EXPLORE SCIENTIFIC FINDER SHOE

[BargeGazer]

Together with a number of other owners, or potential owners, of the Explore Scientific 80 APO who have posted on SGL, I have been searching for a simple way of being able to use the more common, nay almost universal, Synta shoe, thereby significantly expanding the range of finders, trackers and other accessories to be fitted. Nothing seems to be available commercially and the suggestions I read all seemed to require some careful "bodging" of the OTA. Also most didn't allow easy reversal to the ES fitting.

I was hunting through the aluminium extrusions section in a local DIY store when I came across exactly what I needed. A top-hat sectioned extrusion. As in the first photo.

A spare Synta shoe (AKA FLO "Finder Mounting Shoe or equivalent) fitted across this perfectly and with another section of the extrusion fixed "top-to-top" it gave a section that could, after a bit of trimming, slide into the standard ES shoe. As in the second and third photos.

Result, a slide-in, solid as a rock adapter that allows the use existing finders and also leaves the telescope itself untouched. Cost less than €10 and I have enough extrusion to make another 10 adaptors. Time to make about 30 minutes.

David

[knobby]

Very neat !

[RobertI]

NIce solution. Unfortunately I have the opposite problem, a scope with a Skywatcher/Synta shoe and a ES finder !! I have a workaround but it's not as elegant as yours.

[Lowjiber]

Very interesting.  How did you fasten the two "top hats" together... rivets, epoxy, etc???

[RobertI]

Fortunately both my larger OTAs have a vixen/synta style rail on the top - so i drilled and tapped a hole in the base of the finder attachement and bolted on an upside-down finder shoe - this allows easy attachment to the rail. Probably an easier problem to solve than yours!

[John]

The SCT variant of the Skywatcher / Vixen mounting shoe will bolt right on to the tube using the holes / screws that the ES foot used.

Yours is a neat solution though.

[BargeGazer]

Hi Lowjiber

I used one screw through both the aliminium section and into the shoe which I drilled and Tapped.  Then put another couple of holes through the sections and glued all together with Araldite.  Glue went through the holes and effectively formed a couple of rivets between the pieces.

John

Thanks for that.  The SCT mount sounds a good idea but I didn't want to have to lose the ES Mount option, or at least didn't want to be unscrewing one fitting and screwing in another if I wanted to change.  It would be a good idea to give a heads up to the UK supplier of ES as they should be able to suggest this route themselves.  I will try to do that.

David

[Commanderfish]

Very nicely made David, good solution.  How did you fix the two sections of aluminium together?  Some kind of resin glue?