What keeps a Losmandy plate locked in?

I just received a mount that included two Ken Dauzat adapter plates: one to hold Losmandy/CL700 dovetails and one to hold GP/CG5 dovetails. In this context, are "dovetails" the same as "plates"?

I have never looked at a Losmandy mount to see how such a plate is held captive and I currently don't have a plate to experiment. When I look at the adapter, it looks like the plate slides into grooves in the adapter. I see that there are two screws that should contact the plate. What I don't know is how the screws/bolts keep the plate from sliding out.

I like the holding area of a Losmandy dovetail. It seems better than a GP/CG5 dovetail. Is that a correct assumption? Or are both about the same (just different styles)?

Thanks for helping me out!

Regards, Jon

Jon,

The Losmandy dovetail plates have beveled sides that slide into a saddle plate that has matching beveled sides, one of which is a movable vice that clamps in place against one side of the dovetail by turning a knob. The saddle acts as a receiver for the dovetail. You slide in the dovetail and then tighten the vice knob. The dovetail and saddle are then securely mated. The Robin Casady system is a variation, with two movable vice jaws on one side that open more widely, which allows the dovetail plate to be put in the saddle without sliding. The two jaws give you double clamping security.

The Losmandy system and the Casady variation are very sturdy and solid and can be adapted to just about any OTA and equatorial mount. The dovetail plates and saddles come in various lengths to fit different length OTAs. The dovetails are all the same width--about 3" at the beveled sides so they fit all the standard saddles, which close to 3" when clamped.

Easier to understand when you see a picture or see it in person. Harder to understand with my written description. Hope this helps.

Joel