From: "Mel Bartels" 
To: 
Reply-To: "Mel Bartels" 


>>>
My current 20" has a 50 lb mirror, and I was only able to shed about
20 lbs from the OTA itself when considering a minimalist design (my current
OTA weights in at 121 lbs.).  I have not found the benefits of shedding 15%
to 20% of the weight to pay for the features I have come to appreciate in
the typical mirror box, truss, secondary cage alt-az.
<<<

My 20 inch also is a 2 inch thick 50 pound mirror.  My trilateral mount
that I designed for it weighs in at 25 pounds for the OTA sans optics, with
the heaviest piece that I pick up the fold-up mirror box at 62 pounds with
mirror.

Cutting out or removing material only goes so far.  As some point one needs
to consider new designs.

Mel Bartels

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