Losmandy G11 and Gemini

The G11 mount has been around for a number of years. My G11 is 14 years old now and has provided a number of great years of service with no error at all. The basic mount is a single piece and quite heveay (the current mount has a splitable RA and Dec unit for easy shipping) although not a light as an EQ6 it is still very easily managable in the field.

General setup and leveling

The tripod is a basic trip with extendable legs mat of 2.5 inch aluminium and is impressively stable. The legs attach to a tripod riser which is designed to accommodate the equatorial head which is guided by the fitting screws which are tightened through a hex wrench.

The ability to level the base is facilitated by 2 bubble levels on the equatorial head and requires that the mount be raised or lowered by the movement of the legs. This is not as easy as it sounds as the ability to move the legs in or out is a very crude method of gaining level. Recently I have been thinking of finding some metal or plastic wedges which will take the weight but also allow a finer leveling by moving the mount up and down the wedge.

Once the mount is level it is time to mount the 2inch weight bar as well as the Gemini and cables. The cables are strong and use a 9 pin din construction on either end which fit direct into the mount or into the Gemini. It is possible to place the cables in the wrong port as both the RA and DEC motors are of the same fitting and the mount will not complain once turned on. However that first goto slew will tell you that you are in the wrong position.

The scope / dovetail bar is in my case a losmandy fitting but it is possible to remove and add a standard vixen fitting ##Gemini control and setup