| This Takahashi fixed latitude adapter lets you attach the Teegul Sky Patrol equatorial head to a set of tripod legs. It tilts the mount over to point its right ascension axis approximately at the north celestial pole so the Teegul’s motor drive can track celestial objects as they move across the sky. The adapter is set for a 45° latitude, roughly the latitude of Maine, Wisconsin, Montana, Oregon, etc. This angle is acceptable for visual observing from most of the U.S. and Canada, but it produces declination drift for observers north or south of that latitude during extended visual observing or astrophotography.
By adjusting the length of the north leg of the mount’s tripod, however, the mount’s right ascension axis can be aimed at latitudes ranging between approximately 35° and 55° to reduce or eliminate the declination drift. Care should be taken when adjusting the tripod leg length not to shorten it too much, so that the mount and scope become unbalanced and tip over.
The adapter is finished in Takahashi green paint. The base of the die-cast adapter has a 1/4"-20 thread stainless steel insert. This lets you thread it onto any standard photo tripod leg assembly that has a 1/4"-20 mounting bolt for installing a photographic pan head. For tripods that use a European standard 3/8" mounting bolt, such as those from Manfrotto (Bogen), the optional #3054 adapter will convert the tripod’s 3/8" bolt to the 1/4"-20 thread size needed to use this adapter. Once the latitude adapter is mounted on the tripod, the Teegul mount is threaded onto the 1/4"-20 thread bolt protruding from the angled platform of the adapter.
If the idea of shortening a tripod leg doesn’t appeal to you, and you need to precisely aim the Teegul’s right ascension axis at the pole for astrophotography, Takahashi also offers a variable latitude adapter, #TGULAD.
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