Transit of Venus

Travel Equipment

One of the most compact 90 mm APOs out there. I have been spoiled

by the views in good apochromatic refractors over the years, so I

decided to acquire one for Astronomical voyages. This scope did it’s first

trip to Greece/Crete to see the Transit of Venus in 2004. It was well worth

the investment. The views do not disappoint, and it’s compact frame travels well.

Possibly the lightest and most well designed mount out there

Dec axis is in line with polar axis instead of on top of it

Allowing the center of mass to move inward, hence the

tiny counterweights to balance 10 to 12 lbs of scope etc.

Weighs 6.5 lbs / 3 kg with one counterweight but without tripod

Motor driven and will run for 24 hr on 4 AA batteries

(little black box hanging from counterweight!!!)

I made up a 2” adaptor so I could use this with the refractor

and a riser to move the eyepiece 1” further out to accommodate

the DSLR camera. The unit is made to work with a CCD, which has

only a little outfocus.

It is nice to be able to view and shoot the eclipse with the same scope.

Good quality solar filter material mounted in a light weight cell

I removed the EQ3 head and made up an interface to mount the Teegul

This tripod is better and lighter than camera tripods. My custom adaptor

puts the weight where it should be, unlike the camera tripod adaptor.

The Equatorial tripod mount has latitude adjustability.