Equatorial Head

Hi all

I was trying to sell my LX10 8" SCT on this site, I took it out today to have a good look and decided to change my mind. The reason I was selling was that I wanted something with GoTo capabilities, the LX10 is not upgradable, and I'm getting lazy in my old age. The optics are excellent and the field tripod is sturdy with 2" steel legs.

My questions, eventually, are these:

Can I buy an equatorial head with GoTo abilities that I can attach to my field tripod? I was thinking along the lines of the Skywatcher EQ-6 or the Celestron CG-5 advanced mount. All of the ads that I have seen come with the tripod, and I would like to save some money by not buying a tripod I don't need.

Secondly, how do I detach the telescope tube from the fork mounts?

Any info will be greatfully appreciated.

Thanks.

Paul

Hi Paul,
The scope is attached using allen/hex screws, just unscrew then and the tube will fall off.
Most mounts have rails for them, I'm sure you can get a mounting rail for the scope for what ever equatorial mount you get.

Hi Dave

Are they located inside the Dec setting circles.

Thanks.

Paul

Paul - good call. Thats what I did with my Celestron 8".

As regards removing the OTA from the forks, I'm afraid I have no knowledge of the Meade SCT's. However, it should be easy enough. The C8 was just held on with a few screws and easily came away from the forks.

Not sure if your budget would stretch this far:

www.irishastronomy.org/boards/viewtopic.php?t=6341

but that would be a peachy mount. Alas, you'd have a surplus field tripod too...

HTH

Dave

If you are getting rid of the fork mount let me know. I have an old Meade 2080 with an AC drive I wanted to upgrade. Not sure if the LX10 fork would fit the 2080 SCT but I would be quite happy to give you a few bob for it.

Hi Paul,
If you scroll down to the bottom of the page in this link
geocities.com/jmmahony/LX10/forkalign.html

you'll see three screws are holding the tube onto the plate attached to the fork. If you open these screws on both sides, the tube will fall off and I do mean literally mean fall, so make sure you have some one to give you a hand to grab it when its released.