Skywatcher advice needed

[astro mick]

Hi.

I,m thinking of getting the Skywatcher Evostar 80ED DSP.

I,m a bit concerned about the sturdiness of the crayford Focusser.

I,m reading reports that these can shift when loaded pointing at the zenith.

Bearing in mind,that attached to this will be a Focal Reducer,Filter Wheel,and a sturdy ccd camera,i,m losing a bit of confidence in these focussers.

Can anybody put my mind at rest,before i commit.

Appreciate any advice.

Mick.

[Black Knight]

I think there is a video (on YouTube?, I might be mistaken though) showing how to adjust the focuser. I keep meaning to as I get that problem as well.

Edit: Sorry, I don't think I've put your mind at rest.

[Stephen]

There are some clever sorts who have made strong improvements to these focusers. I don't have the time nor patience I'm afraid, I bought a new focuser (Moonlite, though Steeltrack is good too) at the same time as the scope.

[Black Knight]

I think I'd get the Steeltrack as well, too.

[Black Knight]

Actually, I've got half an idea that Spikey might have adjusted the focuser on his ED80 ...

[astro mick]

Thanks Guys,

Appreciate the advice.

Mick.

[coulthamst]

There is no black art to adjusting the Crayford focuser fitted to the Skywatcher range.

The key to adjustment is the allen screw in the centre of the locating plate. First, slacken this allen screw slightly, and make sure that the knurled locking screw is not tight. Then check that the four Philips screws round the periphery of the plate are fully tightened. Then start to tighten the centre Allen screw, checking the freedom of movement available at the focuser control knobs. When that movement starts to offer resistance, set the resistance to your preference, and you've finished.

My personal preferred setting is to take a small increment of adjustment back to achieve that "silky" movement that the adverts refer to. An occasional tweak every couple of months to check that things haven't slackened off is all that is required.

I have just checked my 'scopes. I can't carry out an effective weight check on the Flextube 200 dob as of course the focuser is always more or less horizontal, but I fitted the 150 F8 refractor with a 10-1 Crayford some time ago, and I loaded 1.8 Kg on it just now and it coped without the slightest difficulty. I haven't adjusted it since the new year.

[Grandad]

It sounds as if the Crayford tensioner is similar to the one on my wo megrez 72, ie. just an allen key to tighten or slacken.

When I first added a filter wheel ,camera etc the scope looked up and the focuser dropped down, but with suitable adjustment to the focuser everything plays the same game now.

Hopefully it still will when I add a focal reducer in the Autumn.

Just noticed the new wo 70mm has a new rack and pinion focuser instead of a crayford. Wish that had been available when I bought my wo72mm

Good luck

[Gina]

I had a problem with the focuser on my Evostar 80 ED DS Pro but I've got it working alright now having adjusted it. Once I have focused on a bright star with Bahtinov mask I lock the focus with the knurled knob and it stays set while I slew to my desired target.