Large rings for LXD75

[Kirkus]

I'm just having a heck of a time finding OTA rings for my Celestron 10" Newt that will attach it to my LXD75 mount.

Some of you may remember the attached photo of my homemade setup. This has worked wonderfully for viewing. But it's just not stable enough for photography. The OTA wants to "roll" a bit with those non-rigid straps. I want to replace the homemade setup with a sturdier, done the right way, setup.

Can anyone lead to me to a website that might have rings to fit both the OTA (254mm) and the dovetail mount? I've searched pretty extensively online, but I'm coming up empty.

[Ian Robinson]

Try Orion Optical in the UK .... They did a set for me for my 10" newt upgrade , to my size spec and I think they did a good job.

They charged me :

White vixen dovetail £29
Tube rings for 315mm OD tube £54
Machined Blocks to sit between rings and vixen dovetail bar £24

I couldn't get them made locally for under $250 (local aluminium machinist), I was also for a while looking at having a 12" ID aluminium tube rolled from 2mm aluminium sheet and tigwelded at the join too (rejected when I was offered a 300mm PVC stormwater tube offcut for nix by a local friendly plumber who had a remnant about the right length that he was going to toss anyway , he was subing at the local shopping centre were the car park was being upgraded and I saw him and asked him if he had an offcut I might buy off him .... he said I could have any offcut I wanted at the end of the day for nix , they were no use to him and were going to the tip anyway).

Not sure what the shipping was that I was charged to ship from UK to me here NSW as I also bought one of their very nice 9 p/flotation aluminium mirror cells in the same order , which I am in the process of modifying as my mirror is not standard thickness and is actially 10" and not 250mm diam , and so the sideclamps weren't quite right.

Their email address is sales@orionoptics.co.uk

Beakon Hill in the UK also does tube ring sets to order.

I looked everywhere for quite a while and as far as I can see they are the only ones who will make tube rings to order. Other than maybe Parallax (but they are EXPENSIVE !!!!).

[Babalyon 5]

Howdy.
Um......I run a bit of Meade gear, LXD55, LX90, DSI's etc. I think you have a way too large scope on your mount. Where is your LXD75 OTA? What size is it? Why are you not using that? I really dont think it's gonna be at all stable enough for astrophotoggraphy. Not being offensive, just constructive critisism!!:)

Try York Optical in Sydney. Check out their web site. May be a part number Like SWRING-254 or something, if they can help you in that size. You may also need a dove tail.
Bintel may also be an option.;)



PS: check out the EQ6 Pro mounts while your shopping around.:thumbsup:

[Kirkus]

Babalyon,

Yeah... I've been around and around about the weight I'm putting on the mount. LOL.

With the Meade 10" being sold with the mount, and it actually weighing a tad more than my Celestron, and the fact that I keep it perfectly balanced, the mount has actually worked like a dream. I don't put the 10" on it often, usually only when the conditions are excellent, I usually use the 6" SNewt that it came with.

Thank you both for these suggestions. I'll check them out!