[AZ-Observing] Re: Dove Tail sizes?

I have some Losmandy plates for both my 10 inch LX200 and the Meade 2080 
SCT, differing lengths.  Same plates fit various Celestrons, with 
differing radius blocks.

The (fairly heavy) Losmandy plates are black anodized aluminum, 4 inches 
wide (bottom side), 0.5 inch thick, with a 0.25 inch thick dovetail 
bevel section on the top side, which is 3 inches wide at the wide part 
of the bevels.  The dovetail bevel angle is 60 degrees (checked with a 
protractor), which matches a standard bevel cutter for a milling machine.
(There is some variation in the dovetail bevel section width on my 
plates -- the shorter plates measure 3 inches wide exactly on the bevel; 
the longer plates measure about 1/32 inch less than 3 inches wide on the 
bevel.)

The plates for the10 inch Meade LX200 (evidently also mounts on a 
Celestron C-11) is 17 1/4 inches long overall.
The plates for the 8 inch Meade 2080 SCT (possibly also fits the C-8) is 
13 inches long overall.

The plates will mount either top or bottom on the SCT tube(s).
The various accessory clamps can also be used to mount counterweights.

(NB, the Losmandy DA clamp will only close down to about 2-5/8 inch 
width, minimum on the dovetail bevel.)

There is also a web site for SOCAL accessory plates, which has CAD 
drawings of their 7, 11, and 15 inch long plates that are said to be 
compatible with Losmandy clamps and accessories.
SOCAL ASTRO DOVETAIL PLATES
http://socalastro.com/images/Dovetails/dovetails.htm

Beevo, I will happily LOAN you my plates and clamps for measurements.

Cheers,
Gene Lucas
(17250)


Bill VanOrden wrote:

>I am currently machining a new dovetail cap for the Atlas EQG I have and was
>trying to find out what the "standard" size of the most common dovetail
>mounting would be.
>I can make anything I want but figured maybe I should pick a common size.  I
>can accommodate a dovetail up to about 2.5" wide at the widest part.
>Thoughts?
>Beevo
>  
>

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