Motorized autofocuser options for EdgeHD 8" & WO Star 71ii

[souls33k3r]

Hi All,

Asking the question and research time is upon me once again when i look in to purchasing a motorised autofocuser.

I currently own a William Optics Star 71 II and a Celestron EdgeHD 8". 

I've really spent alot to make things work for my scope and now want to limit the cost of two motorised autofocuser which i think can only be done if i opt for one focuser make for both of my scopes and user the same hand controller. I won't be buying both straight away but one maybe next month and the second the month after.

I really like lakeside focusers but i see all those exposed cables and that worries me. SharpSky focusers are well built but they look bulky. Moonlite looks good for my EdgeHD (Moonlite CHL 2.5" Large Format Dual Speed Crayford For Celestron EdgeHD 8" which isn't motorised if i'm not wrong and still costs an arm) but for my William Optics STar 71, i haven't seen one installed. Not sure if i need to remove the complete flange off the scope to install it or what.

All these things keeping under consideration, balancing the scope will be a key factor too. What i do not want to end up with is something that will just drag my scope down.

Please help and i do apologise if i ask noobish questions because this is completely new territory for me.

Thank you in advance

[GyCx]

I built one of these for my C8 and now C11, was fun to do and cost less that £20

 

http://emediadesigns.com/focuser/

[Davey-T]

I've got a Lakeside on my Star71 Mk11 see pic'.

You should be able to swop between this and a Moonlight with just the appropriate bracket.

Dave

 

[cfpendock]

I use a Lakeside focuser on my Talk 106 and on my CPC1100.  I use the same focuser electronics on both scopes, but I use separate stepper motors.  For the CPC1100 I use a Moonlite focuser fitted to the visual back.  That way I just connect up the ribbon cable to whichever scope I am using.  It works very well.

Chris

[souls33k3r]

Cheers @GyCx, i'm just too bad with all this electronics business unfortunately

Cheers @Davey-T, do you reckon (since you've got one) you can mount the lakeside on a EdgeHD with some bracket or i don't know what else we can use? What i'm planning to do is buy separate stepper motor (say lakeside for example for both SCT and Refractor) and use the same hand controller (well actually i'll be automating it)

@cfpendock, editing this post, mind if i ask how did you mount the lakeside on your CPC1100? was IK able to provide you with a bracket for your SCT or did you make it yourself? Got any pictures to show mate? would be super helpful. Ta

[Davey-T]

Picture from Lakeside site, it looks as if the only difference between different scopes is the bracket and connector.

Dave

 

[RayD]

This really goes back to what I said on my other post @souls33k3r in that you would probably have to change the focuser on your SCT to a crayford or R&P type, which isn't a bad thing I suppose as it negates any mirror flop.

I use the Moonlite on my SCT but with their stepper motor.

I think JMI and Starlight do units which go on the existing focuser.  I would think someone here has modded the standard focuser in some way to use a lakeside or similar, but it would take a bit of custom engineering.

[cfpendock]

I used an old stepper motor (same as Lakeside use), the bracket I bought from Ian King but I am sure you could make one yourself.

Chris

[souls33k3r]

1 minute ago, cfpendock said:

I used an old stepper motor (same as Lakeside use), the bracket I bought from Ian King but I am sure you could make one yourself.

Chris

@cfpendock, cheers matey, much appreciated. Can i ask that this is the moonlite focuser in which you can slot in the 0.7x redcuer or just a normal one?

36 minutes ago, Davey-T said:

Picture from Lakeside site, it looks as if the only difference between different scopes is the bracket and connector.

Dave

 

Interesting ... @Davey-T, thank you for sharing mate ... now this alone is £400 alone ... eek! i hope i get some bonus to fund this hobby because right now it's seriously getting out of hand

[souls33k3r]

31 minutes ago, RayD said:

This really goes back to what I said on my other post @souls33k3r in that you would probably have to change the focuser on your SCT to a crayford or R&P type, which isn't a bad thing I suppose as it negates any mirror flop.

I use the Moonlite on my SCT but with their stepper motor.

I think JMI and Starlight do units which go on the existing focuser.  I would think someone here has modded the standard focuser in some way to use a lakeside or similar, but it would take a bit of custom engineering.

I guess i will have to do this if i want to use lakeside on it. Time to start saving then

[Davey-T]

1 minute ago, souls33k3r said:

I guess i will have to do this if i want to use lakeside on it. Time to start saving then

If you buy the Lakeside for the Moonlight I can knock you up a bracket to fit it to the Star 71 might save you all of £30.00 

Dave

[cfpendock]

Apparently you can slot in the reducer directly if you have one.  I don't have one.  I think the price is ridiculous for the C1100 Edge. 

Chris

[souls33k3r]

hahahaha @Davey-T mate you're awesome as you are.

I know i'll be buying the lakeside now because i'll get more help from you all fine people. It's just the case of calling IK now and having it all booked in. I'll buy these items separately. First will get it on my WO Star 71ii, then buy the Moonlite and next the stepper for the moonlite. CFO ain't going to like it at all lol 

@cfpendock, yeah the one with the option to fit the reducer is worth £400 alone. Unavoidable cost if you ask me.

[Davey-T]

No rush, he's on holiday this week

Dave

[RayD]

2 minutes ago, souls33k3r said:

hahahaha @Davey-T mate you're awesome as you are.

I know i'll be buying the lakeside now because i'll get more help from you all fine people. It's just the case of calling IK now and having it all booked in. I'll buy these items separately. First will get it on my WO Star 71ii, then buy the Moonlite and next the stepper for the moonlite. CFO ain't going to like it at all lol 

@cfpendock, yeah the one with the option to fit the reducer is worth £400 alone. Unavoidable cost if you ask me.

You've timed it perfectly as he's on holiday till Monday.  I've sent him some pics and he needs some dimensions for the latest Star 71 as it seems WO may have made a small change as the last bracket Peter at Lakeside made had a slight discrepancy, so yours should all be spot on.

[souls33k3r]

Perfecto! 

Silly question, are these things durable? (Build quality, temperature and dew resistance etc) sorry never seen one in flesh and this will be the first time i will be diving in to the realm of auto focusing.

[RayD]

Dave is the best to answer that.  Not sure what the collective noun for a group of Lakeside's is, but he's got one 

[PhotoGav]

Hi, I use a Lakeside focus system on both my WO Star71 and my EdgeHD 800, so pretty darn similar to what you are trying to do. I have one control unit and separate stepper motors and brackets for each scope. Here's a pic of the bracket for the Edge. The good thing is that it goes directly onto the stock focuser so doesn't mess with back focus distances, so you can still use the reducer. I use SGP to run everything and it works a treat. I did have one small hiccup when one of the grub screws on the focus shaft adapter came loose and messed with the autofocus routine. After much head scratching I finally realised what the problem was, tightened up the screw and was immediately back to perfect autofocus. As for build quality, so far so very good and it's been in my obsy for over a year now.

[RayD]

There you go, told you someone will have done it 

[souls33k3r]

1 minute ago, PhotoGav said:

Hi, I use a Lakeside focus system on both my WO Star71 and my EdgeHD 800, so pretty darn similar to what you are trying to do. I have one control unit and separate stepper motors and brackets for each scope. Here's a pic of the bracket for the Edge. The good thing is that it goes directly onto the stock focuser so doesn't mess with back focus distances, so you can still use the reducer. I use SGP to run everything and it works a treat. I did have one small hiccup when one of the grub screws on the focus shaft adapter came loose and messed with the autofocus routine. After much head scratching I finally realised what the problem was, tightened up the screw and was immediately back to perfect autofocus. As for build quality, so far so very good and it's been in my obsy for over a year now.

now THIS is exactly what i had in mind and will save me them £400 lol. Can i ask you if you don't mind me @PhotoGav, the bracket for your EdgeHD, did you make it yourself or asked IK that you want it and he provided you with one for the scope? it wasn't specially made was it? Backfocus is the only killer with the EdgeHD and this configuration saved me all the trouble as well.

[souls33k3r]

1 minute ago, RayD said:

There you go, told you someone will have done it 

I'm super glad he did because without knowing anything about it, this is exactly what i was hoping to achieve *Bhangra dance*

[PhotoGav]

I thought you might be a happy chappy!

The good news is that the bracket is standard issue from Ian King and I managed to fit it all myself, so get on to the King and sort yourself out with a complete autofocus system. I can't remember how much I spent in total (I am very good at forgetting how much I've spent on all of this!), but it wasn't completely ridiculous and most importantly, it works!

[PhotoGav]

The other thing is that focus is significantly better through autofocus than I ever managed with a Bhatinov mask!

[souls33k3r]

10 minutes ago, PhotoGav said:

I thought you might be a happy chappy!

The good news is that the bracket is standard issue from Ian King and I managed to fit it all myself, so get on to the King and sort yourself out with a complete autofocus system. I can't remember how much I spent in total (I am very good at forgetting how much I've spent on all of this!), but it wasn't completely ridiculous and most importantly, it works!

Knowing what i know how (thanks to all of you for the great great help and i really do meant it from the bottom of my heart) i will call in IK on Monday and maybe i'll just buy the two stepper motors and the hand controller in one go and be done with this. I totally agree, bahtinov mask is an amazing tool but it requires adjusting and some times you just wanted to stay away from all this messing about and just let the software and hardware achieve best focus for you.

One more question, when calling IK, i am supposed to tell him the scopes that i have an he will sort me out with the type of brackets himself right? If so, am i supposed to say anything special for the bracket for my EdgeHD? I know you said it's standard but i am supposed to tell him the scope i've got right? 

[PhotoGav]

Exactly, just let him know exactly the models of scope that you want to put the stepper motors on and he will source the right brackets for you.

Let us know how things progress and shout if you need help! Good luck.