The original owner has a DIY counter weight and mounting system for it as shown below. However, it is probably too heavy for me, and so I should go for something else later. I will need to design a simpler and lighter mounting plate for it so that I can attach a ball head to it, and maybe a guide scope on the other side.
After assembling, and they were put on my small Gitzo G106 tripod with Manfrotto 410 head, that DIY setup is really very robust and heavy. I guess it will take a C8 without any problem!
And finally, this is the most important part, the GOTO Mark-X. The slow motion control knob is very nice, and you will feel the quality when you turn it with your finger. This mount is over 20 years old but then it's still functioning great! Smooth like cutting through butter.
I say goodbye to my Takahashi TG-SP II on the same day, and the GOTO Mark-X is acquired through partial trade.
The first thing that I will need to do is to find someone who is willing to adapt a EQ3-2 motor on it for me, the hardest part is to make it compatible with 126 teeth. I don't have the equipments to do it myself.
And then I should probably live with that DIY mounting plate first. Yes, it's heavy but then I should test it first with a ball head which again I may have to buy. I expect the motor plus the ball head would mean over 1K HKD, and I will probably need one more ball head, a polar scope illuminator, and a lighter custom made mounting plate in the long run. But I will keep it simple and stupid at the time being, and maybe even do manual tracking first!
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