William Optics Camera Angle Rotator

[Robny]

I think this is the rite place for the question.  

Has anyone used this before:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/williams-optics/william-optics-camera-angle-rotator-for-25-m63-focuser.html

I'm lookimg for repeatability and a means to get my angle correct and taking away the guess work when setting up for a subject.

Has anyone used this rotator and have any feedback on it? It will be going on my GT71.

Thabks

Rob

[blinky]

£135 - that's ridiculous for what it is!  Even worse when you consider it should come with the scope....  Anyway, do you use SGPro?  Of you you can select a manual rotator and it will tell you how far to rotate etc by plate solving, a heck of a lot cheaper!

[Adam J]

3 hours ago, blinky said:

£135 - that's ridiculous for what it is!  Even worse when you consider it should come with the scope....  Anyway, do you use SGPro?  Of you you can select a manual rotator and it will tell you how far to rotate etc by plate solving, a heck of a lot cheaper!

Yes, WO literally removed the rotator that they used to include with their flattners so that they could make you buy a separate one at a premium. Meanwhile other makes still include a rotator as standard.

[1DegreeN]

I use the WO rotator on my Zenithstar 103. It's well made and robust, I'm very happy with it. 

[david_taurus83]

I too balked at the cost of the WO rotator. The other issue with it is you would need to rotate everything from the flattener backwards. In my case I couldn't have the filterwheel pointed down as it risked hitting the altitude bolt on my AZEQ6.

So I got one of these instead. Just loosen the 2 thumbscrews and rotate the camera only. It adds 6.1mm though, not 5.5 as advertised.

https://www.365astronomy.com/TS-T2-Thread-360o-Rotation-Adapter-and-Quick-Changer-Extra-Short-5.5mm.html

[DKNicholson]

2 hours ago, david_taurus83 said:

I too balked at the cost of the WO rotator. The other issue with it is you would need to rotate everything from the flattener backwards. In my case I couldn't have the filterwheel pointed down as it risked hitting the altitude bolt on my AZEQ6.

So I got one of these instead. Just loosen the 2 thumbscrews and rotate the camera only. It adds 6.1mm though, not 5.5 as advertised.

https://www.365astronomy.com/TS-T2-Thread-360o-Rotation-Adapter-and-Quick-Changer-Extra-Short-5.5mm.html

Thanks for that, I've Just ordered one - seems like a reasonable solution.

[JayStar]

On 10/11/2019 at 10:31, david_taurus83 said:

I too balked at the cost of the WO rotator. The other issue with it is you would need to rotate everything from the flattener backwards. In my case I couldn't have the filterwheel pointed down as it risked hitting the altitude bolt on my AZEQ6.

So I got one of these instead. Just loosen the 2 thumbscrews and rotate the camera only. It adds 6.1mm though, not 5.5 as advertised.

https://www.365astronomy.com/TS-T2-Thread-360o-Rotation-Adapter-and-Quick-Changer-Extra-Short-5.5mm.html

Is there any reason the rotator could not be mounted directly the camera and have the filter wheel the other side of it?

 

[david_taurus83]

3 minutes ago, JayStar said:

Is there any reason the rotator could not be mounted directly the camera and have the filter wheel the other side of it?

 

The WO rotator is M63 thread on the scope side. Thats why I got the little TS rotator.

[JayStar]

1 minute ago, david_taurus83 said:

The WO rotator is M63 thread on the scope side. Thats why I got the little TS rotator.

Yes, was just wondering whether I could just pair it with a M63 to M48 adapter and place it elsewhere in the imaging train.

[TerryMcK]

I also have the WO rotator for my ZS103. It takes all the guess work out although I was surprised it was not fitted as standard. The ZS73 has an integral rotator built in but sadly without a scale.

Like all WO hardware it is well made and I didn’t quibble at the cost.

Edited December 26, 2020 by TerryMcK

[david_taurus83]

 

17 minutes ago, JayStar said:

Yes, was just wondering whether I could just pair it with a M63 to M48 adapter and place it elsewhere in the imaging train.

If you meant between the filterwheel and camera then you'd just end up pushing the camera further out from the filters and risk bad vignetting. You might also struggle with flattener spacing.

[JayStar]

17 minutes ago, david_taurus83 said:

 

If you meant between the filterwheel and camera then you'd just end up pushing the camera further out from the filters and risk bad vignetting. You might also struggle with flattener spacing.

Yes, that is what I meant.

For sure the distance between the filters and the sensor in that config would necessitate 2 inch filters and backfocus would be unworkable for a DSLR, but for the ASI1600 should be ok (though would probably not accommodate an OAG, which I will not be using anyway)

Focuser > Reducer > 2inch Filter wheel > M48 to M63 thread > WO Rotator > ASI1600 

With the reducer I have 64.1mm backfocus on my GT-71

Might try it - can always send back if it doesn't work.

Edited December 26, 2020 by JayStar

[david_taurus83]

You'd need an adapter to go between the rotator and camera as the ASI has a male M42 thread.

[JayStar]

6 minutes ago, david_taurus83 said:

You'd need an adapter to go between the rotator and camera as the ASI has a male M42 thread.

Ah yes... a little bit more to add to the chain... will be tight, but I think from calcs it will just make it.

Touch and go.

[JayStar]

On 26/12/2020 at 13:18, david_taurus83 said:

You'd need an adapter to go between the rotator and camera as the ASI has a male M42 thread.

You were correct - tried it, min. spacing that can be achieved is about 60mm if placing the rotator after the FR- 5mm too much. 

Whilst I have 64.1mm with the WO FR of back focus, I think it still has to be 55mm from end of the reducer to the sensor, with the rest made up by the FR adjustment threads.

So the rotator has to screw to the focuser.

One other thing - whilst the scale on the rotator is nice (and very useful for dialling in the exact angle, you are at the mercy of the threads in terms of lining up the scale (which when threaded into the focuser place 268 degrees at the top of the OTA).  Not a major problem if you can just adjust the camera manually to be at 360 degrees when the 360 degree marker of the rotator is set (which off to the right hand side of the OTA)...but if your camera is threaded in too, you're out of luck.  I can't see any way to actually line up the actual position of the camera with the correct rotator markings, which means the markings will never be correct.  Unless I am doing something wrong, what I will need to do is convert what the rotator angle shows to the actual angle - which kind of defeats the point.

 

Edited January 16, 2021 by JayStar