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Old 17-05-2005, 09:22 AM
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iceman (Mike)
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Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Gosford, NSW, Australia
Posts: 36,799
Motorised Focuser

Hey guys.

On the weekend I finally got around to installing the motorised focuser that Laurie (RAJAH) kindly made for me (thanks Loz!).

My dad was visiting for the weekend, so I took advantage of his engineering and DIY expertise to help me fit the motor to the scope.

The bracket is made from a piece of termite capping (galvanised steel), as that's all we could find at the hardware store The bracket fits onto 2 existing holes of the moonlite base, so no extra drilling into the OTA was required. A slot was cut out of the steel for the servo motor and screwed in place. The controller box with the variable speed knob, on/off switch and focus in/out control is simply velcroed to the OTA.

The only thing I haven't done yet is Laurie's "belt keeper" idea, to ensure the O-ring isn't lost on the ground should it fall off.

The O-ring connects the servo motor to the fine focus knob of my CR2, and turns it ever so smoothly. Meaning I don't have to touch the focus knob at high powers and there'll be no image shaking and shifting. This will be especially helpful for imaging.

It works, though I haven't given it a first light yet thanks to clouds.

Here's some pics from a few different angles.









Will report back once it's had first light!
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