Piggy Backing another Telescope

[Ghost_Returns]

Evening all,

I have a question about my current setup which is the following :

http://www.celestron.com/c3/product.php?ProdID=63

I would like to mount my recently purchased Williams Optics Zenithstar 70ED ontop of my existing 10" scope. :D

http://www.williamoptics.com/telescopes/zenithstar70_features.php

What is required and what equipment is needed? Totally new to this part of things . . . :shrug:

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[wasyoungonce]

Hi Richard...hows NT these days..hot..dusty..flies..or hot dusty, wet & files? I lived in Katherine for a few years...it used to get Wet this time of year..but I supposed Tennant Creek is always..just hot!

Anyway....I have a WO ZS70ED mounted on top another scope. My set-up is a lot different to yours but the same principle applies. There are a few ways to do this but this is the easiest. I did it this way as the WO scope has a rotatable focuser (although it cannot fully rotate) & you can rotate it to get your desired position.

Adapt/bolt a 2nd dovetail on the top of your current scope.

You are probably using the vixen type (https://www.bintelshop.com.au/Product.aspx?ID=6922) dovetail. Just make sure you get one long enough to bolt onto the top of the current rings (your current rings will/should have threaded mounting point on their top). You may need to drill this dovetail to fit your current rings top holes (maybe...maybe not?). Your top ring holes should be 1/4" x 20tpi.

Drill this dovetail with some more holes so that you can bolt the WO scope on with it's foot. The Bolts are 1/4" x 20tpi. Make sure you drill these holes nice & parallel and make their spacing to fit the WO foot. I made a jig to drill mine.

When done...bolt the WO scope onto the dovetail & bolt this dovetail onto the top of the current rings.

Just make sure the bolts are not too long...3/4" should be about right.

Also make sure you drill a few holes on the dovetail so you can move the WO scope up/down this dovetail. Make the holes equidistant to fit the WO shoe & also to balance the WO scope on top the current set-up centre of gravity.

Something like this. Anyway hope this helps.

Alternately you can bolt on another dovetail on top with another set of rings but you would probably have to use adjustable rings.

Edit:
I should also this will give you a nice strong mounting...the draw back is it is not as quickly adaptable as another set of rings.

[bmitchell82]

good old darwin towne within the last week just recived a month of rain in a week :) Talking to my old man up there he said from 9am sat to 9am sun they recived 480mm of rain :S and it continued hehehe.

[Tandum]

I have this sort of arrangement on top of my dob.

I think the clamp is this one from ADM (http://www.admaccessories.com/V_Series_Dovetail_Adapter.htm).

I used a 6mm tap to make all threads M6.