![]() I know many of you old schoolers love your GEMs, I used to enjoy using them, but anymore, I find them nothing but a hassle. I got rid of a Celestron CG-4, a Jaeger, and an Edmund GEM a year or so ago and the year before that two Unitron GEMs of different sizes went. I just prefer using my alt-az mounts as I get older. No more equatorial mounts for me, other than the native GEM that goes with my Monolux 4380. (I do have five alt-azimuth mounts of varying size and weight capabilities, plus a tripod and wedge for the Questar.)ĭownsizing continues here! My Meade LX70 GEM and stainless tripod have now been re-homed. All my scopes, other than the Questar, have Vixen mounting rails either on them or available as a substitute plate, and they all fall within the payload requirements of that mount. I’m down to one, my Meade LX-70 (CG-5 class) with dual-axis drives on a 2” stainless steel tripod and with a variety of counterweights of different size and mass. My downsizing of equatorial mounts is now complete. With that being said, I really hope I never wake up. If I sell either of them, I know I'll regret it shortly thereafter (the C90 Astro's optics are very close to perfectly collimated). My C8 and matching orange C90 Astro are just too nice to let go. I keep looking at my collection of scopes with the thought of downsizing, but when push comes to shove, I can't bring myself to part with any of them. Still, I promised to pass it on to a family member, but covid got in the way of my delivery. It has an absolutely wonderful mount (as well as an absolutely wonderful OTA), which could be used with other OTA's as well. And, I still have the Unitron 114 in my possession. These are not shared between scopes, so if the OTA goes, the associated mount goes as well. ![]() Other than these two GEMs, I have a number of scope specific fork mounts. Still, the scope OTA has really nice optics and is very rugged and easy to use. It's the go-to model, which other than being extremely noisy and a reason for all the neighborhood dogs to suddenly come alive, does absolutely nothing for me. Occasionally, and just to break the monotony, I'll throw my granddaughter's late model ETX90 OTA (she officially claimed it as her own) on the Polaris. The Polaris sees use with my C80 refractor and C90 Mak (late 70's - early 80's spotting scope). The Saturn only sees use at the moment with the C100 refractor and the 12" Meade SCT. I set the Saturn up with a Losmandy D saddle and the Polaris up with a Vixen style saddle. With these, I'm covering both ends of the Vixen mount spectrum. The only two GEMs I own at the moment are a Vixen Saturn and a Vixen Polaris. The VG2 is Much Better and, the 390 OTA rides better on the Mizar SP, anyway.Įdited by Bomber Bob, 03 June 2021 - 06:44 AM. I improved the Meade 390 AZ, but I won't keep it. That's all it takes for my Scope Menagerie. So, in BB Math, I have: 2 Meade EQs + 2 Mizar EQs + 2 Tripod Bases + 1 VersaGo. The only complete AZ is my rugged old Orion VersaGo 2 - probably my most-use rig in a typical year! I have 3 Lowes Big Buckets - each folded tripod goes in a bucket when not in use. My 1960s Filo Surveyor & 1990s Meade 884 are also multi-mount platforms and, I have a Mount Head Shelf in the shed for the Edmund (from Terra), Kenko KDS (from CharlieB), and Tak SC. Only 4 of my scopes have their original mounts, mainly for Display purposes. My 2 Meades & 2 Mizars (each in Tall & Short versions) can carry ALL of my Keeper Scopes. Took some carving & drilling to adapt long plates to, but now they are extremely versatile. There are better Classic EQs than the Meade StarFinders, but the MSFs are simple, easy to work on, & have no dangling wires to get in the way. Oh! And now both Mizars have nice MMD-III drives with hand controllers. Besides mount performance, my big factor was: How many of my scopes can work with This Particular Mount? I tried & passed-on the Vixen Polaris EQs - replaced those with the Mizars (they can take more weight, and they have Polar Alignment Scopes) and, the Mizars are easier to adapt Vixen-style clamps to (ADM has / had a couple of models that bolt on without drilling!).
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