How to mount an Orion Awesome Autoguider on a WO FLT 132?

[naskies (Dave)]

Hi everyone,

So... another part of my set up arrived today: a pre-loved William Optics FLT-132. Having all these bits and pieces arriving over several weeks feels a little bit like a reverse Mafia kidnapping... one body part at a time!

Anyhow, my current challenge is to figure out how to piggyback mount the Orion ShortTube 80 scope onto the FLT 132.

The Orion package comes with two mounting rings and a Vixen-style dovetail - as can be seen in the photo. Unfortunately, the holes don't quite line up with the FLT-132's mounting rings - it's out by a mere 5 mm (244 mm vs 249 mm).

Any suggestions where/how to find a plate that would work?

Thanks!

[Steffen]

Can't the WO rings be moved to wherever you want them? Are there no matching sets of holes on the WO mount plate and the Orion plate?

Cheers
Steffen.

[casstony]

Apart from drilling a new hole in the vixen style dovetail, you could buy a slotted D series universal dovetail such as those sold by Losmandy, ADM Accessories or Farpoint Astro. The slot lets you adjust the spacing of the rings as needed. Alternatively you could buy a slotted vixen dovetail for the piggybacked scope.

Bintel has Losmandy slotted dovetails, or....
http://admaccessories.com/D_Series_Universal.htm

In the ADM list they mention a dovetail with metric spacing and screws to suit WO.

[leon]

Dave, just drill another hole and make it fit mate, the quickest and cheapest way to go.

Leon

[casstony]

If you have space in a shed a cheap pedestal drill is a handy piece of gear to own - I've often needed to drill holes in various astro gear, all done with a hand held drill, and it's difficult to get holes and countersinking perfectly square.

[naskies (Dave)]

Originally Posted by Steffen

Can't the WO rings be moved to wherever you want them? Are there no matching sets of holes on the WO mount plate and the Orion plate?

Unfortunately not... they're all about by the same 4-5 mm

Originally Posted by casstony

Bintel has Losmandy slotted dovetails, or....
http://admaccessories.com/D_Series_Universal.htm

In the ADM list they mention a dovetail with metric spacing and screws to suit WO.

I spoke to someone at Bintel earlier today and they didn't think they had anything suitable. The ADM plates look perfect (I didn't make the connection from BPO's suggestion in my other thread) - thanks!

Originally Posted by leon

Dave, just drill another hole and make it fit mate, the quickest and cheapest way to go.

I hear you Leon... except my hands and eyes have long ago agreed to disagree when it comes to coordination!

I'll probably DIY in the future, but whilst I'm still numb from paying for everything else I figure what harm is there in buying another plate... right? Oh boy, and I thought that terrestrial/studio photography was an expensive hobby...

[Alchemy (Clive)]

I cant see the problem, just march down to your local metal supplier and purchase a flat bit of 6- 8 mm plate aluminium, drill away ... Job done

I'm assuming the 132 is already on the mount and the holes on the mount/ scope plate are the larger size. Wheras the supplied new one is too small.

I would think with a flat plate the piggybacked scope would be far more stable.

[Steffen]

I'm not sure which WO dovetail plate is attached to the other side of your tube rings, but I'm confident that Lee Andrews can fix you up with the exact same one to put your Orion rings on. If you don't find a cheaper ADM equivalent, that is…

Cheers
Steffen.

EDIT I just noticed that the Orion rings simply screw on to the dovetail, so it doesn't have to be a dovetail at all. Can you space your tube rings a bit closer and bolt the guide scope rings straight onto the tube rings?

[naskies (Dave)]

Originally Posted by Alchemy

I cant see the problem, just march down to your local metal supplier and purchase a flat bit of 6- 8 mm plate aluminium, drill away ... Job done

Hmm I'm starting to think this is the better way to go.

Originally Posted by Steffen

I just noticed that the Orion rings simply screw on to the dovetail, so it doesn't have to be a dovetail at all. Can you space your tube rings a bit closer and bolt the guide scope rings straight onto the tube rings?

I don't think so... here's a photo of the plate under the scope. I think the minimum distance for the rings on the FLT is longer than the main tube section of the Orion ShortTube 80.

Thanks for your help everyone I think I'll give one of the ADM D Series Universal Bars a go first. If that doesn't work, I'll brush up on my drilling skills.

Ideally, it'd be great to have some kind of quick release mechanism so that I can detach/reattach the guide scope more easily every time.

[casstony]

You can also buy adjustable rings from ADM to go with the dovetail so that you end up with something looking like this to go on top of the main scope: http://www.farpointastro.com/dovetails/fdr90.php

[naskies (Dave)]

Hooray, my ADM D-style plate and V-to-D adapter plates finally arrived today (USPS took a while). A quick test showed that it all works together.

I think I may even be able to swap a few pieces around and turn the V-to-D adapter into a quick release mechanism for my guide scope.

Thanks for your suggestions everyone!