C8 Remounting

I have an older fork mounted C8. I would like to purchase a Losmandy equatorial or similar setup. Can I change my C8 mount scope to an equatorial mount or do I have to get another scope?
Lee

Hi Lee,
Sure you can change the fork mounted C8 to equatorial, which fork mount do you have? In general you should be able to remove the tube/ota/scope body from the fork arms and then attach an appropriate mounting rail either a losmandy or vixen and then attach the scope to the matching equatorial mount saddle.
Tell me which fork mount you have and I should be able to guide you on disassembly (a photo would be helpful).

Regards,
Greg

Lee Parsons said:

I have an older fork mounted C8. I would like to purchase a Losmandy equatorial or similar setup. Can I change my C8 mount scope to an equatorial mount or do I have to get another scope?
Lee

Parallax makes rings specifically at 8.9" for exactly this purpose on a C8. A set of those along with a dovetail will address the issue nicely. They pop up used from time to time on AM for around $100 a set. New they are a bit pricey....$220

Lee Parsons said:

I have an older fork mounted C8. I would like to purchase a Losmandy equatorial or similar setup. Can I change my C8 mount scope to an equatorial mount or do I have to get another scope?
Lee

Lee,

I remounted my C8 Powerstar many years ago. I did the same with an Ultima C11.

There are C8 D-plates, Model DC8, available from Losmandy that will match the saddle on their GEQ mounts. These mount to the bottom of the OTA (and top of the OTA should you desire to piggy back a guide scope and/or camera). The OTA already has threaded holes in the proper locations on both sides of the OTA.

If you go this route just be careful to verify you receive the correct mounting hardware, i.e. the proper diameter, thread pitch, and most importantly the length of the mounting screws. There have been a few sad stories where the screws were too long and impacted the optics.

To de-fork the C8 you remove the fork arms from the drive base first, then remove each arm from the OTA. When you examine the top and bottom of the OTA you will find screws plugging the threaded holes where the Losmandy DC8 attaches. You remove these screws and use the Losmandy supplied hardware to mount the DC8. Again, VERIFY that the length of the mounting hardware isn't too long!