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Astrophotography: New Polaris (NP) Mount for Astronomical Observations |
Last Update: 16 March 2001
Adapting to the fixed pod
This little German Equatorial Mount by VIXEN I bought in March 1997 including a R114S telescope which I sold later. It sits on a small wooden tripod and works fine there.
But in the dark night you easily hit the tripod and you loose your carefully made polar alignment.By luck I was given a sturdy aluminium pod from an Amateur Astronomer who died some time ago. With the help of some 100 liters of concrete and 4 long screws I built an "Open Air Observatory" behind our garage. Recently I added red light and 235V Mains supply with easy access.
I persuaded my radio friend Soenke to make me an adaptation for the NP mount to the pod. And it works well. It is a very robust connection and I am very pleased with it.
Additional counterweight
Again Soenke made me an additional counterweight of ca. 2.5 kg which allows me to fix my 150 mm f5 Newton to the mount.
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