Meade Counterweight Rail Adapter
ScopeStuff
$26 (plus optional items)

ScopeStuff sent me their new Meade Counterweight Rail Adapter plus some of the optional items. The Adapter is a small metal block to mount additional counterweights or accessories on the counterweight rod on the Meade f/8 LX600 Optical Tube Assembly (OTA) or other similarly sized rods. The aluminum block has a thumbscrew for locking to the rail and has two threaded holes with 1/4-20 and 5/16-18 threads. Optional items include 2" and 4.5" shafts with nuts and 1 lb and 2 lb counterweights.

Using the optional add-ons for the Rail Adapter you can configure your f/8 OTA like this.

ScopeStuff #CWA1 counterweight


Meade Counterweight

While adding counterweights is a typical use, you can also mount a small camera or smartphone piggyback.

Smartphone mounted


Orion with iPhone camera

A caution: fork-mounted equatorial telescopes can have an interference issue at some latitudes depending on the Declination of the object being photographed from this underside piggyback position. Alt/Az or GEM mounted f/8 OTAs will not have this issue.

Using other add-ons from ScopeStuff you can mount other accessories, like a guidescope, using a finder shoe bracket or even a Vixen-style dovetail bar.

Summary

The ScopeStuff Meade Counterweight Rail Adapter is a very versatile accessory that can handle a wide range of add-on items for the Meade f/8 ACF OTA. If you need more counterweights at various locations on the OTA, want to mount a small camera beneath the telescope tube, or even add small refractor (think guidescope), this adapter might be just what you need. While clearance of attached items can be consideration on forked OTAs, this will not likely be a problem for owners who have mounted the f/8 OTA on an Alt/Az mount or a GEM.

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