| This Astro-Tech quick-release finderscope bracket is designed to mount 50mm Astro-Tech illuminated right-angle finderscopes on Astro-Tech and TMB refractors, but will work equally well with virtually any ~50mm finder and any telescope or telescope type. The body of an Astro-Tech illuminated finderscope measures 62mm in diameter and will not fit into the 60mm i.d. of the light die-cast finder brackets supplied with many telescopes.
The finder bracket and base are CNC-machined from solid aluminum for strength and durability. All parts are anodized a non-reflective matte black. The mounting hardware and bracket-to-base lock knob are chrome-plated.
The finder bracket has two finder mounting rings, each with three hand-tighten Delrin-tipped collimating screws. The internal diameter of the rings is 78mm. The collimating screws will hold tubes as small as 46mm in diameter, but 50mm is a more practical lower limit to allow some screw travel for collimation purposes.
A separate mounting base attaches to the telescope body. The mounting stalk of the finder bracket slides into a dovetail slot in the base and is held in place by one chrome-plated hand-tighten lock knob. A recess machined into the mounting stalk engages the lock knob in the base to prevent the finder from sliding out of the base should the lock knob loosen inadvertently.
The curved finder mounting base will install on most Astro-Tech and TMB refractors and most William Optics and Stellarvue refractors (using the mounting hardware supplied with the scope to seal the mounting hole when no finder is installed). The underside of the mounting shoe is felt-lined to keep from scratching your telescope’s finish.
The finder mounting base can also be attached to a reflector’s Sonotube or metal optical tube by using a nut and bolt (not supplied). The curvature of the quick release base will fit virtually any telescope from 6" in aperture and larger. The curvature of the base needed to fit smaller refractor bodies may leave a small cosmetic gap between the underside of the base and a larger telescope optical tube, but in no way affects the rigidity of the finder mounting.
The base can also be used on most catadioptric telescope rear cells (using one of the accessory mounting holes located at the 1 o’clock position on the telescope’s rear cell and the existing telescope trim hardware that normally seals the accessory mounting holes).
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