Hi Paul,

I'm not sure about your concern regarding the thumbscrew approach
to retaining your 2" diameter diagonal tube, but can certainly
appreciate that you need gloves for a large part of the year in
Toronto.

But please note that the 3 screws used on the EyeOpener are about
1000% overkill. We've found that it takes 25# to pull a 2" diameter
tube out of an EyeOpener with only a single screw tightened reasonably.
Since there are 3 thumbscrews positioned around the circumference, one
or two will be easily accessible even with gloves on. And since it
only takes a fraction of a turn to tighten or loosen a screw, its not a big
deal to rotate the diagonal. Unless you're hanging 75# worth of optics
off of the back end your scope you can probably get away with just
tightening the screw that's most convenient.

We've had enthusiastic customers tell us how they prefer our arrangement
when rotating a diagonal with a heavy eyepiece as the EyeOpener stays put
while the original Schmidt thread backplate adapter would unscrew itself
on one side, with the eyepiece ending up pointing toward the ground.

You didn't mention the size of your SCT. The EyeOpener's primary
function is to increase actual field of view and reduce vignetting on
2" long focal length eyepieces. It does this by eliminating the 1 1/2"
"field stop" created by the Schmidt thread backplate adapter you're now
using. SCTs smaller than 10" cannot utilize the EyeOpener as they only
have a 1 1/2" internal baffle tube, and the Schmidt thread is an integral
part of the backplate.

Although it was a year in development & test, the EyeOpener's only been
available for 2 months. To date we've never had anything but very
satisfied customers and consequently have never had a return. But if the
product fails to meet a customer's expectations we'll cheerfully accept
a return.

http://www.peterson-web.com/SkyDiv/Eyeopener.htm Try it. You'll like it.

Pete Peterson

-----Original Message-----
Paul Markov
Sent: Wednesday, April 18, 2001 11:58 PM
Subject: Re: [M]: 2-inch diagonal barrel with collar for SCT


Hi John,
Yes, actually I have one of each type of the 2-inch diagonals (Meade #929
and
#930). I prefer the threaded collar designed for SCT's because with two
quick
turns (while wearing gloves) I can reposition the diagonal. With the other
method I need another adapter in the middle, and I would have to loosen and
re-tighten two small screws (on the adapter) - which is a little more time
consuming and is difficult to do while wearing gloves.

Paul Markov
Toronto, Canada.


> In a message dated 04/18/2001 5:24:59 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
>
> << I have a spare Meade 2-inch diagonal, except it's the type for
refractors.
> Does anyone know if and where I can buy just the tube with the collar
(which
> screws directly onto the back of an SCT)? This way I can just replace
the
> current barrel and make use of the actual diagonal.
>
> (I know of the alternative, which is to buy an adapter that screws onto
the
> back of the scope which then accepts the current barrel and holds it in
> place with thumb screws - don't like that much).
>
> Thanks,
> Paul Markov
> Toronto, Canada >>
>
> I greatly prefer the alternative which you don't, by a wide enough margin
to
> wonder if you've tried it both ways...but I wish you luck in finding the
> piece you need to do it your way!
>
> John

View index by [date] [author] [subject]
Previous message: [M]: Vernier Pointer broken on Wedge, Paul Markov
Next message: Re: [M]: at wits end--stack and track, Gene Horr
Previous message in thread: Re: [M]: 2-inch diagonal barrel with collar for SCT, R. A. Greiner