New Moonlite Focuser

[Sarge (Rod)]

Just ordered a new Moonlite CR focuser. Been contemplating this for a while. Nothing wrong with my SW focuser, but all the reports I've read, have this as worth the money.
Went for a CR 2" travel, compression ring with tri-knob dual speed and shaft lock (gold in colour). With a universal install kit and postage it was still cheaper by a long way to buy direct from Moonlite rather than purchase in Aus.
I e-mailed a query to Ron Newman of Moonlite re the focuser I wanted and exchange rates, and he replied very quickly and although I placed my order on Sat morning (Aus time) Fri night (USA time), Ron replied almost immedately with shipping date etc.

Now I have to try and sit back and wait for delivery. Counting the sleeps.

Rod

[wasyoungonce (Brendan)]

Originally Posted by Sarge

............ Counting the sleeps.

Ron Newman never sleeps! He is quite busy with the up comming NEAF at the moment.

His gear is excellent and he is a real nice guy, always helpful.

[dugnsuz (Doug)]

Nice one Rod
I considered one of these for an ED80 - they look the biz
This is a fun hobby with upgrades like this
Doug

[GrahamL]

I found Ron great to deal with to
I had to send him a sample so he could turn up his truss inserts to suit.
He must of done it the same day he recieved the sample as the turn around was very quick, and the fit was perfect no need to drill and secure.

[wasyoungonce (Brendan)]

Yeah ..I had a few custom adaptors made by him...no problems and they are very well made, beautiful deep hard anodising finish.

[gbeal]

Add me to the list of Ron supporters as well. I have his truss bits on my 12.5", and even have a dual speed (bought it used) on the scope.
Doubt there is better for customer service than Ron.
Gary

[marki]

Yes Ron is great to deal with and produces quality products.

Mark

[Sarge (Rod)]

According to USPS, (US Postal Service) it left NY on 5th April. I wonder how long it will take Aus Post to deliver it?
Still counting the sleeps, but running low of fingers.

Rod

[DavidTrap (David)]

I found him obliging with an order recently. Happy to find the lowest shipping cost for me as well!

DT

[Sarge (Rod)]

It's arrived.

Delivered by Aust Post today on SUNDAY. Yep, parcel delivery on Sunday - what's the world coming to?
Ordered Sat 2/4, left USA Tues 5/4, delivered Sun 10/4 - that's called "Express Delivery".
But it was delivered well packed and undamaged.
Unpacking revealed a precisely engineered and beautifully finished product. The unit consisted of the focuser and an installation kit, with numerous bolts. All the pieces fitted perfectly. But surprisingly no actual instructions. There was information on products and various parts required for various scopes, but no detailed instructions for each scope.
Perhaps not really required as the unit fitted very easily.
I removed the existing focuser - four small bolts. Installation kit fitted exactly to the existing holes on the OTA. I used both the spacers supplied to eminate the previous focuser travel. Different bolts were supplied for each spacer combination and again fitted perfectly. Mounted the focuser to the installation kit and it was done. It took about one hour, but only because I was double checking each stage and relying on photos of the focuser in situ on similar OTA to compare.
The only really mildly annoying part was that all bolts were hex key head, but USA sizes, so had to search for suitable size keys - mine are mainly metric, not USA sizes, but luckily I found the two sizes required, so no real issues.

One happy observer. Can't wait to try it out.

Rod
PS: the dust cap is one of mine.

[wasyoungonce (Brendan)]

Oh yeah baby..that is a piece of art!

[Sarge (Rod)]

Got a couple nights out with the new focuser. I'm impresssed.
Very smooth operation. The tri-knob dual speed allows very precise focusing, of course only as good as my collimation.
Eyepieces fit very snugly, very little if any play. The whole unit is very well machined and of very high quality, can't fault it there in any way.
The only problem, which is of my making was I purchased the 2" barrel, should have gone for the 2.5".
Need to use 1" extender for the Ethos. Works very well with powermate, eyepiece and extender, no issues with length or weight.
Overall a beautiful focuser, pleasure to use and looks fantastic on the scope.
I recommend this focuser to any prospect buyers.

Rod

[Calibos (Keith)]

Originally Posted by Sarge

Got a couple nights out with the new focuser. I'm impresssed.
Very smooth operation. The tri-knob dual speed allows very precise focusing, of course only as good as my collimation.
Eyepieces fit very snugly, very little if any play. The whole unit is very well machined and of very high quality, can't fault it there in any way.
The only problem, which is of my making was I purchased the 2" barrel, should have gone for the 2.5".
Need to use 1" extender for the Ethos. Works very well with powermate, eyepiece and extender, no issues with length or weight.
Overall a beautiful focuser, pleasure to use and looks fantastic on the scope.
I recommend this focuser to any prospect buyers.

Rod

You should clarify that you mean a 2.5" length drawtube Rod, because Moonlite now have a large format focuser with 2.5" Wide drawtube for imaging applications. Boy is it a beauty. Comes with adapters for 2" and 1.25" Eyepieces and a rotatable base. I was sorely tempted even though I wouldn't be using large format CCD's. The only thing that stopped me is that I am going to implement a DIY Paracorr SIPS solution and I need a 2" drawtube to hold the Paracorr lensgroup in position relative to the eyepieces. As beautiful as the CR2 Moonlite focsers are, the Large Format version is a Supermodel