such as see if my dear wife needs help with anything... Or maybe just sit here and peruse the forum. Another dilema!!

Have a good day/night all,

[Graeme1858]

Excellent engineering skills Mark!

Graeme

[messier 111]

nice work, the cg4 is without a doubt the most underestimated mount, very solid for its size and works year after year. thx.