Skywatcher autofocuser fitted to Starwave 80 ed

[red dwalf]

having purchased a Altair Astro Starwave 80 ed from new, i thought i would go about and fit a electric focuser as most of my imaging setup is computerised, therefore i looked up and down the internet for a suitable fixing plate for attaching a Skywatcher Autofocuser to it so i could focus on my own instead of collering someone to manually adjust the focus while i`m looking at the PC screen.

anyway having no joy finding one unless you want to spend £250 on a stepper motor unit, i finally decided to make an adapter myself, so here it is.

firstly you need to remove the little ali adapter that`s attched to the motor spindle.

[red dwalf]

i did try to attach a much simpler "L" shaped bracket to the underside of the scope focuser, but this seemed very difficult to attach firmly,

so with so head scratching i went for this option which is very secure.

[emadmoussa]

It seems you're reading my mind. This is what I was thinking about last night. Thanks for the tips - I will definitely get back to it as a guide.

[red dwalf]

i can give you a few diamentions if needed for the bracket, my bracket is a prototype but when i made it, it fitted so well i can`t see the point in making a slightly more modified one.

[emadmoussa]

Yes, this will be very useful. Thank you!

[red dwalf]

has anyone got any ideas of how to pack out the smaller diameter shaft on the scope focuser ?

if the shaft was alittle fatter the connecting spindle would rotate more on a horizontal level, it`s not bad at the moment but think it could be better.

the connecting black flexiable fitting would be better if the end had 4 grub screws to tighten it up instead of two, which pushes the adapter to the side abit instead of centering it on the shaft.

[red dwalf]

i`ll measure it up and post later.

[LeeB]

The coupling is available with different shaft sizes could you not use a smaller shaft one and drill to the correct diameter, thus avoiding any packing,

[red dwalf]

that`s correct LeeB, but the coupling fits perfectly on the motor focuser side which has a fatter shaft, the shaft on the scope focuser is a fair bit smaller, what i ideally need is some sort of collar to fix over the smaller shaft.

[JamesF]

Very neat

James

[JamesF]

that`s correct LeeB, but the coupling fits perfectly on the motor focuser side which has a fatter shaft, the shaft on the scope focuser is a fair bit smaller, what i ideally need is some sort of collar to fix over the smaller shaft.

I've seen some for sale somewhere (motionco, perhaps?  Not sure) with different internal diameters at each end of the coupling.  In fact I think the coupling for my EQ3-2 motor drives have different sizes at each end too.

James

[red dwalf]

the bore reducers look interesting, thanks for that

[red dwalf]

Yes, this will be very useful. Thank you!

sorry about the delay in getting the size to you, but have now measured the bracket and have added a photo,

i`ve also packed out the smaller spindle on the focuser side by wrapping some duck tape around it to increase the width, i wasn`t 100% certain it would work but it does work very well and seems very secure. only needed to wrap it round a few times to fill it out.

[Gina]

Nice neat job

[emadmoussa]

Last night I received my Starwave 102ED, and having seen its enormous focuser now I'm starting to appreciate your work even more.

[Nibor]

I am watching this thread with interest as I am currently awaiting delivery of the S/W Electronic focuser to fit to my Orion ED80 - all part of the warm room  / remote observing project!!

[Nibor]

I've seen some for sale somewhere (motionco, perhaps?  Not sure) with different internal diameters at each end of the coupling.  In fact I think the coupling for my EQ3-2 motor drives have different sizes at each end too.

James

Thanks for the motionco suggestion - a very handy resource for smaller drive systems etc

http://www.motionco.co.uk/

[red dwalf]

Last night I received my Starwave 102ED, and having seen its enormous focuser now I'm starting to appreciate your work even more.

the focuser is very big, my friend has an 80mm scope and his focuser looks tiny compaired to the Starwaves, certainly very difficult to mount a plate onto the bottom of the focuser as 1. it needs to be long and with only two small screws to hold it, it feels poorly fitted and moved around.

2. the bottom of the Starwave focuser is very slightly rounded off making it difficult to screw something onto it firmly.

[red dwalf]

I am watching this thread with interest as I am currently awaiting delivery of the S/W Electronic focuser to fit to my Orion ED80 - all part of the warm room  / remote observing project!!

also got my motor focuser attached via a hitecastro dc focus control unit, works great via a powered usb hub and is now fully controlled either by the hitecastro dc focuser software or Astro photography tool software which is great, so don`t need the hand controller anymore for the autofocuser which uses a 9v battery and i think is already going alittle flat.

[red dwalf]

i should also of added that the two screws that need to be removed from the focuser need to be replaced with slightly longer ones, about 50% longer "ish", don`t know if you noticed that or not, luckily enough for me i had some that just fitted nicely that had been lying around in the garage for ages.

[Nibor]

My Skywatcher electronic focuser has arrived (great service from Modern Astronomy) and is now fitted to my Orion (US) ED80. - works a treat - now the next question is - has anyone any idea on how to build up a plug in extension cable? - I am looking at remote control with my scope outside and me inside.

I thought it would be straightforward but my local computer store was unable to identify the plugs and the cabling may be multi strand audio cable - also there is the question of some kind of crimping device to attach the sockets at the ends of the extension cable.

I suppose that there is always the possibility of dirtectly  soldering in appropriate multi strand cabling but I was hoping to be able to revert to the supplied cable for none remote use.

There is perhaps the possibility of using the Hitech focus controller as that may have a longer cable run.

http://hitecastro.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=55:hitecdcfocus&catid=41:hitecdcfocus&Itemid=54

Any ideas would be appreciated.

Many thanks!!

[red dwalf]

What I do is use the skywatcher autofocuser plugged into the hitec Astro dc focuser, buy both together for 100 pounds from modern astronomy, then I use a powered usb hub which all the usb cables plug into, then 1 active usb cable from the hub to the computer

[red dwalf]

Then you can control the focuser with software, either the hitec Astro focus control software or with Astro photography tool software which is what i use, makes life much easier