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Autofucuser for SW Esprit 80 APO

Midnight_lightning

By Midnight_lightning
in Imaging - Discussion

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RayD

RayD

Posted
Posted

I have a Lakeside and Pegasus and the Lakeside is far better.  Pegasus is OK but is last on that list for me.

A few people here (Steppenwolf for one) use Sharpsky and also rate them very highly.  They seem exceptionally well made.

The nice touch I like with my Lakeside is if you order it from Ian King he will supply it with a custom made bracket for your focuser, which is something I don't believe you get with the Sharpsky, but that is supplied with universal mounting plates.

I don't think you'll go far wrong with either of these, but I'd discount the Pegasus if you have the option of the other 2.

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steppenwolf

steppenwolf

Posted
Posted

I use the SharpSky on my Esprit 150 BUT I have a FeatherTouch focuser on my telescope. However, I can't think of any reason why the SharpSky unit wouldn't work on the standard focuser as well. Whichever system you use, some fabrication will be required to install it but SharpSky will offer some good advice on what is required.

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LightBucket

LightBucket

Posted
Posted
33 minutes ago, RayD said:

I have a Lakeside and Pegasus and the Lakeside is far better.  Pegasus is OK but is last on that list for me.

A few people here (Steppenwolf for one) use Sharpsky and also rate them very highly.  They seem exceptionally well made.

The nice touch I like with my Lakeside is if you order it from Ian King he will supply it with a custom made bracket for your focuser, which is something I don't believe you get with the Sharpsky, but that is supplied with universal mounting plates.

I don't think you'll go far wrong with either of these, but I'd discount the Pegasus if you have the option of the other 2.

Can I ask what the issues are with the Pegasus, as I have looked at one of them...?? :)

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RayD

RayD

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It is fine as I say, but when compared with my Lakeside it's not even close.

The main differences are resolution, the Lakeside has much higher resolution.  The connector and brackets for the Lakeside are also made for your focuser, so stronger and better.  The Pegasus uses a pretty weak universal bracket and coupler, which I found flexed, so changed for ones I made myself.

Finally the controller on the Lakeside, whilst larger so more difficult to site, is better, and the temperature sensor is mounted on the D plug, so not a dingly dangly thing like on the Pegasus.

I use the Pegasus on my TS80 and it's absolutely fine and works great (with the new bracket) but given the option I'd have another Lakeside any day.

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LightBucket

LightBucket

Posted
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10 minutes ago, RayD said:

It is fine as I say, but when compared with my Lakeside it's not even close.

The main differences are resolution, the Lakeside has much higher resolution.  The connector and brackets for the Lakeside are also made for your focuser, so stronger and better.  The Pegasus uses a pretty weak universal bracket and coupler, which I found flexed, so changed for ones I made myself.

Finally the controller on the Lakeside, whilst larger so more difficult to site, is better, and the temperature sensor is mounted on the D plug, so not a dingly dangly thing like on the Pegasus.

I use the Pegasus on my TS80 and it's absolutely fine and works great (with the new bracket) but given the option I'd have another Lakeside any day.

Thanks for your honesty

the pegasus I am looking at will give 6000 steps per rev of the coarse focus knob, or 600 per rev of the fine focus knob, so what is the resolution of the lakeside compared to this,  bearing in mind the Pegasus fits to the coarse focus, so 6000 steps per rev seems pretty fine to me.. :)

 

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RayD

RayD

Posted
Posted
Just now, LightBucket said:

Thanks for your honesty

the pegasus I am looking at will give 6000 steps per rev of the coarse focus knob, or 600 per rev of the fine focus knob, so what is the resolution of the lakeside compared to this,  bearing in mind the Pegasus fits to the coarse focus, so 6000 steps per rev seems pretty fine to me.. :)

 

I can't recall of the top of my head.  I think the Lakeside may only be 4,000 SPR, so I could well be wrong here  I had the pair side by side when I was setting up the focusers on SGPro, and seem to remember the Lakeside being much finer.  It may be that they were on different focusers actually, or even the flex in the bracket and coupler on the Pegasus made it look much worse.

One thing that is very noticeable is the difference in backlash, with the Pegasus having far more than the Lakeside.  I believe the Lakeside had about 13 steps, and the Pegasus was around 80 or so.  This doesn't matter in the real world as you will use compensation anyway, but for me it was a pretty clear indication of the differences in quality.

I'd say it works ok, and if it is one you're looking at and it suits your focuser etc. then it will be absolutely fine, I'm certainly not rubbishing it and I still use it.  I don't have any issues with it on my TS80, but like me you'd probably be a bit disappointed with the bracket and coupler, as the are not that good.

The OP was the choice of the 3, and for me if you see them and use them side-by-side, I think you'd agree the Lakeside is definitely better, but the Pegasus isn't rubbish.

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Sp@ce_d

Sp@ce_d

Posted
Posted

I've had a Sharpsky on one of my Esprit 80's for over 3 years now, I think that was the one I used with SGP before I moved to ACP. However, I changed to driving the stepper after about a year via a Moonlite DRO controller. I have 2 scopes permanently set up & have a Moonlite focuser & stepper on the RC. When I got mine it came with a universal adapter so I had to mess about a bit making up something to mount the motor on as there was no way to directly attach to the stock focuser. I can say that the support from Dave (Sharpsky) is very good, he was very helpful, even working with Bob at DC3 in getting me going with ACP. I've used other motors on various scopes, including the Mclennan one I think Lakeside use but that I drove from a mounthub pro & I've made my own brackets to fit. For top quality & built like a tank the Moonlite steppers are the best I've used.. I have 3. However, we're talking about what fits the stock Esprit focuser here. I'm not sure I've seen a kit with a custom bracket specifically for the Esprit 80. Mind you, I've not had cause to look recently.

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Midnight_lightning

Midnight_lightning

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Posted

Thanks for the help, I still haven't decided which to go for yet but either Lakeside or Sharpsky. I prefer the Lakeside on the basis that the motor is smaller and I may fit in my scope case with a bit of trimming better than the Sharpsky, but the dew heater controller on the Sharpsky is a definite plus. Tough decision :)

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Midnight_lightning

Midnight_lightning

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Hi Gina, I would be like to make my own but at the moment I have a huge to do list (promised my wife I could renovate our new house within 6 months of moving in - that was 11 years ago :o). If you have details easily available I would be interested to know how you went about it, I could probably find time to assemble components but if it means building circuit boards from scratch I think I will need to just buy one for now :)

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Davey-T

Davey-T

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, Midnight_lightning said:

Hi Gina, I would be like to make my own but at the moment I have a huge to do list (promised my wife I could renovate our new house within 6 months of moving in - that was 11 years ago :o). If you have details easily available I would be interested to know how you went about it, I could probably find time to assemble components but if it means building circuit boards from scratch I think I will need to just buy one for now :)

https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/218975-arduino-ascom-focuser-mark2/?tab=comments#comment-2351792

Lots of info here if you fancy making one

Dave

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