2”-1.25” non marring adapter

[markse68]

I’m often alarmed at the sound of scraping metal when changing eyepieces in my moonlite focuser and upsettingly despite being quite careful some of them are showing signs of wear from use so I was wondering if there was such a thing as a delrin 2-1.25” adapter but there doesn’t seem to be- at least not easily available. Then I stumbled across the Skywatcher twistlock adapter that says it has a polypropylene gripping band so sounds almost as good. Anyone had experience of these- are they any good? Do they clamp the eyepiece nice and firmly or does it tend to rock in the clamping band? I read a damning review of the similar looking TS optics one.

Are there other options- maybe a Baader one would be better?

[Ricochet]

I've got Baader Clicklocks on my dob (2" and 1.25") and they are excellent. Every scope should have them.

[Louis D]

How would you get your fingers in there to tighten it with fat 1.25" eyepieces that overhang quite a bit?  I had to swap out the short thumbscrew for a longer one on one of my adapters because it was so short and had such a wide knurled head that it kept some of my eyepieces from seating level.

[markse68]

3 minutes ago, Louis D said:

How would you get your fingers in there to tighten it with fat 1.25" eyepieces that overhang quite a bit?  I had to swap out the short thumbscrew for a longer one on one of my adapters because it was so short and had such a wide knurled head that it kept some of my eyepieces from seating level.

Very good point there Louis- I think the Baader one has a lever sticking out to solve that problem

[John]

It is hard to beat the Baader Clicklock system.

 

 

 

 

[Don Pensack]

On 02/06/2020 at 15:21, markse68 said:

I’m often alarmed at the sound of scraping metal when changing eyepieces in my moonlite focuser and upsettingly despite being quite careful some of them are showing signs of wear from use so I was wondering if there was such a thing as a delrin 2-1.25” adapter but there doesn’t seem to be- at least not easily available. Then I stumbled across the Skywatcher twistlock adapter that says it has a polypropylene gripping band so sounds almost as good. Anyone had experience of these- are they any good? Do they clamp the eyepiece nice and firmly or does it tend to rock in the clamping band? I read a damning review of the similar looking TS optics one.

Are there other options- maybe a Baader one would be better?

As an adapter, it has only 2 flaws:

1) it may not be long enough to prevent some 1.25" eyepieces from contacting a 2" filter threaded to the bottom.  I got around this by adding an 8mm long barrel extender to its bottom.

2) its vertical height above the focuser may be too much in a few select installations, where a lower-profile adapter might be required to avoid bottoming out.

Other than that, which are really nit-picking, it is a fantastic adapter, as it:

--eliminates looseness in an adapter due to the normal variation in eyepiece diameters

--has an internal collet that grabs all the way around, not just at one spot

--has a long enough internal collet to span the blinkety-blank undercuts on eyepiece barrels

--can be used in the winter with mittens on

--never snags on the eyepiece when removed

--has a smooth side, so never hangs up on brass split ring binders

--is less expensive than many poorer adapters.

 

The Baader Click-Lock adapter is better, but several times the price.  This one is inexpensive enough you could buy one for every 1.25" eyepiece you have and make

your entire eyepiece set into 2" eyepieces.

Edited June 3, 2020 by Don Pensack

[markse68]

Thanks Don for the first hand opinion

47 minutes ago, Don Pensack said:

This one is inexpensive enough you could buy one for every 1.25" eyepiece you have and make

your entire eyepiece set into 2" eyepieces.

I’d need a much bigger eyepiece box then though 🤔😉