Mount Hardware Kits

Background

In order to bring computerized pointing to your telescope, you need to fit a pair of optical encoders to each axis of the mount. A Mount Hardware Kit enables the mounting of these two optical encoders onto the telescope mount.

A specific model of mount requires a specific mount hardware kit. The kit contains all the necessary parts, such as brackets, nuts, bolts, pulleys and gears.

Wildcard Innovations can supply mount hardware kits for hundreds of different models of telescopes & mounts which you can then easily install yourself. The kits come with clear instructions, including diagrams, and require no special tools or skills. This web page is designed to help assist you in determing the correct kit for your mount.

After referring to this site, if still unsure of the correct kit for your mount, please don't hesitate to email us for assistance.

The most cost effective approach is to buy one of our Bundled Special Systems, which includes the Argo Navis™ Digital Telescope Computer, encoders, encoder mount hardware and an encoder cable. Generally, one of these Bundled Special Systems, is all that you require to bring computerized pointing to your scope, however, we do recommend you also purchase a serial cable, a USB Serial Adapter and an optional DC power cable.

Alternatively, if you are a new or existing Argo Navis™ customer, the mount hardware, encoders and encoder cable can be purchased separately. Please contact us for details.

Please note, some mount hardware kits gear one or more of their encoders to produce the final effective ouput resolution.
We stock mount kits for many popular mounts. Some kits may have a 1 week to 6 week lead time from order.
All mount kits come with a 1 year limited warranty.

WE CAN SUPPLY KITS FOR MOUNTING ENCODERS TO THE FOLLOWING TELESCOPES AND MOUNTS

By clicking on any of the links below, a new browser window will open containing additional information.


Apertura AD8, AD10, AD12
APM Giro 2 Deluxe (not XXL), Giro III ((aka Giro 3))
Astro-Physics Super Polaris DX
AstroSystems TeleKit (Size?)
Bausch & Lomb 4000, 8000
Bintel 152A, 152B, 202A, 202B, 252A, 252B, 302A, 302B, 402
Cave Astrola Std/Deluxe (Shaft O.D.?)
Celestron C4-R (CG-4), C4.5 (Polaris), C5 (one arm), C5 (two arms), C5+ (one arm), C5-S (CG-5), C6 (Polaris), C6-N (CG-4), C6-R (CG-5), C8 (Fork. Date?), C8-N (CG-5), C8-S (CG-5), C9-1/4-S (CG-5), C10-N (CG-5), C11 (Fork), C14 (Fork), C80-HD (CG-4), C102 (Great Polaris), C102-HD (CG-4), C114-HD (CG-4), Celestar 8, Celestar 8 Deluxe, CG-4, CG-5, CG-9-1/4 (GM-8), CG-11 (G-11), CG-14 (G-11), CI-700, Classic 8, CM-1100 (CI-700), CM-1400 (CI-700), CR-150HD (CG-5), Fastar 8 (5" Dec hub), Fastar 8 (3" Dec hub), G-8 (CG-5), G8-N (CG-5), G-9-1/4; (CG-5), Great Polaris, Polaris, Powerstar 8, SP6 (Super Polaris), Star Hopper 6, Star Hopper 8, Super C8, Super Polaris, Ultima 8, Ultima 9-1/4, Ultima 11 (5" Dec hub), Ultima 11 (3" Dec hub)
Coulter Odyssey 8 (Red), Odyssey 8 (Blue), Odyssey 10.1 (Red), Odyssey 10.1 (Blue), Odyssey 13.1 (Red), Odyssey 13.1 (Blue), Odyssey 16 (Red), Odyssey 16 (Blue), Odyssey 17.5 (Red), Odyssey 17.5 (Blue)
Criterion Dynamax 8
Dark Star Telescopes Dobsonian
Discovery EQ
Explore Scientific 12" Truss Dobsonian, 16" Truss Dobsonian, Twilight II Mount
ICS Dobsonian
Guan Sheng Optical GSO 6" Dob, 8" Dob Model A, 8" Dob Model B, 10" Dob Model A, 10" Dob Model B, 12" Dob Model A, 12" Dob Model B, 16" Truss
Hardin 6" Dob (Deep Space Hunter), 8" Dob (Deep Space Hunter), 10" Dob (Deep Space Hunter), 12" Dob (Deep Space Hunter)
JMI NGT-6, NGT-12.5, NGT-18
Kasai Ginji 200D (200mm Dob), Ginji 250D (250mm Dob), Ginji 300D (300mm Dob)
Meade 440, 628, 645, 826, 856, 880, 1060, 1266, 2040, 2045, 2045D, 2080 (Fork), 2080 (GEM), 2120 (Fork), 2120 (GEM), DS-10, DS-16, ETX-90 Astro, GEM, LightBridge 8" Deluxe, LightBridge 10" Deluxe, LightBridge 10" Standard, LightBridge 12" Deluxe, LightBridge 12" Standard, LightBridge 16", LX, LX3, LX5, LX6, LX10, LX50 (7"), LX50 (8"), LX50 (10"), LX100 (8"), LX100 (10"), MTS (SC), MTS (SN), Premier, Starfinder Dob 6, Starfinder Dob 8, Starfinder Dob 10, Starfinder Dob 12.5, Starfinder Dob 16, Starfinder GEM 6 (AC), Starfinder GEM 6 (DC), Starfinder GEM 8 (AC), Starfinder GEM 8 (DC), Starfinder GEM 10 (AC), Starfinder GEM 10 (DC), Starfinder GEM 16 (AC Only)
Obsession 12.5", 15", 18" Classic, 18" UC, 20", 25", 30", 36"
Orion Atlas 8, Atlas 10, Argonaut 150mm, Argonaut 6" (GP-DX), Deep Space Explorer 6 (Prem), Deep Space Explorer 6 (Std), Deep Space Explorer 8 (Prem), Deep Space Explorer 8 (Std), Deep Space Explorer 10 (Prem), Deep Space Explorer 10 (Std), Deep Space Explorer 12.5 (Prem), Deep Space Explorer 12.5 (Std), Deep Space Explorer 16 (Prem), Deep Space Explorer 16 (Std), EQ-3, EQ-4, R200SS GP, ShortTube 80/90, SkyQuest XT 6, SkyQuest XT 6 Plus, SkyQuest XT 8, SkyQuest XT 8 Plus, SkyQuest XT 10, SkyQuest XT 10 Plus, SkyView Deluxe EQ, SkyView Pro EQ, Skywatcher 120, StarMax 127, VX102-ED/-FL GP, VX120 GP
Parks Astrolight, Superior 8, Superior 10, Superior 12.5, Superior 16
Questar 3.5
Saxon Dobsonian
Sky-Watcher Dobsonian
Starsplitter II 12.5-30, Compact 10, Compact 12.5, Compact 14.5, GEM, Tube 8, Tube 10
Stellarvue M1 Grab-n-Go, M2, M2C, MG2
Sunrise Telescopes Dobsonian
Synta Sky-Watcher 127, Sky-Watcher Dobsonian 6", Sky-Watcher Dobsonian 8", Sky-Watcher Dobsonian 10", Sky-Watcher Dobsonian 12", Sky-Watcher Dobsonian 14", Sky-Watcher Dobsonian 16", Sky-Watcher EQ-3, Sky-Watcher EQ4 (a few aka EQ5), Sky-Watcher EQ5, Sky-Watcher HEQ5, Sky-Watcher EQ6
Takahashi EM-10, EM-10 USD Drive, EM-10 USD 3 Drive, EM-200, NJP (pre-1997), NJP (post-1996), Teegul TG-LML
Tectron 15
Tele Vue Gibraltar (pre-2002), Gibraltar (post-2002), Panoramic, Renaissance-101, Systems Mount, Tele-Pod
Torus Optical 15
Universal Astronomics UniStar Heavy, UniStar Light (Early), UniStar Light (Later), UniStar Micro
Vixen Binocular (BTM80-A), Great Polaris, Great Polaris Deluxe, Super Polaris, Porta Mount
Williams Optics EAZY Touch
Zhumell 8" Dobsonian Model A, 8" Dobsonian Model B, 10" Dobsonian Model A, 10" Dobsonian Model B, 12" Dobsonian Model A, 12" Dobsonian Model B
Z-Optical Dobsonian (some sizes)

EMAIL US FOR ADVICE ON INSTALLING ENCODERS ON THE FOLLOWING MOUNTS

Custom mount. We can assist both amateur and professional telescope makers with a custom encoder kit.
DiscMount Alt/Az mounts. We work closely with DiscMount to ensure a seamless integration of 10,000 step encoders.
Discovery Dobsonians. Let us know which model you have.
Kokusai Kohki T-Rex Mounts
Night Sky Scopes Dobsonians
Plettstone Dobsonians
SDM Dobsonians. We work closely with SDM.
Starbuckets Dobsonians
Starmaster Dobsonians
Starsplitter Dobsonians
Teeter Telescopes Dobsonians
TScope Dobsonians
Webster Telescopes Dobsonians. We work closely with Webster Teleascopes.

READ THIS BEFORE ORDERING

From the lists above, please click on the link that is specific to your telescope or mount and carefully check whether any additional information is required when ordering. If so, please supply us that information along with your telescope and mount make, model and year.  Additional information may be requested before the order can be filled. 

*See the special note regarding Celestron fork mounted C8 telescopes.

The encoder and hardware systems (encoders and gears or pulleys/belts) we supply are generally optimized to approximately 10,000 steps-per-revolution on each axis.  Some computers currently sold by other vendors are not able to handle these high resolutions without encoder errors.  Please note that doubling the resolution of encoders on each axis of the scope potentially quadruples the pointing resolution. For example, when going from 4000 step encoders to 10000 step encoders, there is a potential 525% increase in pointing resolution. Better quality mounts will see less improvement with the high-resolution encoders than those of slightly lower quality.  (The Argo Navis™ Telescope Pointing Analysis System™ - TPAS™ - can often assist with certain systematic geometric, flexure and harmonic errors in many mounts.)