 LX200 Leg Adjuster Design
Hans Seemann - Santiago, Chile After lots of tinkering around, finally finished replacing the rubber-covered tips of the tripod, with adjustable-height ones, in order to speed-up the leveling of the scope and avoid the tiring bending up-and-down to adjust the lengths of the legs and looking at the bubble-level in never-ending cycles. Previously I build a collapsible star-like u-beam assembly, that also worked, but it was an additional element to carry around. I did not find a local tubing that fitted snugly over the 1 1/2" pipe of the extension legs of the tripod, therefore my mechanic had to machine this item on a lathe. You can probably find this tubing in the States, therefore I also include a sketch of my original design, so that you can much easier and cheaper build it at home. First, I removed the rivets holding the original tips, using a 1/4" drill. 
If you sometime decide to make and use these shoes, you will be amazed of how rapidly and easily the leveling can be done
with the utmost accuracy every time you set up your scope. My mechanic also added a ball-adjustable base-plate, which with
a rubber sheet underneath, can be used either on concrete, dirt or grass floor. Of course just rounding the end of the bolt
will also work fine on concrete, brick or wood block. --------------------------------------------------------------------- |
Then
I banged the extension-legs against the inside of the upper legs, in order to loosen and unmount the tips which come glued
to the extension-leg tubing. The construction of the adjustable shoes is really quite simple. The attached sketch is self-explanatory.
I used steel, but both aluminum or brass could equally be used, if you have welding or soldering facilities for these materials.
The bolt adjusting rod is made of 1/2" steel conduit tubing, with a handle of the same material welded on one side and
a 3/4" socket at the other end. The length can be cut to meet everyone s best convenience. 