Evostar 6" F8...Upgrade begins

[F15Rules]

Hi All,

Inspired by Nightfisher's F5 project I ordered my crayford focuser and it arrived yesterday..installing it was straightforward once I found the right sized allen key...I've got a set of them and can you believe it the one size I needed was missing:eek:..anyway, I managed to find it thankfully and on it went.

I agree with all the good reviews of this focuser. It is buttery smooth, holds a lot of weight, and transforms the feel and look of the scope. Also simple to rotate through 360 degrees. Can't weight for first light which I hope will be later tonight:headbang:

The only downside so far is that the stock focuser carried the synta finder shoe onto which I'd previously mounted the 50mm Tal finder on Stellar Vue rings and bracket...the crayford doesn't have a shoe, so I need to find one somewhere (any offers please?)..I've bought an extra set of tube rings, you can see them at the back of the tube, and I've mounted another Tal finder, this time a 30mm one, onto one of the extra rings. Once I locate another finder shoe, I'll mount the big tal finder on the other ring, and rotate the ring so that I have a finder on each side of the diagonal viewing position. The twin finders will also add some extra weight (as does the new crayford versus the stock one) at the rear end, which I think will gain me in total around 2-3 inches of height from the ground at the vertical position, so well worthwhile.

The pictures also show a Kendrick dewshield on the OTA..I also use this with my Lomo Mak, and it fits nicely on the Evo..it's about 3 inches longer than the standard blue one.

I also plan to have the tube sprayed white at some point, but that will have to wait for now.

The other plan is to buy an ADM saddle and dovetail to beef up the fixing of the OTA to the mount. I think the CG-5 can handle the weight no problem, it's the "flex" at the point of the dovetail holding onto the saddle with just one main screw..the ADM version will be much firmer and safer, but ain't cheap at around £130 for the pair.

So far, so good..hope you like:)

Dave

[GazOC]

Very nice Dave and judging by the skies in the photos you should be good to go tonight!!

[John]

Looking good Dave

You can put a standard finder dovetail onto that focuser - you just need to drill a single extra countersunk hole between the 2 existing ones. You then just use a single screw to attach it to the focuser body.

[A McEwan]

One day (or night) I'd love to try one of these 6" f8s...

Ant

[nightfisher]

excellent dave, lloking very nice, the upgrade, although pricey is well worth it, looking forward to seeing it in "tal" white

[GazOC]

Whats that expression? Something like "Once the wallet has forgotten the cost, you can still appreciate the quality".

Summat like that!!!

[AndyH]

This place does a good range of finder brackets and shoes. Might be of help.

Robtics | Accessoires

Andy.

[Rob]

Looks very nice.. You could just drill 2 fixing holes in the tube. I've drilled mine, and its no worries. Once done use a nut and bolt then tighten and matt black paint the nut inside with model paint.. You can then use those rings elswhere or sell on.

It does look the business though.

Regards

Rob

[Moonshane]

Looking good Dave

You can put a standard finder dovetail onto that focuser - you just need to drill a single extra countersunk hole between the 2 existing ones. You then just use a single screw to attach it to the focuser body.

I did this How to Attach a Finder to your Crayford Focuser

you can also just drill and countersink one of the existing holes at an appropriate angle and then fix with one screw. this is what I did. a short piece of double sided foam tape makes it doubly secure but is not needed really.

[F15Rules]

Thanks for all the comments guys and the advice etc ref the finders..

I've now sorted it. I got a new finder shoe from Scope n Skies for £7 (must say great service, ordered online and received next day), and then I drilled the tube and attached the Tal 50mm finder..

The Stellar Vue rings and bracket on the big finder fit onto the Synta shoe ok provided I use a longer screw than the normal one...the SV foot is slightly narrower than a standard Synta one.

The longer screw I've used is perfect and gives a really secure fit onto the shoe.

The smaller Tal finder is secured using its own (unique shape) Tal foot, and one of the holes on the foot passes through the guidescope mounting bolt on the extra ring, and is secured by the big circular threaded ring, nice and tight.

I have kept the smaller Tal 30mm finder attached via one of the extra tube rings. I can always get a comfortable finder view now, either by rotating the 30mm finder ring, or by rotating the crayford focuser;).

I'm keeping the rings for now as they do add a bit of extra weight which helps keep the EP end a little further off the ground. The pics below show the tube in perfect balace with finders, rings 2" diagonal and a reasonably weighty 1.25" spotting scope zoom attached.

I'd still like to get the tube painted white, but I think a priority will be the upgraded ADM puck and saddle for the CG-5.

Hope you like the pics..one of them shows the Evo next to my Lomo Mak.

cheers:icon_salut:

Dave

[russ]

That's looking seriously good Dave.

When you said you were inspired by Nightfisher i was expecting to see a 150 F8 Carbonised tube But Tal white will look just as impressive.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I did this How to Attach a Finder to your Crayford Focuser

you can also just drill and countersink one of the existing holes at an appropriate angle and then fix with one screw. this is what I did. a short piece of double sided foam tape makes it doubly secure but is not needed really.

Very useful link. The Baader shoe I have already has the central hole, so no drilling required. I can now fix my 70mm finder to my 80mm APO . Could be useful as tracking scope.

[nightfisher]

looking good dave, now get the white spray can out!

[A McEwan]

I'm saving this thread as a favourite...

Ant

[John]

When the OTA is white, with all those tube rings and other black hardware it's going to have a rather "Unitron-esque" look about it - very appealing

[spaceboy]

That is looking great now Dave. I must insist in having a picture of you next to it for scale purposes as I hear these scopes are huge.

[SpookyKatt]

Awesome looking setup Dave and I'm loving the dual

finders. If you can remove the rings from the finder

shoe for the 50mm finder then you might also be able

to swap it for a red dot finder on occasion if you

wanted.

I love the dual rings at the back, its a great idea and

will move some of the weight backwards as well.

Kathleen

[Cloudwatcher]

Nice,very nice.

Did more or less the same to my ST 150,like getting a new scope.

[A McEwan]

I have now joined this club and look forward to upgrades of my own! Can't wait for the next chapter in your exploits, Dave!

Say, do these things count as "classic" yet?

Ant

[nightfisher]

Ant, are you doing the focus upgrade, its well worth it, i have 2 skywatchers with the dual speed units, st150 and evostar 102 f10 (for the time being)

[A McEwan]

Yes... sort of. I'm actually going for one of these: GSO 2" Linear Bearing Crayford Focuser for Refractors - Dual Speed (with 96mm Flange)

I have an issue with my Herschel Wedge - it needs a lot of in-focus so need a focuser with a shorter body or height. The Skywatcher model, although nice, is the same height so I'd still be short a few millimeters of in-focus. The GSO should sort that and it's hefty too - nearly 2lb! That'll help with tube balancing.

Ant

[John]

This is all a bit galling - I've only recently exited the "big refractor club" only to find they have suddenly become the most popular scope in town - typical

Have to start looking for another one now .........

[Moonshane]

Yes... sort of. I'm actually going for one of these: GSO 2" Linear Bearing Crayford Focuser for Refractors - Dual Speed (with 96mm Flange)

I have an issue with my Herschel Wedge - it needs a lot of in-focus so need a focuser with a shorter body or height. The Skywatcher model, although nice, is the same height so I'd still be short a few millimeters of in-focus. The GSO should sort that and it's hefty too - nearly 2lb! That'll help with tube balancing.

Ant

hi Ant,

would the TS version be cheaper when you add all the import duties etc? it looks about the same sort of dimensions?e.g. MONORAIL 2' Refraktor Auszug u.a. f. Skywatcher - Anschluss 96mm

[Adz]

Damn that is a good looking scope! *wipes drool*

[F15Rules]

Hi Ant,

So glad you've taken the plunge...that black Helios tube looks the business and I can vouch that it has a nice lens:)..

That GSO focuser looks really nice, you must let us know how it works (and looks, lots of pix please:D).

Is this a classic scope? Good question..of course it doesn't have the build quality of an AP or Tak, and it's not apochromatic, but maybe that's the whole point? With scopes like this, ordinary mortals like us can get 6" of decent glass at an affordable price and hundreds of us must now be proud 6" frac owners...I wonder how many amateurs owned 6" refractors even 10 years ago.

So, in the sense that the Model T Ford was surely a classic, why not the Evostar/Helios/Meade/Celestron et al refractors?

John, I can tell that your big-frac-less-ness (try saying that after a couple of scrumpy ciders:D!) is getting you down...best you get on the bay/SGL/UKABS pdq and find one!!

Dave