[Astroman (Andrew Wall)]

Hi all,

Thinking about modifying my current Skywatcher 8" F6 Newtonian into a Strut type scope so I can put it on top of the HEQ5Pro. The idea I have is shown in the image below, simply 4 pieces of 19mm Ply with a Dovetail bar etc.. The idea is so I can modify my current scope that used to go onto my EQ6, but make it lighter for the HEQ5, also without the solid tube should have less momentum force, in theory? I will be using a finderguider so the extra weight shouldn't put me over... Currently I measure the weight of the scope at 7kg. My Refractor and Camera combined is 5kg, so I would like to at least get the weight of the OTA alone down to 5kg if possible... Has anyone accomplished this and how well did it perform? I googled around but didn't have much luck.

The only other thing I may do, since the scope will be slightly shorter for Photography, is I may have to make the Secondary mirror slightly larger to get full illumination.

Image below shows the design with the Rear of the scope towards the left. I haven't added the mirror cell holder or anything like that to the image yet...