The M002 Mount need to be raised above a tripod top for it to work with various telescopes. Use a Stellarvue MEC column to accomplish this. Our columns are made of heavy duty 6061-t6 aluminum 2 3/4" in diameter and 11 1/4" long. They weigh 2.4 pounds and hold the M002C mount head rock solid.
Attach the appropriate column to your tripod then attach the M002C mount head to the top of the column using the three 1/4-20 screws that come with the mount head. With the column extending 11 1/4" above the recess and the M002C mount head providing an additional 2 1/2" of height to the centerline, a total of 13.5" of additional height is attained.
Based on your tripod select the correct column from the list above.
MEC002 Column and Base: If you have a surveyor's tripod that uses a 5/8-11 bolt you will need this column. Before ordering check and make sure that your surveyr's tripod uses a 5/8-11 threaded bolt. Some surveyor's tripods use a 3/8"-16 bolt and if this is the case, use the MEC003 instead. Special note: These columns are older and use a 5/8" threaded base that is welded to the column. You cannot use these columns with other bases.
MEC003 Column and Base: If you have a heavy-duty camera tripod that uses the standard 3/8-16 bolt you will need this column.
MEC005 Column and Base: If you have a very old SCT stainless tripod (back when these were made in America) for use with fork mounted SCT's that uses a 1/2"-13 threaded rod, use this base.
MEC010 Column and base: Use this column on most import telescope mount tripods including Vixen tripods, the Celestron AVX/GP tripods and many others.
MEC012 Column and base: Use this column on larger import tripods that use a metric M12 bolt (such as the Celestron CGEM).
Note: To help you determine what size thread your tripod uses, measure the diameter of the threaded attachment screw using a metric ruler or caliper:
- The 3/8"-16 is about 9.3 - 9.4 mm in diameter
- The M10 thread is about 9.8 mm in diameter
- The M12 is about 11 3/4 mm in diameter
- The 1/2-13 is about 12 1/4 - 12 1/2 mm in diameter
- The 5/8-11 is about 15 3/4 mm in diameter
