weight saving on SW Newts.

[raymo]

If you have a Skywatcher Newt with a steel plate covering the back of
the primary mirror, you have probably never realised how heavy the plate
is. The plate on my 8" weighs 300gr, twice as heavy as my 9x50mm
finderscope. If you are operating your mount near it's max, it would be worth replacing the plate with a home made plastic one [ about 25gr].
ray

[tilbrook@rbe.ne]

Hi Ray,

Sounds good in theory, but plastic has quite a lot of expansion and contraction with temperature change.
Not good for keeping collimation.

Cheers,

Justin.

[raymo]

Hi Justin, The thin steel plate is merely a dust cover attached by three
2mm screws to the substantial metal flange at the rear of the scope.
It is not a stressed part of the scope, and there is no way it could affect collimation. When I mount my SW80 on the rig I remove the plate, as I am right at the mount's limit.
raymo

[tilbrook@rbe.ne]

Oh I see, got the wrong end of the stick.:ashamed:

Sorry about that.

Cheers,

Justin.

[raymo]

Not a prob. I wonder if their larger Newts have the same set up. If so,
it would really be worth doing, as the plate for a 10" would be as heavy as my DSLR.
raymo