Section 1 - Introduction
Page 12
1.1.5. Attaching the camera to a telescope using the 2” nosepiece
There are several ways to attach the camera to a telescope. The easiest and most practical way is to
simply use the supplied custom 2” nosepiece. This
nosepiece is designed to cause
minimum vignetting with the
largest (35mm format) CCD.
The nosepiece is attached to the
accessory plate on the front of
the camera with four screws.
This method eliminates the need
for a threaded nosepiece that
could restrict the light path. The
custom nosepiece is easily attached and removed for
transporting the camera in its hard case with the camera handles attached to the camera body.
Caution:
Use only a very solid 2” drawtube, preferably with
two or more setscrews holding the camera in place. The
camera is large and heavy. Even if it is securely attached at
the beginning of an evening, movement and temperature
changes could cause the setscrew to come loose and the
camera could fall. The best protection is to attach a safety
line to the ¼-20 threaded tripod hole or through one of the
camera handles so that even if the camera slips from the
telescope or your hands in the cold, it will not fall to the
ground or swing into your mount.
1.1.6. Attaching the camera to a telescope using a
custom adapter
For optical systems that do not offer a 2”
drawtube, a custom adapter will have to be
provided by the user. The accessory plate on
the front cover of the camera has four tapped
holes for screw in adapters and the 2.158”
aperture is also threaded. In addition to the
drawing at left, mechanical drawings in PDF
format may be found at the SBIG web site in the
Application Notes section.