ECCO is the Environmental Computerized Controller for the EAGLE that can be used also to support a compact guide telescope, by adding the “Guide scope support for ECCO” (ECCOSUP) or the “Guide rings support plate for ECCO” (ECCOSUP-PL). Since the ECCO can be installed on a standard Vixen type finder shoe, by adding the guide scope support (that is fixed on top of the ECCO with 2 M6 screws) you can you have an easy way to install a compact guide scope like our “60mm CompactGuide scope with PLUS 80mm guide rings” (PLLCG60) to be used with an autoguide camera or also with an eyepiece as an optical finder. In this tutorial we show you how to use the ECCO to support a compact guide telescope.
In order to install a compact (usually 50 or 60mm diameter) in parallel to the ECCO, you can proceed in 2 ways:
- if you already have the “60mm CompactGuide scope with PLUS 80mm guide rings” (PLLCG60): since this guide scope already comes with PLUS guide rings, you can connect the “Guide rings support plate for ECCO” (code ECCOSUP-PL) on top of the ECCO and then connect the 80mm PLUS guide rings that are provided with the PLLCG60 guide scope.
- if you have another 50mm or 60mm diameter guide scope, you can connect the “Guide scope support for ECCO” (code ECCOSUP) on top of the ECCO and then insert your guide telescope in the guide rings.
Using the ECCO as support for a compact guide telescope helps you in all the situations where it’s difficult to locate a proper place to install a guide telescope, for example in portable astrophotography setups. And since the ECCO is made up of aluminum, it provides a very good mechanical stability. The ECCO connects to a standard Vixen style finder shoe but, if you haven’t a finder shoe in your telescope, you can add the “DX finder base” (code PLLBACEDX). All these accessories are compatible also with first generation of ECCO environmental module. The only difference it that the previous generation comes with M5 threaded holes on top (instead of M6) so in the ECCOSUP or ECCOSUP-PL you will find also M5 screws to connect to first generation ECCO.
