Telescope Reviews: Canadian Telescopes 152 F-5.9 Acromatic Refractor

Al:
The short answer to your question is yes, I am happy with the CG5-GT mount. But there were problems that had to be solved before I was satisfied. One of the problems (mentioned in my review) is the Vixen type saddle supplied with the mount. This is the weak point when it comes to this mounts payload capicity. The all up weight of my telescope system is about 34 pounds. The thought of mounting my telescope on the CG5 saddle was just plain scary. If you look at the picture of the CG5 saddle in my review, you'll see 2 teeth about 2 1/2 inches apart on one side and a screw lock on the other side. These 3 contact points are all you have to carry the weight! Every time you use the screw lock to mount the scope your going to make gouge marks in your dove tail bar. Over a period of time this will really tear it up. The 6 inch ADM replacement saddle solves this problem. With the new saddle the mount lives up to it's advertised 35 pound payload capicity with no problem. The 2nd problem I ran into was with the power cord supplied with the mount. The cord comes with a nice screw lock feature to hold the cord tightly in place when pluged in. But you can't use it! The socket on the drive base is to shallow. You can't push the power cord plug far enough into the socket to engage the screw lock. With out the locking feature the power cord plug is to loose and the drive base looses power intermitently. This blows the mounts alignment every time it happens, which forces you to redo the alignment. A major annoyance. I bought a new power cord which I had to jury rig to fit tightly in the socket to solve the problem. The last problem I found was with the lubrication of the mounts drive gears. From other reviews I read some buyers complained that there wasn't enough grease on the gears or that it was to stiff in cold weather. I decided to take the covers off my drive base to check. To my shock I found no lubrication! The gears were running metal to metal! I used a light wheel bearing grease I bought at Auto Zone to solve the problem. Now that I have solved these problems the mount has performed very well. After balancing the scope it carries the scopes weight with ease. When using the 2 star alignment method plus 2 additional stars the go to pointing accuracy has been excellent. I hope this gives you a better idea of this mount. If you have any more questions let me know.

Warren