Baader Steeltrack or Moonlite focuser...

[badgers]

Hi All,

I'm thinking of upgrading my trusty skywatcher 150P to one of the Boren Simon Astrographs on TS.

My 150 has been upgraded to the nines with flocking, Aluminium reinforced focuser plates on both sides of the tube, fan cooled primary and a Moonlite focuser.

The Boren Simon seems to come with a pretty nice Baader Steeltrack so I wasn't planning on keeping the moonlite.

http://www.teleskop-...Astrograph.html

The moonlite was pricey, does anyone have any idea whether or not its worth keeping, to replace the steeltrack focuser ?

Also should I try and sell the whole package (SW150 + mods + moonlite) or would I have better mileage selling them separately.

Any advice appreciated,

Thanks,

Anton

[Dude_with_the_tube]

Moonlite is much better focuser and you will be mad if you sell it!

all you need is a different set of mounting plates for the moonlite to fit it from your 8" over to 10".they cost only 30 or 40 quid in FLO.

i have moonlite on my 10" dob,once I upgrade to bigger,moonlite is coming with me!

you will never get your money back if you do decide to sell the whole set as one,you might be better off selling separately,if you do decide to sell yr moonlite,give me a shout,I will take it!!!

[Luke]

For me the Baader is very functional (I have the refractor version, used mostly for imaging) but a bit less exciting than the Moonlite (which is on my dob and mainly used for visual). To me the Moonlite feels the more quality item.

What I like about the Baader for imaging, which isn't on my Moonlite, is it has a ruler along the drawtube. I've found it handy to jot down measurements that get me close to focus. And the ruler's also handy when I adjust focus to check how much I've moved the focus in or out.

One thing I found a pain on the Baader is that the focus lock presses on the drawtube. I initially overtightened it sometimes, causing the camera to tilt a bit. Once I realised what was happening, it wasn't a problem - it doesn't need to be tightened as much as that.

Is a Baader Steel Drive of any use to go with the Steeltrack and your potential super fast scope? I don't really understand what they do, but noticed it is a recommended product on that TS page for your potential new scope (though the Steel Drive on that page seems to be for use with the LVI SG2 auto guide, not the other version).

Hope others doing imaging with the exact versions as you can give better input than me.

I agree with Dude, sell the scope and whichever focuser you let go seperately, I've seen a number of scopes go for less than they should taking the value of the focuser into account. You might get more money if the focuser goes to someone who desparately wants it! Must be plenty of people who'd fancy a Moonlite or who want to upgrade their stock focuser on their imaging scope to the Steel Track.

[badgers]

This sounds sensible. If I sell the 150P with the old focuser, I can hang onto the Moonlite.

If the steeltrack lets me down I can replace it with the moonlite, and probably find a buyer for the steeltrack.

Thanks for the feedback.

My moonlite doesn't have the ruler, which is useful, but it does have a locking mechanism that doesn't move the focuser tube which holds focus extremely well.

Thanks,

Anton