Piggyback mounting a refractor on a C11 CGE

Greetings all,

Looks like I will be investing in a Decent refractor for some widefield imaging (Megrez 90).

I want to mount the Megrez piggybacked on the C11 (I'm using a CGE Mount) and as I intend to mainly use it for imaging , therefore ,the solution should be able to handle the additional weight of the WO Type 3 0.8 reducer and a Canon 350D (maybe with the Grip too)

I have been looking at the Losmandy dovetail mounting plates, however, they seem to only offer the "GuideScope" type rings to compliment them, and I'm not too convinced that three screws per ring would be enough to support the additional weight of the Flattener and Camera (i.e. I dont want the OTA complete with camera sliding out of the rings while imaging near to the Zenith).

Any ideas folks???

Many thanks

Steve I can assure you that the losmandy rings are the absolute muttz ****.

Those aren't exactly ordinary screws they are pretty big and tipped with delrin so as not to scratch your scope. The six locking screws (three per ring) would hold 80mm scope if it were made of solid titanium! I have an 80mm apo, flattener, motorzed focuser, filter wheel, and camera and they wouldn;t budge if they weighed three times as much.

I have no hesitation at all in recommending these for your application as they are by far the best solution on the market. I have two sets of these rings and wouldn't swap them for the world. If you want zero flexure I can't think of a better solution.

Most rings do a good job of holding the gear on. I use a fairly cheap set up from astro engineering to hold the TMB 80, ccd, TV 0.8 focal reducer and filter wheel with no problem. Even when the ccd impacted the LX200 mount during polar alignment it only ripped off the TMB focuser complete with imaging gear but the rest of the scope did not move

Hey there Steve i also have the losmandy rings and
would agree fully with what DG has said.

I have the losmandy plate and 90mm rings I got a while ago for my C11, I only used it like once or twice.I might consider selling or trading for a Meade DSI because I can't use them, they are too heavy on the ASGT mount but would be fine on the CGE.Also, like Dave said they are very sturdy and they don't scratch the scope.

Thanks folks

OK Im sold on the Losmandy set up then.....

You just cant beat these boards for good solid advice

Thanks again