Now that I have my refractor scope built, I have a need for a mount. I currently have it on a simply Alt-Az mount. A close friend of mine suggested building a split-ring equatorial mount for it. Does anyone out there know of any plans available to build one. My scope is a 5" 1000mmfl f8.3 refractor, and the mount would have to fit on a heavy duty tripod. Any help or criticism is accepted. Thank You All.....Terry :S
split ring equatorial mount
Started by nzdmmf, 09/28/2006 05:05PM
Posted 09/28/2006 05:05PM
Opening Post
Posted 09/29/2006 07:54AM
#1
Hello:
You don't want to use a split ring equatorial mount for a refractor. The split ring is only suitable for a newtonian (with tube rotation) or very large cassegrains where you'll only have cameras on the back (i.e. the Mayall 4m at Kitt Peak, Blanco 4m at Cerro Tololo, 4m AAT at Siding Spring). What these scopes have in common is a short tube with the center of gravity near one end, and you don't have to have your head near that end. For a refractor, you need to support the scope pretty high to get to the eyepiece, and have access to the bottom. As such, the German equatorial mount is your best option. As has already been mentioned, Josef Fraunhofer invented the german mount for his refractors. German mounts are hard to make on your own, but there are several available commercially. For a scope the size of yours, something like the Losmandy G11 would work well.
Cheers
Mike Connelley
You don't want to use a split ring equatorial mount for a refractor. The split ring is only suitable for a newtonian (with tube rotation) or very large cassegrains where you'll only have cameras on the back (i.e. the Mayall 4m at Kitt Peak, Blanco 4m at Cerro Tololo, 4m AAT at Siding Spring). What these scopes have in common is a short tube with the center of gravity near one end, and you don't have to have your head near that end. For a refractor, you need to support the scope pretty high to get to the eyepiece, and have access to the bottom. As such, the German equatorial mount is your best option. As has already been mentioned, Josef Fraunhofer invented the german mount for his refractors. German mounts are hard to make on your own, but there are several available commercially. For a scope the size of yours, something like the Losmandy G11 would work well.
Cheers
Mike Connelley
Funding Member
