Is it possible to piggyback a 8" Celestron OTA to a 16" Meade LX200

[Babylon5 (Shane)]

I know it sounds like a bit of a strange question. But my neighbour has an observatory and a Meade LX200 16" telescope. We would like to piggyback a Celestron 8" OTA to the 16". As we will have a hyperstar fitted to the Celestron and using a QHY8 to take photos.

Ultimately I'd love to somehow adapt the hyperstar to fit the Meade 16" but I'm pretty sure that is near impossible. So the next best thing we thought of was to put the Celestron 8" on the 16" Meade and we can make full use of the observatory and the fixed alignment. It's only a small observatory so not enough room to put in another mount.

Am I asking too much? Is it possible? Or are there alternatives that will do the job better or just as good?

Thanks,
Shane.

[Poita (Peter)]

I had a C6 piggybacked on a Meade 10", you are just scaling up a bit

I think you could do it with a bar on the 16", depending on the capacity of the mount.

[Babylon5 (Shane)]

Originally Posted by Poita

I had a C6 piggybacked on a Meade 10", you are just scaling up a bit

I think you could do it with a bar on the 16", depending on the capacity of the mount.

Thanks Poita, You wouldn't have a picture or link to the 'bar'? I'm not that knowledgeable on all the different equipment.

Regards,
Shane.

[Poita (Peter)]

Originally Posted by Babylon5

Thanks Poita, You wouldn't have a picture or link to the 'bar'? I'm not that knowledgeable on all the different equipment.

Regards,
Shane.

I don't I am afraid, but it was a standard vixen rail.

[Babylon5 (Shane)]

Thanks anyway. I have pretty much given up on trying to do it. Am going to use a F/3.3 focal reducer on the Meade 16" and attach a ccd camera to that. Won't bring the exposure times down as much as a Hyperstar at F/2.1 but probably less hassle in the long run.

Regards,
Shane.

[mithrandir (Andrew)]

If you decide to try piggyback I'd suggest a Vixen rail is a bit light for a C8 with it that far from the mount. D-series rules - either Losmandy or ADM.

[baileys2611 (Simon Bailey)]

I found when piggybacking just an 80mm WO APO on my SCT, flexure was a big problem. Now when I image I use off-axis guiding and remove as much weight as possible off the OTA - I'm getting tracking rates of no greater than 1/2 pixel error on good nights, which I'm ok with as an amateur.

Just my experience though, it might work with a suitable cradle that's strong enough to stop the flexure? 16" cradle though? $$$