Mount and plate question?

[trick]

Forgive me for not getting the Losmandy and vixen dovetail thing because it has lost me. I have a Vixen sp picture attached and I want to be able to eventually mount two scopes side by side on it. I need the versatality to have two refractors or one of each refractor and 4.5" reflector. The refractor has a foot on it 2" wide at bottom and 1 3/4" at top of foot. What plates and bars will I need.

http://www.astro-physics.biz/index.htm?products/accessories/mounting_plates/mounting_plates

Has a 8" Dovetail Plate for Super Polaris Mount (DOVESP) and a 10" Sliding Bar (SB1000) is this what I am looking for? Any help or links to some good gear would be appreciated from this newbie.

Thanks for the links Peter. The SP is not like a Great polaris as it has the mount head setup like in snapshot 42.gif the holes are 6.5 inches apart, I am after something like the adapter plate in snapshot 41.gif.

[peter_4059]

Try these sites:

http://www.starstuff.com.au/eqsbskits.html

http://www.admaccessories.com/V_Series_SBS.htm?

http://www.telescopes-astronomy.com.au/

They all sell Vixen style side by side bars and accessories.

[kon1966]

Hi Peter, I just changed mine to side by side as well. I have a heq5 with a Celestron schmidt and a 80mm finder. What I used..

Bought William Optics (WO) large dovetail from Andrews. My 80mm had WO rings already and my C8 has 33cm dovetail with rings. All I did was screw the 80mm to the WO dovetail since the holes lineup on one end and drill 2 holes through the dovetail at the other end. I made sure the holes I drilled on the C8 dovetail was close to the balancing point.

Since the WO dovetail plate has mount holes all the way along the lenght, I can move each scope closer or further apart. It is not as elegant as a proper plate with sloding vixen attachements but they cost $400 plus. The WO plate cost me $99 and some 5mm bolts and nuts.

If you PM me your mobile I can send you some photos.