Antares dual-speed focuser

[Trevor]

I recently purchased a Celestron CPC 1100 GPS the views visually are outstanding, however the only gripe I found is the focuser, it seemed very hard to operate and after consulting Mr Hinds the solution was to loosen off the screws that hold the focuser’s base plate on.

Now this works for visual but not very good for photography as I believe it introduces mirror flop?

I decided to purchase a Antares dual-speed focuser 10-1 ratio.

The unit just screws onto the visual back and is rotatable 360 degrees by replacing the 3 grub screws with the supplied longer screws.

It has 2 screws that adjust the tension and stiffness of the focuser, these can also be used to compensate for the amount of weight of CCD, eyepieces, and cameras put into the unit.

I did notice that when I put my D80 in their was some minor play in the focuser but by tightening the screws up slightly it alleviated the problem.

After a bit of fiddling around I found the best way to use it is by setting the focuser to the central position and using the main scope focuser to get somewhere near focus then tightening the celestron focuser screws slightly and fine focusing with the Antares which is a doddle as it has a 10-1 ratio.

Over the last couple of months I have struggled with focussing visually on the laptop screen imaging objects, (I should have started using a hartman mask ages ago).

I recently found out that I have Corneal Ulcer in my right eye and this has been affecting my vision, and I didn’t even notice, with treatment it should clear up in about a month.

I must say thank you to Bern: http://www.modernastronomy.com/

For all your help.

Trev.