One of the reasons why I wish I lived in Australia is the manual Saxon EQ-5, and in black. I prefer black mounts, and the only ones I have in black are an EQ-1 and an EQ-2; none larger. Both of my alt-azimuth mounts, small and large, are white.
Orion Telescopes, of California, proffers a black EQ5-class mount, the "SkyView Pro". But its design is seemingly proprietary, unlike the rest of Synta's manual EQ-5s. Still, I knew that the Orion was the same, on the inside at least. I was just on the verge of getting the Orion when this listing on eBay appeared...
https://i.imgur.com/lnPaEK7.jpg
I got my own out of that lot of four, and as far as I know, there will be no more, ever. It was a deal of a lifetime. Although, I hesitated, after having first seen the listing, as it did not come with a tripod. A day or two went by, and then it dawned on me: the tripod of the Celestron CG-4, and that of the discontinued Meade LX70, are identical, both with 1.75"-diameter tubular-steel legs, the uppermost portion. I then purchased the head...
A few years ago, I had shortened the upper portion of the tripod's legs...
...and to same length as those of my GSO alt-azimuth in their retracted position...
I don't mind crawling upon the ground, then looking upward. Then, I didn't shorten the leg's extensions, of course not.
I had gotten the 16" pier for the CG-4...
Later, I halved it, and to about 8.5" in height...
...and to a tolerance of approximately 1/64". I also painted it, "safety blue".
In order to eliminate the tripod's spreader/tray, where the legs join the tripod-hub, I had replaced the twelve(!) "leatherette" washers, four for each union...
...and with six, rather, of phosphor-bronze...
This resulted in a smooth yet firm motion of each leg; far better than before.
Then, there I was at the time, oblivious as to how prophetic this colour would prove to be...
