Ad Astra Observatory

Jimbo,

Thanks a lot for the info. Excellent advice!

Thanks,

Alex
On Feb 15, 2008, at 4:44 PM, Jimbo S. Harris wrote:

> Hi Alex,
>
> At 09:12 PM 2/15/2008 +0000, you wrote:
>> I am interested in this. Would it hold a CPC 11 ota ok? How are the

>> gears? Did it perform well at guiding long exposures? Is it SBIG
>> friendly?
>
> Unfortunately, the mount is sold. However, I’ll be happy to answer
> your
> questions, so that you can jump on the next Losmandy G-11 to come up.

>
> The G-11 will hold a C-11 OTA no problem for visual use.
>
> For photography, I think it would probably also work, but you’re
> getting
> towards the upper limit of what I’d expect out of the mount, so it
> depends

> upon whether you have a self-guiding camera or whether you’ll need
> to mount
> a guidescope. I assume that it would work either way, honestly;
> they used
> to sell the C-14 on this mount (and still sell both C-11 and C-14
> with the

> Celestron “clone” of the G-11, called the CGE). But you want to
> keep an eye
> on hitting the mount’s “upper weight limit” when you’re talking about

> astrophotography.
>
> This mount runs and tracks beautifully. I’m told that many people
> find the
> need to tune their G-11 mounts, tearing them down and regreasing
> them. I’ve

> not felt the need to do this to mine, and it runs beautifully. YMMV.
>
> I use the mount for photography. I have a 1000mm focal length (8” f/5)
> telescope that I use. At this focal length, I have run unguided
> exposures
> up to 5 minutes and guided exposures of unlimited duration (up to the

> skyfog limit).
>
> I use an SBIG ST-4 standalone autoguider. The G-11 comes with an
> autoguider
> port that accepts the ST-4’s RJ12 guide cable. because the ST-4
> sends its

> guide commands via internal relays (you can hear them click as it’s
> requesting corrections), you can plug the ST-4 directly into the
> G-11. For
> most self-guided SBIG cameras, you need a relay box or opto-
> isolator box.
> SBIG sells these, I think, or you can find one on Astromart.

>
> I consider the Losmandy G-11 to be a first “big” mount, one that’s
> designed
> and built to the quality you’d expect to take on the daunting task of
> astrophotography. I upgraded from a Celestron AS-GT mount, and my

> astrophotography advanced by leaps and bounds as soon as I
> installed the
> G-11. It’s been a wonderful experience for me.
>
> I hope that this helps you. These mounts come up often on
> Astromart, so

> you’ll catch the next one.
>
> Clear skies,
> Jimbo
> Newark, CA
>