CG5 @ 1° N

ozgurunat · Post by **ozgurunat** » Mon May 16, 2011 12:22 pm

Hi Enewmen, I have a CG5 as well and had the same issue.

You do not need to cut the plastic. You must first remove the azimuth adjustment knobs (which you did as per the images I see above). Then by removing the small metal block right under the declination axis (right above those az adjustment knobs, below the plastic drive box), held by two big hex allen bolts, you are going to achieve down to 3 degrees.

The remaining 1.38 degrees (Singapore is 1.22N, 3-1.22 = 1.38) is achieved by extending one of the legs by some centimeters. After making some basic trigonometric calculations I extended the north leg by 52 mm and I am very close to the 1.2 degrees of Singapore. Just try using the tripod legs in the shortest and extend the north leg by 52mm, then try to point to north (or south) as precise as you can, then you can fine tune by taking exposures of 20-30 secs to see if the stars are trailing.

The only drawback is that, when the CG5 is set up so low, the counter weight hits the legs. So you must be careful to remember that you need to pull the cw up if you are slewing from one side to another and lower it back to balance the scope in place. Otherwise if you have a smaller scope, you can just keep the counterweight as close to the mount as possible and it will not hit the legs, going nearly tengent by a cm or so gap.

Cheers,
Ozgur

KKK26 · Post by **KKK26** » Tue May 17, 2011 2:31 pm

Hi James

Thanks for info. Need to check with orly whether it can be cut and be used with CG5 or need any modification.

orly_andico · Post by **orly_andico** » Mon May 23, 2011 3:52 pm

I got a response from Mr Khoo (Robin's contact in Shah Alam).

I sent him my pier design for the CGEM and he said he can fabricate it for 380 RM out of A6061 aluminum (not anodized). that's a pretty good price, and since i'm going to KL next Monday, good timing.

Robin Lee · Post by **Robin Lee** » Mon May 23, 2011 4:27 pm

orly_andico wrote:I got a response from Mr Khoo (Robin's contact in Shah Alam).

I sent him my pier design for the CGEM and he said he can fabricate it for 380 RM out of A6061 aluminum (not anodized). that's a pretty good price, and since i'm going to KL next Monday, good timing.

Sounds cool! Show us the pier when you got it.

orly_andico · Post by **orly_andico** » Mon May 23, 2011 4:40 pm

Heh. I'll finally get to use my CGEM.

Can't wait.

orly_andico · Post by **orly_andico** » Sat Jun 04, 2011 5:00 pm

Mr Khoo's company did an amazing job..

However there is still a problem.. which is completely my fault

The threaded holes in the pier top and bottom are the wrong size!! I specified an M8 for the top hole and an M10 for the bottom hole. But when I tried to bolt it to my CGEM, turns out the top hole is M10.. and the bottom hole is even bigger than M10!

The thing is quite heavy (about 3kg -- and Mr Khoo already had it shortened to 4" from my original 6") and I don't want to carry it back to Shah Alam. So I'll have to bore out the two holes myself and re-thread them myself. Taps don't cost too much. It will ruin the nice anodizing though. Oh well..

Robin Lee · Post by **Robin Lee** » Sat Jun 04, 2011 6:42 pm

Orly, it looks good, doesn't it? Well, since the hole you need is actually larger than the current one, I guess you are still good with it. Keep us posted.

orly_andico · Post by **orly_andico** » Sat Jun 04, 2011 7:06 pm

Yup... the bottom bolt is an M12 x 1.75mm. I'll order the right taps from RS Singapore (they are about $17 to $22 each) so I don't need to go hunting around Jalan Besar. I think I have an 8mm drill bit lying around, and need a 10mm bit to enlarge the bottom hole.

mymoon · Post by **mymoon** » Sun Jun 05, 2011 12:04 am

that is a mighty nice looking wedge and 4inch pier extension.

pity the wrong hole sizes.

Good luck with the drilling.

cheers

orly_andico · Post by **orly_andico** » Tue Jun 21, 2011 9:03 pm

I finally chased down the #%$%#$ M12 x 1.75 bolt (I needed a 3-inch one).

So the entire upper assembly (eep!) is held to the wedge by that single large socket-head bolt.

Azimuth adjustment knobs work as advertised.

The funny thing is.. (well maybe not so funny) is that I spent another S$150 for a power drill, drill bits, a pair of taps, and a tap handle. So now I can make threads in aluminum all day..