Set-screw, compression-ring or clicklock?

[Franklin]

Am I going mad? This is from a visual only angle but recently I've been wondering what all the fuss is about. Yes, clicklocks, twistlocks, fastlocks are very nice, well engineered bits of kit and it's also very impressive when you see a guy picking up a huge CAT by the visual back alone. But.....they do eat up back focus so you must be careful. To all the imaging guys out there they must be perfect. Able to hold a tonne of camera gear, no diagonal in the equation so back focus isn't an issue and ease of swapping out equipment. A big plus over the set-screws of yesteryear but is all that necessary for visual astronomy? I'm begining to think that there is wisdom from the likes of Takahashi and Vixen sticking to their guns and continuing with the simple set screw method. I don't mind using set-screws but wanting to use a heavy 2" dielectric diagonal with 2" hand grenade eyepieces prompted me to deck one of my scopes out with a lovely Baader clicklock, it holds the heavyweight setup without a doubt but with the diagonal it all takes up so much travel that I can't reach focus. In the end it was all a waste of money and I will have to revert back to simple connections for my accessories. Compression rings save your eyepieces from getting marred by set-screws, they help with keeping the optical train centered but they also snag eyepieces with undercuts and we all know which ones they are. So I'm now thinking that the simple set-screw isn't all that bad afterall. So what if it doesn't grip the barrel exactly centrally, my eye is not a camera. So what if it marks the barrel of my eyepieces, they're meant to be used. And used they will be, but only with the stock visual back that came with my scope in the first place. Madness!

Edited May 22, 2022 by Franklin

[Louis D]

Compression rings are in most of my focusers, CC, and Barlows.  I'm not always a fan of them with undercut eyepieces.  I get an occasional snag, but never a complete jam.

I prefer nylon thumb screws over metal.  They hold as well without marring anything.

Given the number of reports of BCL jamming and not releasing, and pushing the eyepiece off axis, I'll avoid them.

The Antares/Olivon Twist-Lock adapter seems nearly ideal as being closer to a true collet.  They may not grab as hard as the BCL, but I've never heard of them jamming.

[Franklin]

14 minutes ago, Louis D said:

I prefer nylon thumb screws over metal.  They hold as well without marring anything.

I have come to that same conclusion. Swap all my set-screws for nylon thumb screws. Overall, less weight and more in-focus. At the end of the day, I want it all just to work so I can stop faffing about and do some observing. It's my fault because I didn't check with a daytime trial run, but I discovered that there was not enough in-focus with all these fancy gadgets in the middle of a session, so ended up having to swap out visual backs and diagonals in the dark. I can't remember where I read about the KISS formula, but I think it applies here, KISS=Keep It Simple Stupid.