For my LX200 I have made several Piggy Back Rails [see my DIY page], one of them is piggy back for my WO Zenithstar 80 ED
All my piggyback rails are easily interchangeable via 4 wingnuts.
As the WO Zenithstar 80 ED is one of my favourite optics, most of the time the piggy back rail for this refractor is mounted.
So far so good.
But when I wanted to use my Coronado PST I had to swap rails, and later I had to swap again.
I noticed the threaded holes on top of the hinged rings of the WO Zenithstar 80 ED and gave it a good thought.
After a while I went to the hardware store and bought a piece of hard plastic 'Trespa' and 4 end caps for the aluminium profile I still had lying around.
The following pictures show what I did:
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The Coronado PST on top of the WO hinged rings. Please note the pieces of aluminium - my local DIY shop sells this in lengths of 1 metre which I made to fit with a hacksaw - between the hinged rings and the PST: they provide just enough space for my fingers to bolt the PST to the plastic platform.
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A closer look. The aluminium bars are bolted to the hinged rings with M6 bolts; the plastic platform is fastened with self-tapping screws.
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Configuration used during the Partial Solar Eclipse of August 1, 2008 Coronado PST with Televue 2.5 Powermate and Vesta SC3 b/w raw webcam mounted on double piggy back platform ; William Optics Zenithstar 80 ED II APO with standard ToUcam Webcam operating with 0.6 Mogg Focal reducer and a stacked Baader Infra Red Blocking Filter/Baader Contrast Booster combo [to get the whole Sun in my FOV] and this whole assembly piggybacked on my Meade LX200 mounted on a wedge and pier. |
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With my PST riding high on my LX200 and when the sun is low during the colder period of the year I cannot see the finder window on top of the PST, unless I climb a small ladder. So on a cloudy day I made this Solar Finder |