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Libra - Keller EZ-Saddle

#19235 - Libra Systems - Keller EZ-Saddle

Installing a heavy OTA has never been easier than with the new Keller EZ-Saddle. Designed by Allan Keller of PlaneWave Instruments, the EZ-Saddle offers innovative features never before seen in a telescope saddle plate.

The latest component of the Libra dovetail system, Optec's new Keller EZ-Saddle makes mounting large telescopes quick and easy. Featuring plenty of mounting options and bolt package kits for the PlaneWave / Ascension Instruments A200 mount, Astro-Physics mounts, Celestron CGE Pro, Losmandy G11, Mountain Instruments MI-250, and the Paramount Versaplate (for tandem mounting) the EZ-Saddle offers a standard Losmandy "D" plate receiver saddle to fit nearly any telescope OTA.

Some of the unique design improvements include placing the clamp tensioning knobs on the bottom side making them easy to reach when mounting the telescope. Safety features include a stability bar along the front edge to provide enough relief to reach down to tighten the clamps located on the same front or bottom side.

The stability bar can be removed to reduce weight once the telescope is securely in place. A registration notch allows the mating D-plate to be marked for quick and easy re-balancing. All fasteners are stainless and the tensioning knobs are available in several color options.

Available now, contact Optec or PlaneWave Instruments to order - be sure to specify your mount make and model for proper bolt kit. Click here with any questions about your telescope and mount combination.

Specifications

D-plate Width: 4. 5"
Width with Stability Bar: 5.00"
Overall Width with knobs: 6.25" to 6.5"
Overall Height: 1.00"
Overall Length: 16"
Clamp Width: 2.5"
Clamp Fasteners: anodized lobed aluminum in a variety of colors
Knob Color Options: Natural, Orange, Deep Blue, Bronze (shown)
Stability Bar Height: 1.65"
Stability Bar Thickness: 0.375"
Weight with Stability Bar: 4 lb. 6 oz. (2.0 kg)
Weight with Stability Bar Removed: 3 lb. 14 oz. (1.75 kg)
Payload Capacity: 55-lbs. (25 kg)
Safety: Two 1/4"-20 knobs on female dovetail side.

Additional Features:

Removable Stability Bar,
Fourteen Cable Management Tie-Down locations,
Balance Indicator notch on Stability Bar,
Clamp stops, Drop-In dovetail.

Declination Axis Mount Compatible with:

PlaneWave, Ascension A200,
Astro-Physics AP3600, AP1200, AP900, Mach 1, and SB3622 Plate,
Mountain Instruments MI-250,
Paramount Versaplate for tandem mounting,
Celestron CGE-Pro,
Losmandy G11,
Takahashi EM-400 with adapter plate (required and sold separately)

Please specify intended mount when ordering for proper bolt kits.

Receiver Saddle Compatible with:

Optec Libra "D" series dovetail systems,
Losmandy D series dovetail systems,
Celestron dovetail bar,
Farpoint D series dovetails systems,
ADM "D" Series dovetail systems,
Robin Casady's dovetail systems.

How to Order:

Click Google Checkout button at right to order online, call, or email.

List Price: $265.00

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Also Recommended...

#19230
Libra Alt-Azimuth Adjustable Mount

The first and only female to male adjustable mount for Losmandy "D" style plates. A pair of adjustment knobs makes 30-second alignments a breeze. Click here for more details.

A Note about Standards...

As an engineer once said, "The great thing about standards is that there are so many to choose from..."

As Dave Wagner pointed out in his excellent Cloudy Nights Review of the Libra Alt-Az, there are simply no real mechanical standards in astronomy. The "D" plate dovetail specification originally designed by Scott Losmandy is a wonderful example.

The "D" dovetail is generally accepted as a 4" flat plate machined with a 60-degree dovetail cutter to about 1/4" depth. Interestingly however, if you vary that depth just a bit we end with a widely varied dovetail profile. Male dovetails don't fit properly into female dovetails and you end with a less than ideal fit, or two pieces that will not fit at all.

For this reason we offer and propose the dovetail profile shown in the pdf at left. The key to measuring a dovetail properly is to use a standard MOW technique ("measure over wires" as defined in the Machinists Handbook).

This MOW specification uses a standard 3/16" ground dowel readily available through many suppliers. Slip two of these 0.1875" diameter dowels into opposite sides of the male dovetail and measure across with a micrometer or calipers. The ideal nominal MOW should be 3.200" +/- 0.020". That's about 1mm of variance allowed on the male dovetail.

We have measured dozens of male dovetail plates from the various manufacturers and found that most generally fall within this 1mm tolerance.