>This was noted a year or so ago by another fellow with a few loose nuts. Sure
>hope everyone checks and maybe a little locktite (sp?) would help. As for my
>pod I don't collapse the legs and my nuts seem secure.
>

With extreme difficulty, let me refrain from further nuts and legs remarks.

I just took a look a my scope's 4 yr-old pod - no chance of the nuts or screws
coming off, since they're mostly rusted firmly in place. What great foresight
on Meade's part! I can imagine the design guy working this out: ".....hmmmm,
stainless studs? hmmmm...NAH!, too costly, too hard to work with, and these
star
guys are ALWAYS bitching about dew. We'll let the hardware RUST solid - and
anyone who tries to subvert the plan by towel-drying his tripod hardware after
a dewy night will be sure to notice and fix looseness caused by lack of rust.
Hmmm...better add some locktite to handle it til the rust matures....."
Yeah, I know, some of you MAPUGers would excommunicate me for letting an LX200
tripod leg get a rust spot, let alone having the nuts rust tight. I don't
care,
the optics on mine are better than yours, and I haven't had a drive failure in
years. nyah, nyah, nyah. ;-)

Chris Heapy's worry about the steel threads wearing the aluminum seems OK in
principle, but the one hole I have access to (the unrusted one) seems just fine
after 3.5 years of industrial city dew, corrosion, and moderate (mis)use.
Maybe they use harder-than-ordinary aluminum for the casting.

Rob Preston
Pittsburgh PA
Administrator of the MAPUGer of the Year (OMT) award

(It's coming, Ed, just gotta take a few photos before shipping...and trick
AstroBarbie into climbing into the shipping crate.)

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