Handle for Starfield 102ED

[badhex]

Hello all, 

Does anyone with a Starfield 102 equivalent have a handle setup on their tube rings? 

I have a padded soft case for mine (TS-Optics version) and I think it would really help with packing/unpacking and other general "handling" of the scope during setup. 

I'd prefer one attached to both rings but can't seem to find one the right length (just shy of 200mm) and don't really want to replace the whole dovetail as well. The Stellamira one from Flo could work, but not sure whether it fits the rings and wondered if anyone else has any experience or alternatives to share? 

[apaulo]

I made a simple but strong handle out of a bit of webbing for my Starfield 102 ed

[jjohnson3803]

1 hour ago, apaulo said:

i made a simple but strong handle out of a bit of webbing. for my starfield 102 ed

Great idea!  Wonder if I could cut down a yoga mat carrier strap thing.

[apaulo]

the webbing is very cheap i got it on ebay and the postage was more than the webbing lol. 

[Gabby76]

I like the webbing, I have made handles for large refractors using 1/8"x 3/4" aluminium flat bar,

a couple of bends in either end with a vice then drill two holes.

Vixen also sells a metal handle: https://www.bresser.de/en/Astronomy/Accessories/Vixen-Carrying-Handle-for-Telescopes.html

[johninderby]

The posh option. ££££

https://www.astroshop.eu/miscellaneous/berlebach-tube-grip/p,46490

[badhex]

I had forgotten I'd posted this! I actually solved it with TS-Optics handle I managed to miss the first time round (not hard on their site, it was filed under some obscure category). You can see it on this picture - it's loads easier now to mount/unmount or adjust balance. 

[johnnyp]

On 27/06/2022 at 22:15, badhex said:

I had forgotten I'd posted this! I actually solved it with TS-Optics handle I managed to miss the first time round (not hard on their site, it was filed under some obscure category). You can see it on this picture - it's loads easier now to mount/unmount or adjust balance. 

@badhex sorry to derail the thread....but may I ask how the scopetech mount handles the scope ? 

Cheers 

John 

[badhex]

19 hours ago, johnnyp said:

@badhex sorry to derail the thread....but may I ask how the scopetech mount handles the scope ? 

Cheers 

John 

Hi John, 

Broadly it copes well enough, especially in combination with the Gitzo but I would say it's at the upper end of what the mount can handle happily. It is very sensitive to balance but that's true for whatever scope you use within reason. Ideally you do not want too much variance in EP weights or you'll have to rebalance the scope. My main EPs are all around 350g-450g and it deals well enough with that variance, especially if you very slightly front load when balancing (i.e. objective end slightly heavier). 

One of the main advantages is portability which this mount/tripod combination excels at and allows very quick set up etc. At high powers there is a small amount of vibration but the damping time is very short. At lower powers it is basically unnoticeable. 

[JeremyS]

Handles are very popular on SGL.

[badhex]

16 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

Handles are very popular on SGL.

15 counts of the word handle in this thread so far. Now 16. 

[cajen2]

17.......

[JeremyS]

1 minute ago, badhex said:

15 counts of the word handle in this thread so far. Now 16. 

17th handle 👍🏻
Can never have too many

[Moonlit Knight]

Well I have to say I would quite like a handle myself. I have seen a number of threads about handles including variations on this scope. One of the difficulties I have found finding a handle is the length of my dovetail. I use a Losmandy which when fitted to the tube rings only gives me 100 mm for the centre holes of any handle. If anyone has any ideas as to either lengthen the dovetail spacing (only two bolts fit, one the slider) or a handle which might fit. I recently tried one from FLO but it didn’t fit.

 

[Moonlit Knight]

[Moonlit Knight]

[badhex]

I think you might struggle to get a handle that short if you want it to mount to both rings, mostly because it's not very ergonomic (too small for the hand) - but the only one I know of that might work is the William Optics short handle which is 120mm. Actually, I have one floating about so I can measure the holes later. 

Your other option is to get a slightly longer losmandy bar which would give you more options - that one is very short. Any particular reason why you've used a losmandy vs vixen? 

[KP82]

I've got the WO short handle on my 80EDT. The end M6 holes are exactly 120mm apart.

IMHO for any short (< f/8) sub 4 inch scopes, there aren't any benefit with losmandy dovetails compared to vixen.

[Moonlit Knight]

1 hour ago, KP82 said:

I've got the WO short handle on my 80EDT. The end M6 holes are exactly 120mm apart.

IMHO for any short (< f/8) sub 4 inch scopes, there aren't any benefit with losmandy dovetails compared to vixen.

I have mine mounted on a TeleVue Gibraltar HD4 with a ADM conversion which allows for both formats, but the Losmandy is at the top and so gives me a little more space mounting my scope. And anyway I have had enough close calls with vixen dovetails in the past to put me off. The other thing about the wide base of the Losmandy is that it sits nice and stable on top of my case while I am adding kit

[badhex]

So, as mentioned above the hole distance for the small WO handle is 120mm which is too wide for your rings. Your only options that I'm aware of would be to buy a handle with only a single mount point (I don't fancy that for my 102 but your scope may be lighter?), use a vixen dovetail bolted to the top of the rings (one with a slot) as a handle, or have someone fabricate a custom sized handle for you. 

Last option would be to buy a larger losmandy plate, and then other existing handles would be available to you. 

[Moonlit Knight]

That’s probably the best option 

[Moonlit Knight]

On 27/06/2022 at 22:15, badhex said:

I had forgotten I'd posted this! I actually solved it with TS-Optics handle I managed to miss the first time round (not hard on their site, it was filed under some obscure category). You can see it on this picture - it's loads easier now to mount/unmount or adjust balance. 

So I  bought one of those from TS, I also ended up buying a longer 11 inch dovetail so I can fit it. There are just somethings that need sorting, this was one of them.

[badhex]

6 hours ago, Moonlit Knight said:

So I  bought one of those from TS, I also ended up buying a longer 11 inch dovetail so I can fit it. There are just somethings that need sorting, this was one of them.

Glad you got it sorted. It's not bad for the price, although obviously you have the added cost of a longer bar. Added bonus is that you're future proof... future proven?.. if you want to change the configuration or add any other accessories to that scope and setup.