Farpoint Dovetail Plate - Celestron 11 Inch SCT

Product Overview

The Farpoint FDC11 is a complete D-size (Losmandy-style) dovetail kit for the Celestron 11″ SCT. A 17.25″ bar pairs with radius blocks machined to the curve of the 11″ tube, and the mounting screws are supplied. Everything is machined from aluminum with a black anodized finish. Farpoint gives the shipping weight as 3.533 lb, and the parts are CNC-machined in the United States.

Who It’s For

• This is a good match if you are putting a Celestron 11″ SCT onto a mount with a D-size saddle.
• This is a good match if you want the bar, the matched radius blocks and the hardware in one kit rather than sourcing blocks separately.
• This is a good match if you are moving up from a Vixen bar and want the wider D profile carrying the tube.

Key Features & Design

• 17.25″ D-size bar: the full Losmandy dovetail profile, long enough to give the saddle a wide clamping span along the tube.
• Radius blocks matched to the 11″ tube: machined to the tube’s curve so the bar beds against the OTA instead of bridging it.
• Mounting screws included: the kit ships with the hardware that attaches the assembly to the tube.
• Black anodized aluminum: bar and blocks are machined from aluminum and anodized black.
• Published weight 3.533 lb: a figure worth carrying into your payload budget alongside the OTA and imaging train.
• CNC-machined in the USA: Farpoint machines the bar and blocks in the United States.

Mechanical Design

The bar is flat and the SCT tube is round, so bolting one straight to the other leaves contact only at the fastener holes, and every bit of the tube’s weight travels through those two points. The radius blocks are cut to the exact curve of the Celestron 11″ tube and sit in between, so the load spreads across a curved bearing surface along the length of the bar. At 17.25″ the bar also gives a D-size saddle a long clamping span, which is what keeps an 11″ tube from rocking fore and aft under its own moment when the mount slews.

Recommended Uses

• Carrying a Celestron 11″ SCT on a Losmandy, or on any equatorial mount with a D-size saddle.
• Long-exposure imaging where a stiff tube-to-saddle connection keeps guiding corrections small.
• Visual sessions where the tube is balanced fore and aft by sliding the bar in the saddle.
• Replacing a stock Vixen bar that is undersized for the mass of an 11″ OTA.

Compatibility and Accessory Notes

• Telescope: Celestron 11″ SCT optical tube assembly.
• Dovetail standard: D-size (Losmandy). It seats in D-size saddles; a narrower V-size (Vixen) saddle takes the Vixen profile instead.
• Bar length: 17.25″.
• Kit contents: 17.25″ dovetail bar, radius blocks matched to the 11″ tube, mounting screws.
• Material and finish: black anodized aluminum.
• Origin: CNC-machined in the United States.

Tell us your scope and mount and we’ll confirm the fit.

Good to Know Before You Order

• The telescope is not included. The kit is the 17.25″ bar, the radius blocks and the mounting screws.
• This is a D-size bar. A mount whose saddle is V-size (Vixen) takes the narrower profile, so a Vixen bar or a saddle conversion is the route there — Farpoint makes both.
• Published weight is 3.533 lb. Shipping is calculated on a rounded 4 lb, and the bar itself adds that mass to what the mount carries.
• The radius blocks are specific to the 11″ tube diameter. They are cut for the C11 and are not the blocks used on the 8″, 9.25″ or 14″ kits.
• Farpoint publishes no hole spacing for this kit. The bar drawing on the product page shows the pattern, and we can send measurements if your tube has been modified.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it difficult to install?

It is a bolt-on job. The radius blocks locate against the curve of the tube, the bar lies across them, and the supplied screws draw the stack together with a hex key. No machining or drilling is part of it.

What is in the kit?

The 17.25″ D-size dovetail bar, the radius blocks machined to match the Celestron 11″ tube, and the mounting screws — everything needed to attach the bar to the optical tube.

Why radius blocks rather than bolting the bar straight on?

The tube is round and the bar is flat. The blocks are cut to the tube’s curve so the clamping load spreads across the contact surface rather than concentrating at the bolt holes, which makes for a stiffer connection and less local stress on the tube.

Which mounts take this bar?

Any mount with a D-size (Losmandy-style) saddle — Losmandy’s own mounts and the many others that accept the wider D standard. Where a mount still carries a small Vixen saddle, a D-size saddle conversion opens it up to this bar.

Bottom Line

In short: the complete Losmandy D-size mounting kit for a Celestron 11″ SCT — a 17.25″ anodized aluminum bar, radius blocks cut to the 11″ tube, and the screws to bolt it all down, at a published 3.533 lb.