Chris,

All you have to do is purchase a 2" star diagonal which will replace the 1.25" star diagonal. Uh, it is a mystery to me exactly why these things are called a "visual back" as opposed to a "star diagonal". Maybe it is because it is a star diagonal with a threaded coupling that mates to the SCT's visual back threads... this IS very important!

Anyway... numerous manufacturers supply star diagonals for your purposes. I purchased a 2" Meade star diagonal (model 929, ~$125.00). Celestron also sells a star diagonal (part #93519, $135.00).

You will want to obtain a 2" diagonal that has a 1.25" adaptor so that you can use your 1.25" eyepieces with it. The Meade and Celestron ones come the adaptor. The beautifully made TeleVue diagonal (see below) offers the adaptor as an extra cost (sigh) option.

The one I would have purchased (if money were no object) was the TeleVue 2" star diagonal (DPC-2002, $275.00). The TeleVue diagonal also requires an adaptor to mate it to an SCT (model ACC0003, $45.00). The difference is that the TeleVue diag is machined from a single piece of aluminum and has very high reflectivity coatings on the mirror. This is the one to buy is money is no object or if aesthetics are everything...

You can find these items at www.buytelescopes.com (Anacortes' web site) or www.astronomics.com (Astronomics web site) and many other places.

• Other options - danieldgj - October 10, 2002 - 02:35 UTC
  • TeleVue 2" Adapter - rgallaway - October 26, 2002 - 11:31 UTC