Taking More Weight Off Big Bertha

Taking More Weight Off Big Bertha

I mentioned a couple of days ago that the CI-700 mount just wasn't quite beefy enough to handle Big Bertha's weight. At the same time, the next step up--a Losmandy Titan or Mountain Instruments 250--would be $6000 to $7000--an enormous amount of money for what is, after all, a hobby.

I occurred to me that my original goal in slimming down Big Bertha was because the more weight you shave off the telescope, the less expensive of a mount you need. I would guess that every dollar you spend lightening the telescope saves you four or five dollars on a beefier mount. And maybe it is time to start looking at the use of carbon fiber composite components to take some more weight off Big Bertha. Even a ten pound reduction would probably get Big Bertha light enough for the CI-700 to handle well. It is certainly worth investigating.