Updating a 40 year old equatorial mount
My old Jaegers 1" shaft GEM is solid as a battleship, but it came from the factory with a cast aluminum universal saddle that was meant to bolt-on tubes from 3" to 8" OD. Today we use dovetail plates to attach telescopes to German equatorial mounts, a much better system as it allows easily adjustable balance, and easier use of multiple OTA's on the same mount. This summer I converted that old Jaegers mount to use Losmandy style dovetail plates, just as my modern CGEM mount uses. It will breathe new life into that old mount. I plan further upgrades as time permits, such as a DEC slo-motion, and a better RA drive gear. But for now it's already much more user-friendly than it was, and more versatile. Here's the thread I posted tonight over on CN: http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/6044004/pag... Comments welcome, both on this board and CN. Thanks for looking!
Thanks for posting, Chuck. Nice work. 73 Sent from my iPad On Aug 24, 2013, at 8:33 PM, Chuck Hards <chuck.hards@gmail.com> wrote:
My old Jaegers 1" shaft GEM is solid as a battleship, but it came from the factory with a cast aluminum universal saddle that was meant to bolt-on tubes from 3" to 8" OD. Today we use dovetail plates to attach telescopes to German equatorial mounts, a much better system as it allows easily adjustable balance, and easier use of multiple OTA's on the same mount.
This summer I converted that old Jaegers mount to use Losmandy style dovetail plates, just as my modern CGEM mount uses. It will breathe new life into that old mount. I plan further upgrades as time permits, such as a DEC slo-motion, and a better RA drive gear. But for now it's already much more user-friendly than it was, and more versatile.
Here's the thread I posted tonight over on CN:
http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/6044004/pag...
Comments welcome, both on this board and CN.
Thanks for looking! _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy
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Impressive, Chuck. ________________________________ From: Larry Holmes <larry@kijoda.com> To: Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Saturday, August 24, 2013 8:56 PM Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Updating a 40 year old equatorial mount Thanks for posting, Chuck. Nice work. 73 Sent from my iPad On Aug 24, 2013, at 8:33 PM, Chuck Hards <chuck.hards@gmail.com> wrote:
My old Jaegers 1" shaft GEM is solid as a battleship, but it came from the factory with a cast aluminum universal saddle that was meant to bolt-on tubes from 3" to 8" OD. Today we use dovetail plates to attach telescopes to German equatorial mounts, a much better system as it allows easily adjustable balance, and easier use of multiple OTA's on the same mount.
This summer I converted that old Jaegers mount to use Losmandy style dovetail plates, just as my modern CGEM mount uses. It will breathe new life into that old mount. I plan further upgrades as time permits, such as a DEC slo-motion, and a better RA drive gear. But for now it's already much more user-friendly than it was, and more versatile.
Here's the thread I posted tonight over on CN:
http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/6044004/pag...
Comments welcome, both on this board and CN.
Thanks for looking! _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy
Send messages to the list to Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com
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_______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Send messages to the list to Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com The Utah-Astronomy mailing list is not affiliated with any astronomy club. To unsubscribe go to: http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Then enter your email address in the space provided and click on "Unsubscribe or edit options".
Nice upgrade to the old gem. I kind of fit into the relic class myself. I learned how to navigate using setting circles off of a C8 orange tube that had a RA motor. We just ordered a couple of the new Celestron AVX gem mounts and they do not even have an setting circle on then. My Super Polaris, LX90 and even the LXD500 has circles but this is the first new mounts that we have bought and only markers to align for alignment purposes. On Sat, Aug 24, 2013 at 9:04 PM, Chuck Hards <chuck.hards@gmail.com> wrote:
Thanks Joe. I have to admit that I'm more comfortable using the old push-to mounts. I'm a relic from another time I guess.
On Sat, Aug 24, 2013 at 9:01 PM, Joe Bauman <josephmbauman@yahoo.com> wrote:
Impressive, Chuck.
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-- Such a long long time to be gone, such a short time to be there.
Thank you, Larry. The CGEM is a better mount in many ways, but I feel much more at ease with the old Jaegers. It's guided me to many sights over the years. The dovetail clamp will keep it in use for years to come, knock on wood. It also has a heavier payload capacity than the CGEM. I'm going to try my tandem saddle on there in the next day or two, maybe try the C6 alongside the 110mm RFT refractor. That would be a nice pair for most any observing. On Sat, Aug 24, 2013 at 8:56 PM, Larry Holmes <larry@kijoda.com> wrote:
Thanks for posting, Chuck. Nice work. 73
Excellent work Chuck! Mat -----Original Message----- From: utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Larry Holmes Sent: Saturday, August 24, 2013 10:57 PM To: Utah Astronomy Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Updating a 40 year old equatorial mount Thanks for posting, Chuck. Nice work. 73 Sent from my iPad On Aug 24, 2013, at 8:33 PM, Chuck Hards <chuck.hards@gmail.com> wrote:
My old Jaegers 1" shaft GEM is solid as a battleship, but it came from the factory with a cast aluminum universal saddle that was meant to bolt-on tubes from 3" to 8" OD. Today we use dovetail plates to attach telescopes to German equatorial mounts, a much better system as it allows easily adjustable balance, and easier use of multiple OTA's on the same mount.
This summer I converted that old Jaegers mount to use Losmandy style dovetail plates, just as my modern CGEM mount uses. It will breathe new life into that old mount. I plan further upgrades as time permits, such as a DEC slo-motion, and a better RA drive gear. But for now it's already much more user-friendly than it was, and more versatile.
Here's the thread I posted tonight over on CN:
http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/6044004/pag...
Comments welcome, both on this board and CN.
Thanks for looking! _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy
Send messages to the list to Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com
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To unsubscribe go to: http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Then enter your email address in the space provided and click on "Unsubscribe or edit options".
_______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Send messages to the list to Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com The Utah-Astronomy mailing list is not affiliated with any astronomy club. To unsubscribe go to: http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Then enter your email address in the space provided and click on "Unsubscribe or edit options". This message and any attachments are solely for the use of intended recipients. The information contained herein may include trade secrets, protected health or personal information, privileged or otherwise confidential information. Unauthorized review, forwarding, printing, copying, distributing, or using such information is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. If you are not an intended recipient, you are hereby notified that you received this email in error, and that any review, dissemination, distribution or copying of this email and any attachment is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please contact the sender and delete the message and any attachment from your system. Thank you for your cooperation
I'm continually impressed with the level of sophistication and craftsmanship some of you bring to this wonderful hobby! Kudos Chuck, this is impressive. /R ________________________________ From: Chuck Hards <chuck.hards@gmail.com> To: Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Saturday, August 24, 2013 8:33 PM Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Updating a 40 year old equatorial mount My old Jaegers 1" shaft GEM is solid as a battleship, but it came from the factory with a cast aluminum universal saddle that was meant to bolt-on tubes from 3" to 8" OD. Today we use dovetail plates to attach telescopes to German equatorial mounts, a much better system as it allows easily adjustable balance, and easier use of multiple OTA's on the same mount. This summer I converted that old Jaegers mount to use Losmandy style dovetail plates, just as my modern CGEM mount uses. It will breathe new life into that old mount. I plan further upgrades as time permits, such as a DEC slo-motion, and a better RA drive gear. But for now it's already much more user-friendly than it was, and more versatile. Here's the thread I posted tonight over on CN: http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/6044004/pag... Comments welcome, both on this board and CN. Thanks for looking! _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Send messages to the list to Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com The Utah-Astronomy mailing list is not affiliated with any astronomy club. To unsubscribe go to: http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Then enter your email address in the space provided and click on "Unsubscribe or edit options".
participants (6)
-
Chuck Hards -
Hutchings, Mat -
Joe Bauman -
Larry Holmes -
Richard Tenney -
Robert Taylor