If you are like me and want to mount your GS 12" Dobbie up on an EQ mount, you are going to need some pretty Heavy Duty tube rings!
I had a local engineer make me a set which work reasonably well, but who wants reasonable???
I found that the weight of the 12" tends to pull on the rings as soon as it is tilted off centre. This is why rings need to be very strong! The rings I had made are not quite strong enough and are prone to twist.
A simple solution (but it took me a lot of time investigating alternatives) is to go to an Automotive LPG installer and purchase a set of LPG mounts to hold a 14-15" LPG bottle (a standard size).
These are perfect, as the GS 12" OTA is 14" diameter.
All that is needed (in my case anyway) is to weld on some hinges and some locking devices, then line the inside of the rings with rubber. Hey Presto!
Here is a pic of the LPG bottle rings I purchased today for $55, and they are VERY VERY VERY strong!!!!
The rings are 40mm wide & 5mm thick steel!
I will post more pics as the construction moves along.
Good luck tranforming your 12" Dobbie to an EQ
