Telescope Reviews: CG-3 Tips and stability

So this is the mount that came on my astromaster. The EQ head isn't too bad. Its got some slop in the RA, but not bad. The real handicap with this mount is the tripod. The legs flex a good bit, and I really don't think it can handle more weight, as far as trying to put some weight underneath it.

So, I first tightened up all the screws. The screws that holds the forks for the legs to the base of the tripod needed tightening. You can't tighten too tight, it is just plastic and will break. The biggest gripe I have is that the legs slide into these forks and are riveted to the plastic forks. Eventually, the legs will wobble inside these forks. What I did was took some packing foam, cut it into small pieces, and wedged it on several sides between the aluminum tube and the inside of the fork. This was done for each leg because all of them had some wobble in it. After I made these adjustments, the tripod was much steadier.

Also, the EQ head latitude screw used to have plastic bushing. This was to protect the metal portion that comes in contact when setting latitude. Mine had worn off and started to make a slight hole into this metal portion. I used some electrical tape on the end of the screw. This seems to hold quite well, and protect the metal.

All and all, celestron probably should have used a beefier tripod for this EQ head, because the EQ head seems to be pretty good for the money.

If anyone else has some tips for this mount, please, I'd love to know.

Dj