Ballard wrote:
Hi Sonny
That is a great looking setup. Looks like you have the extension on the Losmandy mount to get more time for the meridian flip. I still have more 30 year old g11 mount that I upgraded to the gemini 2 controller and motor and use it for my portable mount with my refactor and camera lenses.
Thank You, Ballard.
I love that mount, it's a
G811GM HD. Scott Losmandy put together a G11 RA axis married to a GM8 dec axis. It appealed to me because I didn't see a need for a G11 dec axis for my Teany Weinie 80 mm refractor I had at the time.(18 pounds total)
But with a 50 pound photographic payload rating is, (G11G 60 pound), I figured it could handle as big as I would foreseeably go.
Now, it has that Triplet 130mm (5") refractor on it. All together I think the equipment from the clamp up is 33 pounds. Which isn't a strain on the mount at all.
My thinking was to have the HD tripod for strength and rigidity, the G11RA which is so good of the Losmandy line, And the lighter GM8 DEC axis.
Yep, I added the 12" extension to space out the tripod and head. No clunk in the night.
Basically, a portable pier configuration.
As I picked brains over at the Losmandy Forum, I confirmed what I wanted almost to a tee. I added the
RAEXT. After I brought it home and put it together the way I planned.
In part, so I could break it down easily to bring it in (3 main assemblies, Clamp up; DEC/counter weights; and extension. But the RAEXT also allows to not do a meridian flip if aiming South. (North is another can of worms. But I finally licked that in NINA.) As you probably know, as good as Losmandy Mounts are, the Software Industry tends to revolve around others. So they aren't always easy to dial in.
I finally "borrowed" Meridian flip settings from a post I found on the Gemini II forum. Now it flips like a fish on a deck.
I've had some nice conversations with Scott. He could see I had my goal in mind with the specifics I had when I went to Burbank to pick it up at the factory (20 miles away).
I bought a clamp for camera mounting to the dovetail bar. He specifically ask me how I was planning to use it, "Underhung?". Yes I told him, that was what I was thinking.
I don't use it so much for hanging my DSLR under much, it's easier to have my big lens mounted to a dovetail bar and to just mount it right on the clamp. Then do my Comet hunting and guiding.
I removed the bracket for the camera, and use the clamp underhung on my dovetail bar as a stop for the dovetail against the clamp itself. That way the telescope always was perfectly landed in balance everytime I mounted it.
(I use to remove my telescope after every session and bring it indoors, then cover my mount with a round BBQ cover, and a 32 gallon Dome. (A black plastic trash can)
Now though, the 33+ payload is quite awkward for me, and I have a inguinal hernia. (Groin) So I'm not suppose to lift it. It stays mounted and gets covered, plus a patio umbrella to help with the Sun burning down on things. It works.
One last bit of advice Scott gave me was, "Don't mess with it, just use it." And I have always followed that advice.
Except I did lube the gears for the motors.
So it stays outside, with 1" thick old growth Redwood adjustable boards under it's toes (Home made). Everybody sez you don't need to level your mount. I'm not everybody. I like to start off with my tripod as plumb with the earth as possible.
Love my GM811G HD and how it is mildly customized. Thing I like the most is it's American Made. (Singapore electronics, German Programming.) Damn near bulletproof.