Mounting a Celestron 102 f/5 Wide View Refractor

I have recently purchased a new Celestron 102 f/5 spotting scope and have been going the upgrade route...

First, I ditched the useless stubby finder scope (it went in the rubbish bin without being used once) and put a very nice red-dot finder in the dovetail slot. Next, the 45-degree erecting prism went into hiding and was replaced by a 2-inch mirror diagonal (the Orion 40mm Optiluxe 2-inch is one helluva sweet eyepiece coupled to this scope). Now, the Bogen tripod and 3047 head are being retired in favor of a CG-5 mount with dual axis drive. But, I could use a little assistance from the gang regarding mounting rings...

I have scoured the Celestron website but did not come uo with any positive answer as to the proper diameter of ring to use. Can anyone give me a proper fit in the Orion cast ring? I am thinking that the ones that are used on the Orion 4-inch f/6 refractor would be a match but am not 100% sure (hate to wait a week for them to reach the east coast and find out I bought the wrong ones).

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Clear Skies,
Jeff Harman

Jeff,
I purchased a pair of rings for my 102 from scopestuff that work great. I believe they are 4" rings.
brian

Did you try mounting that C-102 "Side Saddle" on that 3047 head? Normally a photo head like the 3047 with a scope on top will become unbalances as the scope altitude increases. However by mounting the scope alongside the head by flipping the top axis 90 degrees, it now functions as a balanced mount because the axis of rotation can pass through the center of the balance.

I use this scheme with my Pronto and I find it works very well. The Pronto is probably actually heavier than the 102 F5. Worth a try before investing in something else.

The photo is of a short tube 80 mounted "Side saddle."

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