Sacrilege I know...anyone any idea how to fit a SW finder to a Tak?

[paulastro]

Responding to Jules's recent post regarding the best finder for his Mak 127 brought back something to mind that I often muse on.  Up  to now I have been frightened to 'come out' about this for fear of getting hate mail and ridicule from Takahashi owners, but here goes anyway .

Does anyone know how to fit a SW finder to a Takahashi telescope - without drilling or inflicting GBH on the Tak tube?

Yes, I can almost hear the Tak owners out there crying out in indignation, how and why would I suggest such a sacrilege?  Yes, I know the Tak finders are wonderful and amongst the best, but I would like to be able to use a SW erect, right way round 50mm finder with it.  Before anyone suggests using the Tak finder holder with a suitable SW finder ( another sacrilege! ) I have to admit I much prefer the easy adjustment with a SW finder holder.  I love Takahashi, bless their cotton socks, but their finders are hardly the easiest  to adjust. 

I frequently use my Tak in altaz mode, and it would be wonderful to sit comfortably behind it with such a finder on board, it would be such a breeze to follow finder charts.  Also, before anyone tells me I should get used to the upside down or mirror image views of most finders, I can do this but don't like the mental gymnastics necessary now any more than I did when I looked through my first finder over 45 years ago.  Anyway, at my age I think I'm entitled to make life as easy as possible.

I reckon if someone produced  a Tak to SW finder foot converter they'd sell quite a few - even if some customers wouldn't admit to anyone they'd bought one!

So, anyone any ideas? 

[Peter Drew]

Paul. Your comment about drilling the OTA removed my first thought! How about a couple of cable ties, they shouldn't mark the tube. Might not look pretty but neither will a SW finder on a Tak.  

[Dr_Ju_ju]

Sticky pads, I know a lot of BBC studios held together with them  ....

[scitmon]

couple of strips of stick on velcro?

[paulastro]

1 minute ago, Peter Drew said:

Paul. Your comment about drilling the OTA removed my first thought! How about a couple of cable ties, they shouldn't mark the tube. Might not look pretty but neither will a SW finder on a Tak.  

Mmm, now why doesn't that surprise me Peter, .  Your solution sounds ingeniously easy (as the best solutions often are), but I just can't imagine how you'd use cable ties to ensure that the holder and finder are held securely?  If I was with you I'd ask you to do a drawing for me - you know I'm not the most practical of people.

[paulastro]

1 minute ago, Dr_Ju_ju said:

Sticky pads, I know a lot of BBC studios held together with them  ....

Thanks Julian.  There could be something in this, though I'd  if I had a nasty sticky patch on my tube when I came to pull it off .  Also, I can't see how sticky pads could hold everything in place securely - unless I get hold of some of those BBC sticky pads .

[paulastro]

9 minutes ago, scitmon said:

couple of strips of stick on velcro?

Many thanks, though again, I'm wandering how good a fix this could be.

[Craney]

Possible......?? looks a bit naff......

[paulastro]

I've just looked at my Tak again, and it strikes me that if  I had a strip of metal to fit the curve of the Tak tube, a SW finder foot could be fixed to it somehow (glued perhaps), and then holes drilled through the metal strip to coincide with the positions that the existing holes in the tube are already.

Any thoughts on this anyone?

[Dr_Ju_ju]

Solvents will shift any residual, another thought would be to use a SW tube ring with the finder attached to it, easily removable\adjustable with no marks etc....

[paulastro]

14 minutes ago, Craney said:

Possible......?? looks a bit naff......

Ah, thanks for that, I suppose that is what Peter meant, though perhaps round the tube near to the focuser.  I wonder if it would rotate round the tube though?  Thanks again.

[paulastro]

2 minutes ago, Dr_Ju_ju said:

Solvents will shift any residual, another thought would be to use a SW tube ring with the finder attached to it, easily removable\adjustable with no marks etc....

Thanks again Julian.  That might well work, though it would look a bit......er, naff.  It's a possibility, but I'd prefer a solution which entailed fixing a SW finder foot to the Tak using some sort of bespoke adapter to where the existing finder fits if possible.  If this turns out not to be practical, I may re-visit your idea. 

[Dr_Ju_ju]

I don't know the fitting on the TAK, but I'm sure it would be possoble to 3D print an adaptor to suit.

[paulastro]

Wow Julian, that's rather high tech for me, I know less about 3D printing than I do about computers .

[Stub Mandrel]

Duck Tape.

[dweller25]

I have a SW RA finder on my FS128

I bought a Tak quick release finder base, then filed the SW bracket down slightly to fit

[carastro]

Do you have a mounting ring on your Tak?  If so, can a skywatcher foot be fitted to that?  

I don't actually use this any more as it wasn't stable enough for guiding, but this is when i fitted a SW foot to a WOSZ71 mounting ring.  (N.B. the mounting ring I had custom made for the scope for when I used an ST80 for guiding, so don't get excited WO owners). 

Carole 

[Peter Drew]

4 hours ago, paulastro said:

I've just looked at my Tak again, and it strikes me that if  I had a strip of metal to fit the curve of the Tak tube, a SW finder foot could be fixed to it somehow (glued perhaps), and then holes drilled through the metal strip to coincide with the positions that the existing holes in the tube are already.

Any thoughts on this anyone?

I could do that. 

[paulastro]

3 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

Duck Tape.

Many thanks.  Mind you, would I ever get it off again! .  Only joking, I know solvents would clear up the mess but I'd rather fix it on 'mechanically' if I can.  Thanks again.

[paulastro]

1 hour ago, carastro said:

Do you have a mounting ring on your Tak?  If so, can a skywatcher foot be fitted to that?  

I don't actually use this any more as it wasn't stable enough for guiding, but this is when i fitted a SW foot to a WOSZ71 mounting ring.  (N.B. the mounting ring I had custom made for the scope for when I used an ST80 for guiding, so don't get excited WO owners). 

Carole 

Many thanks Carole, I do have a mounting ring with it. It's certainly something to think about.  The only thing is my Tak is a 100mm f9, so it may be a bit difficult to get to if the ring is half way along the tube - also the SW finder is right angled so that might make it more difficult.  I move the scope within the tube to balance it so the position of the ring varies according to what I have on the back end. It's certainly a possibility though, I'll have to mull it over.  Thanks again Carole.

[paulastro]

40 minutes ago, Peter Drew said:

I could do that. 

Many thanks Peter, I'll talk to you about it with you next time I come up to TAC if that's ok - it could be as early as Saturday.

In fact I came across this Baader finder base a few minutes ago:   https://www.firstlightoptics.com/finders/baader-universal-quick-release-finder-base.html

The two outer elongated holes on it appear to be in the right place to go over the holes in the tube where the Tak finder is attached.  it may go straight on with a bit of luck.

Thanks again, and see you soon! 

[paulastro]

Very many thanks to all you folks who have responded with such cracking ideas.  I'm sure there will be a solution somewhere among them.

Is anyone aware of a straight through 50mm correct image finder by the way - perhaps now I'm really asking too much!! 

Thank you all again.

[paulastro]

2 hours ago, dweller25 said:

I have a SW RA finder on my FS128

I bought a Tak quick release finder base, then filed the SW bracket down slightly to fit

Thanks David, that sounds good.  It certainly works as you've done it already!  The only thing that puts me off is the price of the bracket.

Also, I'm delighted there is at least one more person in the world who uses a SW finder with his Tak - or at least a SW fitting one! 

[John]

I use a Skywatcher RACI 6x30mm on my FC-100DL. Initially I put the SW finder into the Tak 30mm finder mount and it fitted fine. Now I've an alternative arrangement where I can remove the finder for transport / storage by using a standard SW type shoe and a couple of alloy tubes as stand offs. The other advantage is that I can pop on a SW compatible RDF type finder as and when I want to:

 

[Stub Mandrel]

47 minutes ago, paulastro said:

Many thanks.  Mind you, would I ever get it off again! .  Only joking, I know solvents would clear up the mess but I'd rather fix it on 'mechanically' if I can.  Thanks again.

So was I