Upgrade to Startravel 150 Refractor

[pulsar]

Just a quick question if anybody has the information.

I am thinking of upgrading the Rack and Pinion focuser on my Skywatcher Startravel 150mm Refractor to the Crayford one that Synta put out. 

I was wondering if this was worth doing? So if anybody has got one of these or has even used one please let me know how they perform. Is it worth spending the cash on?. Cheers  

[PeterT]

I think its a great improvement.  I have one on my ST80 and love it.

[pulsar]

Thanks for the quick reply there. sounds good so far. 

[Moonshane]

I agree. It's a very smooth and well built focuser.

[nightfisher]

I did this a few years back, i had an old Helios 150 star travel and fitted the crayford, it really transformed it and was so easy to do

[baggywrinkle]

Which make are you going to use? It's a mod I have been considering for my ST120

[pulsar]

I was going to purchase the Skywatcher one that is available.

I have seen it for £120 so not too expensive. Would you recommend a different manufacturer to Skywatcher then baggywrinkle ?

If so which one and how does that outperform the Skywatcher one ?

Any other opinions would of course be welcome.  

[Fish]

Are you having  trouble focusing or are you doing AP . If you are upgrading for AP then the weight of your camera etc can effect your choice . If its for observing only then I would consider if it is needed , once the stock focuser is cleaned and re- lubed it should perform adequately.  £120 will buy some nice aditional glass Imho.

On the other hand if you have absolutely everything then a two speed focuser does feel nice  but  that is it :-)  .

[baggywrinkle]

I was going to purchase the Skywatcher one that is available.

I have seen it for £120 so not too expensive. Would you recommend a different manufacturer to Skywatcher then baggywrinkle ?

If so which one and how does that outperform the Skywatcher one ?

Any other opinions would of course be welcome.

I had not looked at the Skywatcher focusers, at that price it is a reasonable upgrade, otherwise spending £200-£300 on Baader, Featherlight etc seems a bit over the top.

I have an ED80 with a crayford and that works well now I have adjusted the tension, and I mean not juts by the set screw but also adjusting the little tensioner screws under the cover plate. This was to prevent my camera from causing the focuser to drop back.

[pulsar]

 This is the one i was looking at Baggywrinkle. They are £120 from Rother Valley Optics.

[JamesF]

I upgraded the standard focuser on my ST120 to the standard dual-speed Crayford from one of the other Skywatcher refractors (bought from an SGL user who had upgraded their own focuser).  Even that was a huge improvement over the stock rack and pinion one.

Not that I have anything particularly against R&P focusers -- well-engineered ones are a pleasure to use.  It's just that the stock Skywatcher ones on their lower-end scopes, well, aren't

James

[pulsar]

Thanks for that bit of info there JamesF. But yeah I see your point I had an old Meade 90mm Frac and the R&P chewed itself up after about a years use. So not good at all.

Also a couple of further questions I have about these focuser's is this. 

Can I mount my finderscope in the same place on the Crayford as the R&P? 

Is it just a case of swapping the mounting plate for the finder?

Can I use the original finderscope mount on the crayford one? 

[Pig]

I would stretch to say that having fine focus capability is probably on of the most visually rewarding upgrades I have opted for

[pulsar]

That's also what I would think about this upgrade I am considering too. There is that "Sweet" spot isn't there that we crave to find. Cheers for the input there Pig

[John]

To answer your question on mounting the finder, the standard Skywatcher finder won't fit onto the focuser pictured above. There is no integral finder shoe on the focuser as there is on the standard focuser on the scope.

You can get a modified Skywatcher compatible finder shoe which you mount onto the new focuser body using a single screw in a hole which is pre-drilled and threaded. Alternatively you can go for a William Optics type finder and finder shoe which do fit that type of focuser and use the same hole in the body of the focuser.

Personally I did not get on too well with the Skywatcher Crayford focuser that I tried. Despite being nice and glossy I found it slipped under heavy loads and it's action did not stay smooth for very long. I ended up putting the old rack and pinion back on the scope (an Evostar 150 F/8 as it happens) and gave up on the crayford. I may have had a duff one perhaps ?