Here's a picture of an equatorial mount I built for my 14" Newtonian. It's sort of a Dobsonian cradle tipped over to point north. The cradle and base are separate pieces. The cradle's dimensions and weight are about the same as a Dobsonian, so the only weight/size penalty is the separate base. I recently installed a motor drive.
I sawed the tube in half at the middle; the two pieces snap together and are connected by a pair of aluminum bars. There is a rotating bearing just below the focuser, so the eyepiece can easily be moved around to a comfortable position. The finder is one half of a binocular.
The mount works very well. It's not as solid as a Dobsonian, taking about 3 to 5 seconds to settle down after giving the tube a "thump", but vibration is rarely a problem.
I sawed the tube in half at the middle; the two pieces snap together and are connected by a pair of aluminum bars. There is a rotating bearing just below the focuser, so the eyepiece can easily be moved around to a comfortable position. The finder is one half of a binocular.
The mount works very well. It's not as solid as a Dobsonian, taking about 3 to 5 seconds to settle down after giving the tube a "thump", but vibration is rarely a problem.
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