ED80's

[Lee]

From a forum search I have gathered the ED80's around (generally by Synta) - Orion, SW and Saxon - are the same animal. Are there any differences at all?
Can the focusers be upgraded at a later stage on these?

[ballaratdragons]

No difference except the colour they are painted and the name badging.

Upgrade the focuser? They come with a Crayford!

[Lee]

Cool, but I've seen pics of and heard of sexy focusers with 10:1 gears and pretty knobs.... do they screw off??

[ballaratdragons]

The ED80 Crayford focuser comes off very easy. 3 screws!

I wasn't aware of 10:1 focusers for ED's, only dob Crayfords. Interesting. The only focuser customising on my ED80 is the ED100 Crayford for a lot longer focuser travel. :thumbsup:

[Starkler]

Some people mod the focuser by honing the flat on the drawtube to smooth out the machine marks. This enables the focuser to hold more weight eg. a dslr camera.

[Adrian-H]

heres a link to what starkler is talking about
http://www.finefocuser.com/orionedcrayfordm.html

[Gargoyle_Steve]

I have seen mention VERY recently of a refractor coming standard with a 10:1 Crayford - if I can find where I saw it I'll post it here.

[IanW]

Fine focusers with a reduction element (planetary reducer on one knob for example) have been around for a long time. Fullerscopes, Broadhurst & Clarkeson in the UK were fitting them to their refractor, Cassegrain and Newtonian focusers back in the 1960s as I remember drooling over one in 1969 while visiting their shop in London.

Skip forward a while and looksee what you can get for your existing Synta refractor: http://www.finefocuser.com/ff2.html

Cheers,
Ian

[EzyStyles]

Saxon makes the ed80's with 10:1 focusers.

http://www.andrewscom.com.au/site-section-10.htm

or

http://www.saxon.com.au/m_refr.html

[rogerg]

The only ED80 I've had experience with was an Orion. The problem which it has that I don't like is the slipping focuser. It wouldn't hold my 350D without slipping. It has a focus tensioner but it can't completely lock the focus. This is quite a problem in my mind. That mod Starkler mentioned would be essential in my mind (assume it works sufficiently).

Roger.

[ballaratdragons]

Thanks Ian :thumbsup:



Eric,

Regarding both links, No, that's an APO 80 and cost more than twice as much as the ED's. Lot's of dollars just to get an 11:1 focuser!

[acropolite]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think William Optics are making a 10:1 focusser (http://www.william-optics.com/wowebs/prod_acc/foc_syn_2in/features0.htm)to suit ED80 OTA's. I would be interested in knowing if anyone has seen one in the flesh.

[[1ponders]]

Roger that slipping problem must be hit and miss with the Orions as I've never experienced it with mine and all my shooting (300D) gets done from abou 50 deg and up. Must have got one of the lucky ones. Does the same thing occur with the Saxons etc?

[Striker]

Mine is the same Paul..I have shot heaps of images with the 350D and Orion ED80 combo and never had any slippage....but I have heard of this happening.

Best value ED refractor ever made.

[beren]

Same here , haven't had a problem with the standard focuser slipping on my Orion ....when i purchased it I was thinking of buying a moon-lite focuser for a replacement but realised it wasn't necessary :)