View Finder for C11(C-11)?

I purchased a straight through view finder for my C-11 from Orion but it doesn't fit. It included a
dovetail mounting bracket, but the slots to hook it to the OTA are just shy of working by maybe
1/8". Is there a view finder for the C-11? I'm borrowing the OTA for about 6 months and do not have
a manual for it.

--
Wayne T. Watson (121.015 Deg. W, 39.262 Deg. N, 2,701 feet, Nevada City, CA)
-- GMT-8 hr std. time, RJ Rcvr 39° 8' 0" N, 121° 1' 0" W

"It is often easier to fight for principles than to live up to them." -- Adlai Stevenson

Web Page: home.earthlink.net/~mtnviews
Imaginarium Museum: home.earthlink.net/~mtnviews/imaginarium.html

Have you called Orion?

They have two different dovetail mounting brackets. Perhaps they sent you
the wrong one by accident.

Failing that, since it's probably made from nice, soft, aluminum, is there
enough space at the end of the slots to take a small round file and
elongate those slots enough to fit? Only do this AFTER talking to Orion.
They have a good reputation for dealing with customer service issues. And
if the part is designed to fit the various SCT's I would expect it to...
IF it isn't the one that is made for OTHER scopes...

--
To reply, remove the "z" if one appears in my address
"W. Watson" wrote in message
...
I purchased a straight through view finder for my C-11 from Orion but it
doesn't fit. It included a
dovetail mounting bracket, but the slots to hook it to the OTA are just
shy of working by maybe
1/8". Is there a view finder for the C-11? I'm borrowing the OTA for
about 6 months and do not have
a manual for it.

--
Wayne T. Watson (121.015 Deg. W, 39.262 Deg. N, 2,701 feet, Nevada
City, CA)
-- GMT-8 hr std. time, RJ Rcvr 39° 8' 0" N, 121°
1' 0" W

"It is often easier to fight for principles than to live up to
them." -- Adlai Stevenson

Web Page: home.earthlink.net/~mtnviews
Imaginarium Museum:
home.earthlink.net/~mtnviews/imaginarium.html

Wayne,

When I bought my C-14 about 3 1/2 years ago, the first thing I changed was
the finder base. I purchased the Orion universal dove tail finder base and
had no problem installing it. So, I went to an Orion catalol to get you the
correct item number, and what do you think I found? They don't sell it any
more. Seems like the new ones they sell have a very high base and only 3
adjustment screws rather than 6. Sorry I can't help.

Al


"W. Watson" wrote in message
...
I purchased a straight through view finder for my C-11 from Orion but it
doesn't fit. It included a
dovetail mounting bracket, but the slots to hook it to the OTA are just
shy of working by maybe
1/8". Is there a view finder for the C-11? I'm borrowing the OTA for about
6 months and do not have
a manual for it.

--
Wayne T. Watson (121.015 Deg. W, 39.262 Deg. N, 2,701 feet, Nevada
City, CA)
-- GMT-8 hr std. time, RJ Rcvr 39° 8' 0" N, 121° 1'
0" W

"It is often easier to fight for principles than to live up to
them." -- Adlai Stevenson

Web Page: home.earthlink.net/~mtnviews
Imaginarium Museum:
home.earthlink.net/~mtnviews/imaginarium.html

The base (and the finder) I was talking about is he

http://www.telescope.com/jump.jsp?it...GORY&itemID=27

The original poster didn't specify what finder (or base) he ordered. H
just said he bought a straight through finder for his scope.

But if you click on the URL above, then on the dovetail bracket on the web
page, you will see there are actually TWO brackets. One is designed to
fit the varying screw spacings on SCT's and the other one's for other
scopes. If he accidentally was sent one of the second persuasion (for
"other" scopes), I'll bet it wouldn't fit on an SCT...


--
To reply, remove the "z" if one appears in my address
"Bill Becker" wrote in message
...

"Al" wrote in message
t...
Wayne,

When I bought my C-14 about 3 1/2 years ago, the first thing I changed
was
the finder base. I purchased the Orion universal dove tail finder
base
and
had no problem installing it. So, I went to an Orion catalol to get
you
the
correct item number, and what do you think I found? They don't sell
it
any
more. Seems like the new ones they sell have a very high base and
only 3
adjustment screws rather than 6. Sorry I can't help.

Al

Hi Al,

Isn't this a case of less is better? (re number of adj. screws)

Best regards,
Bill

"Jan Owen" wrote in message
news:G6Cjb.66444$vj2.43320@fed1read06...
The base (and the finder) I was talking about is he

http://www.telescope.com/jump.jsp?it...GORY&itemID=27

The original poster didn't specify what finder (or base) he ordered. H
just said he bought a straight through finder for his scope.

But if you click on the URL above, then on the dovetail bracket on the web
page, you will see there are actually TWO brackets. One is designed to
fit the varying screw spacings on SCT's and the other one's for other
scopes. If he accidentally was sent one of the second persuasion (for
"other" scopes), I'll bet it wouldn't fit on an SCT...


--
Cool. And if he did get the wrong one(looks highly likely) we all know Orion
will take care of
the problem. That's their forte. ;^)

Best regards,
Bill

Exactly!!!

Didn't I say that?

--
To reply, remove the "z" if one appears in my address
"Bill Becker" wrote in message
...

"Jan Owen" wrote in message
news:G6Cjb.66444$vj2.43320@fed1read06...
The base (and the finder) I was talking about is he

http://www.telescope.com/jump.jsp?it...GORY&itemID=27

The original poster didn't specify what finder (or base) he ordered.
H
just said he bought a straight through finder for his scope.

But if you click on the URL above, then on the dovetail bracket on the
web
page, you will see there are actually TWO brackets. One is designed
to
fit the varying screw spacings on SCT's and the other one's for other
scopes. If he accidentally was sent one of the second persuasion (for
"other" scopes), I'll bet it wouldn't fit on an SCT...


--
Cool. And if he did get the wrong one(looks highly likely) we all know
Orion
will take care of
the problem. That's their forte. ;^)

Best regards,
Bill

Yes. you. did. And for that...you should be given the best darn autumn
observing conditions possible.
Maybe a sighting of the "pup" is in your immediate future? I know I'm gonna
try real hard...

Best regards,
Bill


"Jan Owen" wrote in message
news:wpCjb.66447$vj2.56692@fed1read06...
Exactly!!!

Didn't I say that?

--
To reply, remove the "z" if one appears in my address
"Bill Becker" wrote in message
...

"Jan Owen" wrote in message
news:G6Cjb.66444$vj2.43320@fed1read06...
The base (and the finder) I was talking about is he

http://www.telescope.com/jump.jsp?it...GORY&itemID=27

The original poster didn't specify what finder (or base) he ordered.
H
just said he bought a straight through finder for his scope.

But if you click on the URL above, then on the dovetail bracket on the
web
page, you will see there are actually TWO brackets. One is designed
to
fit the varying screw spacings on SCT's and the other one's for other
scopes. If he accidentally was sent one of the second persuasion (for
"other" scopes), I'll bet it wouldn't fit on an SCT...


--
Cool. And if he did get the wrong one(looks highly likely) we all know
Orion
will take care of
the problem. That's their forte. ;^)

Best regards,
Bill

Hi Bill,

Actually, less is usually better, but not in this case. The original mount
that came with the C-14 had only 3 adjustment screws and the rear part of
the finder scope would pivot on something like a rubber O-ring. It seemed
like a super idea at first, but in practice it was lousy. I could not
remove the finder from the OTA without going through the complete exercise
of adjustment the next time I used the scope. It was necessary for me to
remove the finder because I stored the OTA in the trunk it came in and it
would not fit with the finder attached. So, these days I just remove the
new finder at the dovetail and it stays in adjustment for the next viewing
session.

Hope everything is well with you!

Al


"Bill Becker" wrote in message
...

"Al" wrote in message
t...
Wayne,

When I bought my C-14 about 3 1/2 years ago, the first thing I changed
was
the finder base. I purchased the Orion universal dove tail finder base
and
had no problem installing it. So, I went to an Orion catalol to get you
the
correct item number, and what do you think I found? They don't sell it
any
more. Seems like the new ones they sell have a very high base and only
3
adjustment screws rather than 6. Sorry I can't help.

Al

Hi Al,

Isn't this a case of less is better? (re number of adj. screws)

Best regards,
Bill

Yes, I called Orion. They said to send it back, which is what I will do. BTW, when I got the OTA,
there was a mounting bracket for the scope that was triangular shaped with a circular blue pad
underneath where it rested on the tube. I have no idea if it's a Celestron bracket. I just got a pdf
of the C-11 (not a nexstar), and did a quick spin on the computer to see if there's anything helpful
there. It looks like I'll have to print it all out. Too much to handle on the computer.

BTW, the guy from Orion said to his knowledge they had only tried the adapter to a C-8 and lower.
Oh, well.

Jan Owen wrote:

Have you called Orion?

They have two different dovetail mounting brackets. Perhaps they sent you
the wrong one by accident.

Failing that, since it's probably made from nice, soft, aluminum, is there
enough space at the end of the slots to take a small round file and
elongate those slots enough to fit? Only do this AFTER talking to Orion.
They have a good reputation for dealing with customer service issues. And
if the part is designed to fit the various SCT's I would expect it to...
IF it isn't the one that is made for OTHER scopes...

--
To reply, remove the "z" if one appears in my address
"W. Watson" wrote in message
...
I purchased a straight through view finder for my C-11 from Orion but it
doesn't fit. It included a
dovetail mounting bracket, but the slots to hook it to the OTA are just
shy of working by maybe
1/8". Is there a view finder for the C-11? I'm borrowing the OTA for
about 6 months and do not have
a manual for it.

--
Wayne T. Watson (121.015 Deg. W, 39.262 Deg. N, 2,701 feet, Nevada
City, CA)
-- GMT-8 hr std. time, RJ Rcvr 39° 8' 0" N, 121°
1' 0" W

"It is often easier to fight for principles than to live up to
them." -- Adlai Stevenson

Web Page: home.earthlink.net/~mtnviews
Imaginarium Museum:
home.earthlink.net/~mtnviews/imaginarium.html



--
Wayne T. Watson (121.015 Deg. W, 39.262 Deg. N, 2,701 feet, Nevada City, CA)
-- GMT-8 hr std. time, RJ Rcvr 39° 8' 0" N, 121° 1' 0" W

"It is often easier to fight for principles than to live up to them." -- Adlai Stevenson

Web Page: home.earthlink.net/~mtnviews
Imaginarium Museum: home.earthlink.net/~mtnviews/imaginarium.html

Thanks, Jan. This is not the finder and bracket I purchased from Orion 3
years ago. The one I purchased (universal base) had 2 rings and 3
adjustment screws per ring. It also was very low and would fit _any_
SCT...or so it was advertised.

Al


"Jan Owen" wrote in message
news:G6Cjb.66444$vj2.43320@fed1read06...
The base (and the finder) I was talking about is he

http://www.telescope.com/jump.jsp?it...GORY&itemID=27

The original poster didn't specify what finder (or base) he ordered. H
just said he bought a straight through finder for his scope.

But if you click on the URL above, then on the dovetail bracket on the web
page, you will see there are actually TWO brackets. One is designed to
fit the varying screw spacings on SCT's and the other one's for other
scopes. If he accidentally was sent one of the second persuasion (for
"other" scopes), I'll bet it wouldn't fit on an SCT...


--
To reply, remove the "z" if one appears in my address
"Bill Becker" wrote in message
...

"Al" wrote in message
t...
Wayne,

When I bought my C-14 about 3 1/2 years ago, the first thing I changed
was
the finder base. I purchased the Orion universal dove tail finder
base
and
had no problem installing it. So, I went to an Orion catalol to get
you
the
correct item number, and what do you think I found? They don't sell
it
any
more. Seems like the new ones they sell have a very high base and
only 3
adjustment screws rather than 6. Sorry I can't help.

Al

Hi Al,

Isn't this a case of less is better? (re number of adj. screws)

Best regards,
Bill