Removing OTA from Wedge

I am the owner of a C8 mounted on the standard wedge. I have a CG-5 equatorial mount but would like to remove the OTA and remount it on my CG-5 mount. How does one remove the OTA from the wedge? And will a CG-5 equatorial mount with wooden legs provide adequate support? Are there parallax rings manufactured to fit a Celestron SCT ?

John Sellers

To remove the ota from the forks/wedge, you really need two people, but if you are careful, you can do it by your self. First, loosen the 4 allen bolts at the bottom of the fork arms, then unscrew the 4 screws holding the ota to the fork arm ears. The ota will slide right out. As far as the cg-5 goes, it'll carry the load of the c-8, but it's pushing the mount to it's weight limits. Make sure you have the ota balanced well. You will also need a dove tail bar to mate the ota and the mount, which you can get at most astronomy shops, or keep an eye out here on astromart for a used one. I think I paid about $35 for mine here. One big word of caution, DO NOT overtighten the screws going into the front or back of the ota, as the castings are made out of cast alum. and will strip under a lot of torque. As far as rings go, theres someone here on astromart selling a set of rings for a c-8 now for $100 I think.
Roger