Equatorial mountings: The fork mounting
 
Another mounting, known as the fork mounting, has a polar axis much like that of the German mounting but on its end is a fork through which the telescope can be swung about the declination axis. The system is illustrated in figure 1. This design eliminates the heavy declination yoke and counterweight of the German mounting. However, the fork mounting prevents easy access to the telescope’s focal plane when it is directed to regions near to the pole and is unsuitable for refractors and the normal Cassegrain systems.

Figure1. The principle of the fork mounting.