Dovetail Plates

More Information  · Images of Some Features Price $99.00 Weight 32 oz Warranty 1 year

Takahashi tube clamp rings have 2" diameter raised round pads on their bases designed to fit into 2" round recesses on the top of Takahashi equatorial mounts. They also use two 3/8" bolts to attach the clamp ring to the mount, instead of the more common 1/4"-20 thread bolts used by other manufacturers. These features, unique to Takahashi tube rings, can lead to mounting problems if a conventional Losmandy dovetail plate is used. The top of this unique B-T Engineering dovetail plate has two close-tolerance 2" diameter recesses with 3/8" mounting holes machined into the centerline. These are designed specifically to hold a Takahashi clamp ring. In addition to the Takahashi-specific mounting points, it also has four 1/4"-20 thread mounting holes on the plate’s centerline to hold tube rings for use as a conventional dovetail plate.

The dovetail plate is made of machined solid aluminum, black anodized for good looks and durability. The plate has a dovetail flange on one side that fits into the 75mm dovetail slot in D-series saddle of the Losmandy G-11 or HGM Titan mounts; into a Losmandy GM-8 mount if equipped with a G-11 saddle plate; or into the saddle of a Celestron CGE go-to mount; as well as into AP and Casady saddle plates. The underside of the dovetail has had recesses machined out of it to reduce the weight to 31.4 ounces, without compromising the strength of the assembly. The ends of the plate and dovetail have radius corners to make it easy to slide the dovetail into the mount’s saddle plate in the dark without having it hang up if the plate doesn’t start in perfectly straight. The dovetail plate is 0.675" thick x 4" wide x 12.5" in length, and weighs 2 lbs. A no-tool plastic-handle safety knob is provided to thread into the end of the plate to keep it from accidentally sliding out of the mount’s saddle if not tightened down carefully.