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Tonight was the first time I imaged with the RA extension installed. I found both DEC and RA a little stiffer when balancing my CN-212 but didn't think much of it. After changing the polar scope reticle lens I had to tweak elevation and azimuth. Elevation wasn't too bad but azimuth was hard enough that one of the end knobs grub screw slipped on the shaft. So it seems that shifting the weight forward did act as a lever at the base of the mount enough to seize the azimuth setting. Has anyone experienced such shifts in balance with older mounts? My G11 is a 2000 model. I'm just wondering about possible wear and tear of the RA shaft assembly mostly with the COG shift forward.

Hi Marc,
I have the RAEXT on my GM811GHD, (which is 20 years younger than your G11) but did not notice any COG change after installing it.
(Not that I would, my telescope is rather light anyway. And I'm probably not smart enough too. ;^) )

I did, however, do away with a lot of hassles like removing my weight and CW Bar. I was concerned I might do excess wear and tear on my CW Bars threads.
And separating the Dec from the RA has given me much easier setup and tear down convenience. I configured my equipment to make it easy for me to carry out and back, and setup with the least work.
I call them
--
SonnyE


(I suggest viewed in full screen)

I'm at latitude 34 degrees South. The overhang is likely bigger than at your location as the pole is lower on the horizon so this might be an issue in sub tropical regions closer to the equator. I also noticed the motors were running a little hot. It makes sense that with the angle and the geometry of the mount with the extension that the payload should be reduced.

Here's a pic of the mount before/after with both the RA clip and DEC spacer. RA angle is ~34 degrees.

Anybody else has an opinion or can shed some light on this?

Actually, I'm at 34.5° North.
So we may not be that much different.
Except the water in our toilets spins backwards. That is a bit annoying.

I love the RAEXT. But for other reasons as well.
I tried the No Meridian Flip of it. I found it amazing!
I think once you get to using it you will probably like it a lot.

(Looks around) I might be the only other one using the RAEXT around here. 8^0
But I got it so I could manage my set-up better. The No Meridian Flip is a treat for me.
--
SonnyE


(I suggest viewed in full screen)

What payload do you have on the mount? I'm talking about C11 type load here for myself. I'll weigh the Takahashi CN-212 and see. I'd be interested to hear people experience with heavier loads.
PS: Just weighted it.? It's 13kg with Camera.?

Here's a pic of the whole setup indoors.

On Mon, Sep 21, 2020 at 06:13 PM, marc@... wrote:

What payload do you have on the mount? I'm talking about C11 type load here for myself. I'll weigh the Takahashi CN-212 and see. I'd be interested to hear people experience with heavier loads.
PS: Just weighted it.? It's 13kg with Camera.?

Mine is pretty light. From the Bar up, I'm at?7.937866 Kilo's (17.5 pounds) My stuff is small, Deep Space Objects, Nebula specific, OSC Atik Infinky camera. ;^)
Just an Orion ED80T CF telescope, which is a mere 2.49 Kilo's dry. All the rest of the "fat" is my added on stuff. LOL!
Pretty fly weight, compared to you and most others. Bottom dweller here. Poor Boy Astro. ;^)
I can't see me with a beautiful scope like your Tak. I think the CFO might clip my nuts if something that nice showed up.

It looks like you have plenty of D-bar to balance with the RAEXT. So No worries, Mate.
Once you are ready, try doing a no meridian flip run. My very first one went . From eastward to near mount crash westward. I got the deepest image ever.
And all because Scott managed to make the Meridian flip obsolete.
But I did get the RAEXT to divide the load up into manageable pieces.
I had no second thoughts about balance, I trust Scott took that into consideration. And I had to rebalance after I changed to "Piggy Backed" with my Guide Scope.
I honestly think you will really like having the RAEXT. No need to dismount your weights anymore. And when you assemble, all lands in balance.

Still drooling over your Tak. ;^)



?
(I post links to save server space. They go to Cloudy terms of service.)
--
SonnyE


(I suggest viewed in full screen)

I'd like to hear from Brian or anyone at Losmandy to address my concerns. If it's a non issue then I'm happy to go ahead with the load as it is knowing that I'm still within the mount specs.

I hear you about no meridian flip Sonny. It is very cool indeed to have that extra space.

That CN-212 is a rescue. I don't know if any of you guys have access to the TAK group but I have a photo gallery there at?/g/UncensoredTakGroup/album?id=224698?. I rebuilt it from scratch.
Like you I haven't won the lotto yet and don't have much pesos to spend on astro gear. My one and only mount is 20 years old and that scope is even older. I have to say it has beautiful optics. I did a lot of deepsky imaging with it with that G11. It's long FL and I'm starting to do some planetary with it too.

Hi Marc

If I understand your question, you are asking if adding the RAEXT changes the spec of the mount in some way?

the answer to that question is no. We have not received any inquiries or emails regarding any difficulties adjusting either Alt or Az from new mount owners or RAEXT upgrades.?

We have mount owners with RAExt with a broad spectrum of ota weights so I don't think the load is a concern

i'll ask Scott as well and see what input he has.?


Brian

Hi Brian, thanks for the green light. If it helps my mounts is?S/N HGM200069096. Thanks again mate.