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Scott Rose
sage
Reged: 04/20/08
Posts: 262
Loc: beachwood ohio
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Getting a larger scope may nessecitate a larger mount. How is this scope in terms of take down and setup. I have heard you can even break down the head into two parts.
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HaleBopper
professor emeritus
Reged: 01/14/08
Posts: 500
Loc: Great White North
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Quite portable. I break mine down into the tripod legs, tripod centre coulmn, and the equitorial mount itself. Also the counter weight and shaft. In the dark I can have it up in no more than 15 min.
http://www.losmandy.com/g-11-manual.html
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8" SCT Losmandy G11, CG5 mounts
Canon Digital Rebel 400
Kodak Easyshare 2.0 Megapixels
5, 8, 13, 17, 24mm Orion Stratus
Hyperion 31 mm Aspheric
Pentax 10 mm XW
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Billydee
super member
Reged: 01/23/08
Posts: 186
Loc: Winter Haven, FL
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HaleBopper is very correct. Your knowledge of the head breaking down in two parts is also correct but it takes an allen wrench or modification with a set of Bob's Knobs. I carry the entire head in a roller case with wheels then you only have to lift 35lbs plus once.
Remember that portable means different things to different people. I'm 65 years old with a bad back, you may be 20 years old and a weight lifter.
Scott Losmandy designed a great mount that is reasonably portable with a great load capacity. You just need to learn how to take advantage of those facts. Go to a star party and offer to help a fellow Star Nut put up his G-11.
Luck, Bill
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Charlie Hein
Postmaster
Reged: 11/02/03
Posts: 7969
Loc: 26.06.08N, +80.23.08W
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Portable enough if you're in workable shape.
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"He's dead, Jim - I'll get his wallet, you get his tricorder." - Leonard "Bones" McCoy
Weston CSC:
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Luigi
Post Laureate
Reged: 07/03/07
Posts: 4947
Loc: MA
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I had one for 10+ years used primarily with a C11. It certainly is portable and works very well with it's rock solid tripod. I downsized OTAs so also downsized mounts to a CG5, which is a considerable upgrade over the G11...in terms portability.
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17.5" f/5 Dob. IM-715 MCT. 120ED. Lunt 60mm Ha.
Zeiss, Leica, Fujinon, Nikon, Pentax, Bushnell bins
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blueman
Vendor Blue Sky Accessories
Reged: 07/20/07
Posts: 1433
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I transport and set up mine every time I use it. I store it in the bottom storage area of my motor home. The head, weights, shaft and cables all go into a rolling case and the tripod legs and headare in a cloth case that I made myself.
It takes about 5 minutes to set up the mount, not including the telescope and cameras.
No one piece is too heavy, though the mount head is not light either.
Blueman
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14.5" Starmaster with ServoCat and Argo Navis
AT 8" RC
TV NP101 f/5.4 APO Telvue .8 Focal Reducer
WO 80mm f/6 APO Televue .8 focal reducer
SBig ST2000xm with CFW-9 filter wheel
Astrodon Gen2 filters RGBL
Baader HA,O-III, H-Beta, S-II Filters
Losmandy G-11 Gemini Auto-guided
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gnowellsct
professor emeritus
Reged: 06/24/09
Posts: 733
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Portable in space consumed? Portable in weight? Portable in terms of standing up to random shocks and abuse?
It's an eminently manageable configuration. In terms of packing the three-hole tripod head is a bit awkward to find a place for. The legs fold up very nicely and are easily removable. The default tripod is probably, strength to price and all considered, the best deal on the amateur market in its price range.
Since the mount head can be used on a Berlebach wood tripod or an ATS pier, etc., I'm not sure how one can ever fully answer this question. I find ease of setup of a Berlebach tripod is better than the default Losmandy tripod. Stability of the Berlebach is excellent, and I prefer the way the whole unit folds up for transport.
The actual equatorial head is a good size and weight.
The durability of the configuration is sweet. The finish is nice. I've been tossing this thing in the trunk for nearly ten years and it still looks impressive and performs well. I generally feel that the G11 "needs less babying" than my 900QMD in order to look pretty.
Here's a picture of an alternate G11 tripod set up just to let you know there are alternatives:
Losmandy on Berelbach tripod
The wood seems to be as stable as the metal tripod. I think that's because wood has superior damping qualities intrinsically, you need to build aluminum more massively to get stability.
Greg N
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"Aperture will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no aperture."
featuring selected astrojunk:
bunch o' widefield eyepieces
bunch o' narrowfield eyepieces
couple o' Barlows
couple o' scopes
couple o' mounts
couple o' tripods
and a pier 'n' stuff
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revans
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 09/26/05
Posts: 1516
Loc: Fitchburg, MA
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I can't carry mine around assembled. I have to take the equatorial head off and move it, the weight(s), and the tripod separately as well as the power box, cables etc... not to mention the telescope. I miss the days when I could tote my Sears 60 mm F15 refractor around attached to its equatorial mount complete with wooden tripod and with the counterweight attached and it would even sort of track 
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Rick Evans
http://www.freewebs.com/revans_01420/
"The universe is there for us to see, but it cannot be understood without learning its language -- mathematics." Galileo Galilei
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Scott Rose
sage
Reged: 04/20/08
Posts: 262
Loc: beachwood ohio
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How stable are wheelie bars? Do the dampen vibration at all, or do they create a more unstable situation.
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7331Peg
professor emeritus
Reged: 09/01/08
Posts: 730
Loc: North coast of Oregon
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I consider the G11 very portable - but no, you're not going to move the whole thing in one piece - tripod, head, and weights - unless you're the size of a large football player or you're intent on destroying your back.
I set mine up in three pieces - tripod, equatorial head with counter-weight shaft attached, and the weight(s). The head is heavy, but not unmanageable, and leaving the counter-weight shaft attached provides you a good place to get a firm grip - right at the top shaft and behind it.
I had a CGE and it just got to be too darn heavy to set up. The G11 tripod is much lighter, and at least as stable, if not more so. The equatorial head is also quite a bit lighter.
One thing you quickly learn in this hobby is to keep the gear light enough to avoid hurting your back. The CGE was pressing the limit as far as I was concerned - the G11 is a much more comfortable fit.
When I get to 90, I'll switch to a G8. 
John
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darylf96
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 08/28/04
Posts: 1391
Loc: Danville, California
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I had a Pelican case, but the case is heavy for portability, so I went to Target, found a perfect size piece of luggage that has very secure interior straps that work really well in securing the mount head from movement, and has wheels and a collapsible, sturdy, handle for rolling it along. The counterweight bar fits perfectly in a zippered suit compartment. It also has very large, zippered, pockets for the electronics, hardware, finder scope and cables all stored in plastic baggies of various sizes. A cheap solution. I paid less than $50 for the luggage.
Regards
Daryl
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Intes Micro MN66 - Meade 10" SCT
Orion EON 120mmm ED f7.5 Apo
Skywatcher 150mm f8 Achro
G-11, CG5A-GT Mounts
DM-6 With Sky Commander DSC
Astro-Tech AT80 Refractor f6.9 APO
Stellarvue 20x85 binos - Unimount
Kunming United Optics 7x50 binocs
Canon Rebel XT, Canon 20D, Canon SXi
SBIG ST-8XE
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darylf96
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 08/28/04
Posts: 1391
Loc: Danville, California
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Greg:
I plan on installing the O-Vision worm when I have a few extra bucks. I had a Meade HD field tripod with leg spreader and a Losmandy adapter that I mounted my MN-66 on and it works very well with the G-11. The spreader really adds stability and, of course, allows for any height increase desired. Very solid and I haven't had reason to test its damping time. It is easy to fold up and carry, and you can't really damage the darned thing. I have the Losmandy extension, but don't need it with the G-11 head mounted. Sorry to get off the thread a bit, but how difficult was the instal and adjustment of the OV worm?
Regards
Daryl
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Intes Micro MN66 - Meade 10" SCT
Orion EON 120mmm ED f7.5 Apo
Skywatcher 150mm f8 Achro
G-11, CG5A-GT Mounts
DM-6 With Sky Commander DSC
Astro-Tech AT80 Refractor f6.9 APO
Stellarvue 20x85 binos - Unimount
Kunming United Optics 7x50 binocs
Canon Rebel XT, Canon 20D, Canon SXi
SBIG ST-8XE
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gnowellsct
professor emeritus
Reged: 06/24/09
Posts: 733
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Quote:
Greg:
I plan on installing the O-Vision worm when I have a few extra bucks. I had a Meade HD field tripod with leg spreader and a Losmandy adapter that I mounted my MN-66 on and it works very well with the G-11. The spreader really adds stability and, of course, allows for any height increase desired. Very solid and I haven't had reason to test its damping time. It is easy to fold up and carry, and you can't really damage the darned thing. I have the Losmandy extension, but don't need it with the G-11 head mounted. Sorry to get off the thread a bit, but how difficult was the instal and adjustment of the OV worm?
Regards
Daryl
I found the installation to be easy but I have the G11 with the stepper motors. You have to be a bit more finicky with Gemini adjustments because you don't want the motors to stall. I have something like 3x the gearing on the stepper motors and the motors don't burn out in case of a bad adjustment, so I can "afford not to sweat it." I just went for what I though was a good backlash adjustment.
The adjustment itself is much easier than without Ovision, because the unit as a whole moves in and out, rather than one side at a time.
Greg N
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"Aperture will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no aperture."
featuring selected astrojunk:
bunch o' widefield eyepieces
bunch o' narrowfield eyepieces
couple o' Barlows
couple o' scopes
couple o' mounts
couple o' tripods
and a pier 'n' stuff
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mclewis1
Thread Killer
Reged: 02/25/06
Posts: 3952
Loc: New Brunswick, Canada
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Quote:
How stable are wheelie bars? Do the dampen vibration at all, or do they create a more unstable situation.
Scott,
If you leave the weight on the wheels you usually can feel more "looseness" which makes sense since there are more joints (wheel bearings, tripod to bars, etc.) that each add a bit of play. I did also find that the big soft wheels on the Scopebuggy did dampen vibrations a bit. The smaller harder stock wheels on the JMI "wheelie" don't dampen as well but also don't seem to have as much play.
With either vendor's "wheelie" if you lift the wheels off of the ground using the leveling bolts then things tighten up, particularly if you lock the leveling bolts. I'm comfortable imaging at 1000mm plus focal lengths when my CGE and Scopebuggy are locked down. In my case the Scopebuggy is also bolted together (bad for quick tear down and storage, good for stability) so there are less joints to move under load.
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Mark
C11, C6, APM/TMB115, and AT80ED - Tandem mount CGE and CG-5A, WO EZ-Touch and AT Voyager
25x100s and 8x56s, T-Mount Light, Mark 1 eyeballs - Modded 350D, DSI-P, SPC900, Mallincam
Just because you can doesn't necessarily mean that you should
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Eddgie
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 02/01/06
Posts: 2703
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The biggest issue with the G11 (in my own opinion) is that if you keep it inside, you may find it combersome to move the tripod without slipping off at least one leg.
You can crab it though the doors with all three legs on, but in my house, the assistant astronomer gets a very ugly look on her face when one of the tripod legs encounters any part of the habitation.
For this reson, I prefer tripods with folding legs.
That being said, the G11 is no harder to move than any other mount in the same class. If you need a big mount, you have to learn to live with that fact. LOL.
Also, while you can buy knobs at Bob's Knobs, you can also find just about any kind of knob under the sun at Mc Master-Carr. I have bought knobs to use on counterweights, knobs to use on tripods, and knobs for many other uses from them. I think I paid $15 for the three knobs I use in my CGE to remove the Semi-pier from the tripod top.. I like Bob, but his knobs are pricy when you can get as good a knob for much less money.
Regards.
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Celestron C14, CGE (Big Al)
Astro-Physics 6" f/8 (Buffy)
Televue 101 (No name, but I call it my Widescreen HD Space TV)
The night sky is my mistress. She seduces me away from all other lovers.
Edited by Eddgie (10/15/09 05:25 PM)
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