Starway Duomount - Side by Side Mounting Plate - Dual Mount for two Telescopes on one Mount

The Duomount allows you to use two telescopes side by side on one mount.

Of course you can also attach other gear such as a camera, a powerful finderscope or similar next to the telescope. The Duomount is very versatile and can be used with a broad variety of gear. At the same time the adaption is highly optimized, offering minimized lever arms and therefore a smaller overall load for the mount.

Particularly well suited for astro imaging

One of the primary uses of the Starway Duomount is astro imaging. The Duomount is the perfect means of attaching a guide scope next to the main telescope or tele lens.

This adaption is more suitable than mounting the guide scope piggy back on the main telescope. A telescope tube is usually not strong enough to carry a guide scope with sufficient stability. Also the longer lever arms will increase the load for the mount, which is not desirable.

Advantages of the Starway Duomount

The TS Duomount is a highly optimized design. Due to the much shorter lever arms the effective load for the mount is reduced compared with a conventional piggy back mounting system for the guide scope. This aids overall stability of the setup.

Stability is further improved by the massive design of the Duomount which effectively eliminates flexure even if you use a heavy main telescope and guidescope. Despite the excellent stability the Duomount weighs only about 2.6 lb. This weight comes to bear very close to the center of gravity, so the extra weight of the Duomount is more than compensated by the shorter lever arms of the entire setup.

The Duomount can be used with all mounts which have a Vixen Style dovetail clamp. The mounting of the telescopes will be done with the same Vixen Style dovetails.

How to use the Starway Duomount

On astronomical mounts it is particularly important to properly balance the instruments for best stability, accuracy and most of all a longer life-span of the mount itself.

The Duomount can be balanced in all directions. This works in all cases, independend from the instruments you are using.

1. First attach the counterweight (or counterweights) to the mount. This should always be the first step. The axes of the mount are locked, but the counterweight shaft points downwards.

2. Attach the Duomount to the saddle plate of your mount. Now attach the two instruments on the Duomount.

3. Unlock the declination axis and turn it until the telescopes are in a horizonal position. Now move the telescopes back an forth in the Duomount until they are properly balanced in the longitudinal axis.

4. Turn the declination axis by 90° until the Duomount is in a horizonal position. Check whether the setup is already properly balanced. If the declination axis moves on its own accord the setup is not yet in balance. Unlock the saddle plate an move the Duomount right or left until it is in balance. The heavier instrument will be closer to the center of the mount, the lighter instrument will be further away. After you have balanced the setup in this axis lock the DEC axis again.

5. Unlock the RA axis and turn the mount until the RA axis and the counterweight shaft are in a horizonal position, now change the position of the counterweights until the mount is balanced.

After you have completed these steps you can point the telescopes at any direction and they will remain in balance. With a little routine this balancing procedure takes only about a minute.


Delivery contains:

• Duomount
• 2 Prism Clamps