Where to mount a Guide/Auxillary Scope?

[ballaratdragons]

Dear imaging reflector owners,

I spent about 3 hours going through members postings and googling for another 2 hours and I have come no closer to an answer!

Where is the best spot to mount my Guidescope/Auxillary scope on my 12" Newt?

It will very soon be used almost exclusively in an EQ mount, and to help you with suggesting a location my guide/aux scope has a diagonal.

During my search I found these Guidescope positions used by members. As you can see, they vary.

Gary Beal- Centre
Trufflehunter - old 8" Newt - Centre
Mick Pinner - 10" Newt - Centre
Eddie Trimarchi - 6" Mak/Newt - Centre
Narayan - 8" Newt - Rear
Paul Ponderosa - Refractor - Centre
Ambermile - Reflector - Front, opposite side of mount

Also, should I mount it directly to my 12" OTA or to the mount by brackets?

Any help on how and where to mount my Guide scope would be appreciated. Is there a reason for so many 'Centre' mounted guidescopes: balance, ease of use etc?

P.S. I can't buy any parts so please don't suggest that I buy certain Items. I will have to make anything that I may need. Thanks! :)

[ballaratdragons]

Anybody?

Had heaps of people viewing the post but no suggestions yet! :help3:

This illustration will explain what I mean by 'Front, Centre, Rear, & Side' mounted. I will leave the standard finderscope where it is, this is purely for the Guide/Auxillary scope.

[33South]

Cant help from experience, but as long as you can reach eqilibrium I dont think it would matter.

But I will need the info sometime so will be interested to hear someones views as well.

[ballaratdragons]

Chris, I am wondering if access to the EP also comes into play as well as balance! There are some pics of Guidescopes in unusual places. Mine is for eyeball optical aligning and viewing whilst the Toucam is in the main scope, not computer controlled guiding.

[asimov]

Seeing it's EQ mounted I'd go with 'front' mounted simply because you won't have to bend down to get to the EP if it was centre mounted. I did the same on my 8" years ago & had no troubles. to counter balance you slide the OTA backwards in it's cradle obviously.

This may depend on your overall height though. Looking at your mount pics you posted awhile back, it looks to be at least 300-400mm higher than my EQ....

[ballaratdragons]

Thanks John. My EQ is very high! When the scope is level horizontally the bottom of the OTA is level with my shoulder. And that is when RA is at it's lowest!!!!

If I mounted it at the front I will need a step ladder, but I wondered if there was a reason why people have them in different places.

Mick Pinner PM'd me about the problem and made a few good comments to help.

This is what Mick suggested:

Thanks to Mick Pinner for the quote.

Looks like I will be either Centrally mounting it or maybe a little bit lower. I just wanted to check first in case there was some tricky reason or formula for mounting in different places. But it turns out it's a matter of what suits! :)

[asimov]

Cut 400mm off the bottom of the main pier...reattach legs...no step ladder needed to get to any EP...As long as the mirror end of the OTA clears the ground when pointing vertical. Just an idea Ken.

[ballaratdragons]

Dunno John. Have to think hard about that one!

On another note, I've got that horrible feeling again that I get, when an Earthquake is coming! I felt the one near Fiji the night before but said nothing. This time I'm saying it. Within 48 hours I think. Dunno, but the feeling is there.