Re: Extra load on an LX200 (how much?)

On Mon, 24 Nov 2003 06:31:26 GMT, "Michael Kreuzer"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

>How much extra weight can I attach to an LX200 and still be in with a chance
>at taking photographs?  As a pre-emptive follow up question, is the 10"
>better suited to photography (and can it take more weighty attachments) than
>its larger brethren because it's on the same forks as a 12", or is that
>missing something?
>
>I'm envisaging a 4" guide scope (or smaller), plus cameras on the guidescope
>& the SCT.

There is no simple answer to this. The more weight you add, the more problems
you introduce. I can give a reference point, though. I'm using a 12" LX00
classic, and have the following equipment: filter wheel, ST8i, 50mm dia
guidescope with ST237 guider using Losmandy mountings. There is also a RoboFocus
motor on the primary. This is all counterbalanced by a Losmandy 3D weight system
on the bottom of the scope, and I also have a couple of pounds on the east fork.
With this system, I don't have any problems with flexure, tracking error, or
resonance.

Film, with its lower sensitivity and lower resolution, is more tolerant of
tracking problems than CCDs. I don't think you will have any problems with
either a 12" or 10" LX200. You can save weight with a smaller guidescope- what
you are proposing using is larger than it needs to be.

_________________________________________________

Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com