Over Xmas I put the 14 inch Skywatcher up onto my Mesu 200 mount.
I got a carpenterr to make me two 425mm inside diam wooden cradles ( $60 for the pair ) to mount the scope in and used heavy duty pull down straps to hold it all together,
To get everything to balance in RA I ended up having to use 30Kg of counterweights made of six 5Kg olympic plates (50mm hole) with 3D printed plastic sleeves to give a tight fit onto the 40mm counterweight bar.
In DEC I had issues, the pointy end with cameras loaded etc is top heavy and I moved the dovetail as low in the saddle as I would dare. Even then I had to add another 2,5Kg of weight at the mirror end to make it balance.
I'm still having small pockets of sky (pointing SW) where it is top heavy, but I get around that with a 150g speaker magnet I can place at the mirror end, so I can remove it when pointing everywhere else.
I also had to swap out the focuser from the dual speed crayford supplied with the 14 inch for the single speed focuser I had on my 8 inch. The reason was the skywatcher electric motor bracket would not bolt onto the dual speed focuser, the bolt holes would not line up.
So a few photo's
a) The difference in size of the 8in and 14in sitting in my laundry
b) The dovetail moved down the saddle as far as I would dare
c) My dodgy counter weights.
d) Initial testing without the shroud on
e) Ready for action with my yoga mat dew shield in place
Here is first light that I did 2 weeks ago before the rain, wind and clouds arrived.
This is 2 hours at Thors Helmet with the QHY12 OSC, software binned 2x2 in Startools. I didn't use any flats, as I have to get a bigger monitor.
Also a screen shot of the guide graph from PHD, not as good as I was getting with the 8 inch, but a few days later, I discovered my polar alignment had moved and I never checked it after installing the 14 inch. All OK now and I'm back to 0.4 arcsec RMS.
The EQ6 tripod has an steel coffee table top bolted to the legs with U-Bolts, and I also have a heavy Uninterrupted Power Supply and a 25A 12 volt power supply sitting on the table which lowers the centre of gravity. So It should never tip over.
