De-forking LX90

[Neil]

G'day everyone,has any one de_forked a LX90 12"?, if so do you know how much it weighs and what did you mount it on?Or how much a Celestron C11 weighs, which I think would be a similar weight. Thanks and clear skies.

[casstony]

Meade 12" is about 38 pounds with Losmandy dovetail.
C11 is about 30 pounds with Losmandy dovetail.

[Neil]

Thanks for the quick reply Tony, so it is 38 pounds, not kilos, sorry if I seem critical but I expected it to weigh more! thanks again, clear skies.

[casstony]

Hi Neil, yes it was 38 pounds for the bare OTA and dovetail. I had one I mounted on a T-Rex at one stage. You'd need at least an EQ6 or preferrably a G11 to carry the Meade 12.

[GrampianStars (Rob)]

Originally Posted by casstony

Meade 12" is about 38 pounds with Losmandy dovetail.
C11 is about 30 pounds with Losmandy dovetail.

I'm led to believe there is a chunky steel weight inside the back of the Meade
about 6pounds which can be removed

[Merlin66 (Ken)]

I think my C11 is only about 11Kg...must check.
Yes, there's a great big iron counterweight ring mounted in the inside of the mirror cell. This was required to bring the balance point of the OTA back to the dec axis. I have some photos somewhere.
Not an easy job to remove!!
I found the 12" Lx OTA unstable on a NEQ6...sold it and went for the lighter C11.
EDIT: It weighs 12Kg

[Neil]

Thanks to all for your help, are there any pictures of the De-forking procedure, or is it straight forward enough to do, clear skies.

[Merlin66 (Ken)]

Neil,
I don't know if the LX90 has the same three connection points between the Dec stub and the OTA, but I do have a write-up based on the Lx200.
I'll find it and upload...

[Merlin66 (Ken)]

This may be of help...

[Neil]

Thanks Ken , that seems pretty straightforward.

[Merlin66 (Ken)]

Yeah.
I've de-forked 8" 10" and 12" Lx200 (MANY times!) as well as fitting needle roller bearings to the Dec axis and tuning the fork alignment (orthogonal)