Expert: Paul Wagner - 10/10/2010

Question
Mr. Wagner,

I have and 8" f/5.9 Dobsonian and I'd like to upgrade it to have tracking capability.  I've considered tracking platforms but they're pretty pricey and for the money I could almost be at the goto mount level that I could later use for a wide variety of OTA options.

My question is:  Do you know if the OTA (at about four feet long) will have problems hitting the tripod legs of something like a Celestron CGEM if the telescope is nearly vertical when observing near the zenith?

Thanks a bunch,

Josh

Answer
Hi Josh

The short answer to your question is yes---there will be times when your tripod legs will get in the way of your OTA.  But that will only happen with objects that are more or less on the zenith---and nothing stays there long.  If you wait 20 minutes, the object will move across the sky, and shouldn't be such a problem.

I wouldn't let this be the reason to rule out this mount, if this is the one you want.

Paul Wagner