Weighted 1 1/4 to 2" Eyepiece Adapter
Shown is a weighted adapter to convert 2" to 1 1/4 " tube size for using
small eyepieces and large eyepieces without disturbing the telescope balance.
A commercial adapter made by TeleVue is shown on the left and a home made
version is shown on the right. As it turns out, when the adapter
is made from brass to the correct size, it is also just about the right
weight to make small eyepieces and large ones weigh the about same.
This allows the telescope to remain in balance when eyepieces are changed.
The adapter should weigh somewhere between 12 and 14 ounces.
One could tune the weight for a particular large/small eyepiece set, but
that is not necessary. The heavy adapter reduces the weight difference
from about 12 ounces to within a few ounces for almost any large/small
pair. The TeleVue adapter is beautifully made as one expects.
It weighs 12 ounces. One might note that a small 1 1/4" eyepiece
might weigh about 4 ounces while the 20 mm Nagler weighs 48 ounces.
This extreme small/large pair weight difference may require re-balancing
the telescope even with a weighted adapter.
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Here is shown the homemade adapter with the standard 26 mm Meade
eyepiece. Note that the adapter has, at the left end, a threaded
ring which will take standard 48 mm filters.
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