This plate is made by Astro-Physics and can be used with a variety of mounts. If you already own the 13.5" male Losmandy D series plates, this is the dovetail for you. The knob assembly features a brass pin with a tapered end to hold your sliding bar firmly without marring the aluminum. The DOVELM2 is 8.5" long and weighs 2.3 lbs.

A center hole on the knob side allows you to move one of the knobs to accomodate the short (7") Losmandy Universal plates. The short Losmandy plates should only be used with one of the knobs moved to the center position. Otherwise, the knobs of the DOVELM2 are spaced too far apart to grip the short plate properly. Make sure that you orient the DOVELM2 so that one of the knobs is always at the objective end of the plate. Otherwise, you will not be able to utilize the safety screw on the bottom of the male dovetail. Using the middle hole with the 7" plate gives over three inches of travel for balancing.

Warning: Older dovetail mounting plates offered by Celestron may also work with the DOVELM2. However, dovetail plates offered by Celestron in 2004 (and perhaps earlier) are made to a different spec. These newer plates do not fit properly into the DOVELM2 and will slip. We encourage everyone using a plate manufactured by Celestron to test that plate in the DOVELM2 without the telescope first to be sure that it can be locked down securely.