Mounting ST-i on Celestron RASA or C11 or other scopes

The mounting kit and external lens for the ST-i is good value for the money, and works well, although it doesnt fit absolutely everything - so I thought I'd share how I attached it to my Celestron 11" Rowe Ackermann Schmidt Astrograph. It has the same OTA diameter as a modern C11.

Using my Sherline mini-mill, I machined a mounting bar to slide into a Celestron T-slotted holder for finder scopes. It has 2 x 1/4-20 socket cap screws 1" long going up into the ST-i mounting rings, and they are spaced about 2.5" inches apart (2.25" would have been better in retrospect). I also milled out a little indent for the socket cap screw in the back of the Celestron holder, to keep the camera from accidentally sliding out the back.

Some of the newer celestron mounting brackets would need a different mounting bar.
Cheers,
Colin

 

Thanks for posting that.

Gotta love those little Sherline mills. I use one for small machining jobs, like modifying prototype parts or occasionally building whole parts from scratch.