To my delight, I found this forum where it teaches how to convert a CG-4 mount to an alt/az mount (after noting another post mentioning one could do this without the need of "any tools").
I gathered that this sort of conversion isn't quite a standard procedure, at least not from the manufacturer's perspective. But it gets the job done.
I will test this out after work. If this works without damaging the gears, it sure puts off lots of load for me carrying the scope around and I could even travel further with my 6" reflector, without the need to buy an alt/az mount. I like the German equatorial mount, but if I'm not doing much astrophotography, the counterweight system is just a drag.
Below is the instructions from the posting by Dave Hederich pertaining to the conversion:
I finally got around to disassembling my CG-4.
First I removed the scope from the mount and the mount from the tripod, and set the mount on the floor to work on.
Then I removed both the latitude adjusting bolts.
Next I removed the two hex screws and small metal plate.
Then I removed both of the round plastic side covers (including the one with the latitude markings) with a thin screw driver.
The bolt that Daryl tightened down to lock the head at the 90
degree position has a nut on the end under the plastic cover with
altitude markings. When I removed this nut and bolt, I could then lift
the assembly up so that the hard stop flange could be lifted over the
mount structure that kept it from going over to 90 degrees on the CG-4.
Next I reinserted the bolt, tightened it firmly and then tightened the nut firmly.
Now the mount was laying over in the 90 degree position, where it hard stopped against the other side of the mount structure.
But since the hard stop flange on the other side was still a number
of degrees from hitting the mount structure, rotating the scope around
to that side of the azimuth resulted in the scope flopping over.
I tried to put the small metal plate back on with the two hex
screws, but in the new 90 degree orientation only one of the hex screws
could be screwed in. The other end of the plate was down at an angle
contacting part of the mount structure. Coincidentally, it was in a
perfect position to lock the hard stop flange in place, and is plenty
secure with just one hex screw tightened down.
I'm not even going to bother to glue the two round plastic side
covers back in place unless I decide to convert it back to equatorial
use and need to use the latitude markings.
So far the scope seems balanced enough not to require the
counterweights. I'd just as soon leave them off to make it easier to
carry outside with my scope mounted.
