Hi - no doubt many of you out there have run into problems with adapters, extenders, etc - I got sick and tired of the hassles so I decided to standardise my system - I have used the Moonlight Telescopes 68mm accessory system. Firstly this is not a commercial for Moonlight Telescopes - my primary telescope focuser is a FLI Atlas.
The first step was to get an adapter built by Precise Parts to take the 68mm fittings shown in Image 01 - the next image shows a 2" eyepiece holder - all the fittings just screw in and are interchangeable -
https://focuser.com/products.php and in most cases came be purchased off the shelf.
Another big plus is that the 68mm diameter tube (no Vignetting) as in 2" plus being larger any extenders are not so prone to binding as the smaller ones can be with temperature drop.
But the main reason for this post was recently I was trying to align my AG Optical 12.5 iDK mirrors with a 2" Howie Glatter Laser and a Tak Collimation Scope - a simple task made difficult by the fact that I had to swap out the Laser and the Tak Scope to make the appropriate adjustments - the flop in the 2" Eyepice holder meant that the positions were not repeatable.
Moonlight have a Tak Scope holder so half the problem was solved and I had a "Sweat Fitted" holder for the Glatter Laser made so that now both screw into the adapter plate of the Atlas. This guarantees 100% repeatability.
Cheers
Geof
