William Optics iOptron Skyguider Pro Dec Adapter

This adapter lets you fit a Vixen-style saddle (sold separately) to the iOptron SkyGuider Pro, so a telescope on a Vixen-style dovetail can be mounted. It can also act as a riser block, raising the dovetail slightly, which helps when focusing longer refractors.

When imaging a large target like the Andromeda Galaxy (M31), you need perfect tracking over long exposures. The William Optics Dec Adapter gives the SkyGuider Pro a mounting point for a Vixen-style saddle; it does not lower the telescope's center of gravity, since it can act as a riser that raises the dovetail slightly.

Not by lowering it: the adapter does not replace the dovetail bar or saddle clamp. A Vixen-style saddle (sold separately) mounts on the adapter, and as a riser block it raises the dovetail slightly.

This adapter is used with a Vixen-style saddle (sold separately; William Optics pairs it with its Vixen-style Mounting Base), which holds the telescope's Vixen-style dovetail, for William Optics scopes such as the RedCat 51, SpaceCat 51, and other similar refractors. The telescope needs a Vixen-style dovetail to fit the saddle.

No, it is not strictly necessary. You can mount a William Optics scope using its standard Vixen-style dovetail bar on the stock Skyguider Pro saddle. The adapter can also act as a riser block, raising the dovetail slightly, which helps when focusing longer refractors.