Why use tube rings and then disable them with a pin? Suddenly you have lost the ability to quickly achieve longitudinal balance if using heavier or lighter than usual accessories. Admittedly, at SPOC we don't really have many (if any) members using the telescopes with any significantly massive instrumentation attached, but the option is nice. With the tube pinned, clamp rings become simply dead weight. May as well just screw the OTA to a saddle and sell the rings. Properly shimmed (felt) rings cannot be "overtightened" anyway. A set of tube rings is too far away from the lens cell on a long refractor to introduce any unwanted stress to the cell. On 3/15/11, ziggy943@xmission.com <ziggy943@xmission.com> wrote:
What do you mean "a band-aid?" It's a permanent solution. Never worry about slippage. Never overtighten the rings and introduce a pinch to the lens cell.