ZWO EAF motor focuser ?

[Spaced Out]

Hi all

Just wondering if anyone has one of these and if so what you think of it ?

I need a better autofocuser because my Skywatcher autofocuser just slips on the spindle when the focuser is tensioned up sufficiently to carry heavy imaging gear.

The ZWO EAF seems like a neat package at a reasonable price (compared to competitors).

Thanks

[blinky]

Yep, I have one, really good, works well nothing negative to say about it really

[CaptainShiznit]

I got one recently on my 130pds which holds a DSLR with coma corrector and LPS filter in the focuser. Had no issues at all hardware wise except needing to buy different screws as the supplied ones didn't fit my focuser. Software wise I use APT and the autofocus doesn't do a great job. Could be my fault, could be dim stars through either light pollution or the filter. I tend to just focus manually within APT. It's great to be able to see where the focus is represented by a number and to have such fine adjustment.

I would recommend it.

[Spaced Out]

1 hour ago, blinky said:

Yep, I have one, really good, works well nothing negative to say about it really

 

1 hour ago, CaptainShiznit said:

I got one recently on my 130pds which holds a DSLR with coma corrector and LPS filter in the focuser. Had no issues at all hardware wise except needing to buy different screws as the supplied ones didn't fit my focuser. Software wise I use APT and the autofocus doesn't do a great job. Could be my fault, could be dim stars through either light pollution or the filter. I tend to just focus manually within APT. It's great to be able to see where the focus is represented by a number and to have such fine adjustment.

I would recommend it.

Thanks both for replying.

Would you say it is up to carrying a mono camera + EFW + OAG + MPCC on a well tensioned focuser ? Weighs just under 1.3 KG. 

[CaptainShiznit]

1 hour ago, Spaced Out said:

 

Thanks both for replying.

Would you say it is up to carrying a mono camera + EFW + OAG + MPCC on a well tensioned focuser ? Weighs just under 1.3 KG. 

It has a 5kg capacity apparently so should be no problem at all.

Source: https://agenaastro.com/zwo-electronic-automatic-focuser-eaf-advanced.html

[Spaced Out]

Thanks for the replies, this is helpful.

I use APT at the moment for focusing. Would you say the EAF steps are repeatable ? I mean can I store focus points in APT and return to them later on and fairly accurately ?

Thanks

[CaptainShiznit]

33 minutes ago, Spaced Out said:

Thanks for the replies, this is helpful.

I use APT at the moment for focusing. Would you say the EAF steps are repeatable ? I mean can I store focus points in APT and return to them later on and fairly accurately ?

Thanks

Yeah that's pretty simple to do. I'm pretty sure the step number comes from ASCOM so it should be accurate. The EAF itself also seems to do a good job of keeping the focus tube from moving between sessions.

[Spaced Out]

Thanks for the help with this, I've ordered one today. 👍

[cletrac1922]

First of all welcome from Land Down Under

I have been looking as well, and my local astronomy shop also advise to run with the ZWO ASIAir WiFi unit

John

[tooth_dr]

On 19/03/2020 at 18:23, Spaced Out said:

my Skywatcher autofocuser just slips on the spindle when the focuser is tensioned up sufficiently

Hi Gary

I recently was setting up my SW autofocuser on my scope, and noticed that the motor was slipping on the spindle.  I went to investigate and noticed there was no way of actually tightening the motor coupling to the shaft, but that it appeared to rely on friction.  I drilled a hole in the coupling, and threaded it to allow me to directly tighten it up to the shaft.  It not longer slips.  And if it goes to the full travel of the focuser, then the spindle itself slips against the little teflon block, and prevents any damage.  Could you try that?  I'll try to post pics from my phone shortly.

If the spindle itself is spinning then this EAF isnt going to cure the problem you have.

On 20/03/2020 at 09:31, Spaced Out said:

Would you say the EAF steps are repeatable ? I mean can I store focus points in APT and return to them later on and fairly accurately ?

If you are using the standard crayford (I know you have mentioned a moonlite upgrade?) then due to the design of a crayford, there is potential for the focuser to slip.  So the steps are repeatable, but the postition isnt.  You would need a R+P focuser to guarantee that.

 

All the best

Adam.

 

*edited to add photos - a bit crude but effective.

Edited March 22, 2020 by tooth_dr
Added photos

[Spaced Out]

1 hour ago, tooth_dr said:

Hi Gary

I recently was setting up my SW autofocuser on my scope, and noticed that the motor was slipping on the spindle.  I went to investigate and noticed there was no way of actually tightening the motor coupling to the shaft, but that it appeared to rely on friction.  I drilled a hole in the coupling, and threaded it to allow me to directly tighten it up to the shaft.  It not longer slips.  And if it goes to the full travel of the focuser, then the spindle itself slips against the little teflon block, and prevents any damage.  Could you try that?  I'll try to post pics from my phone shortly.

If the spindle itself is spinning then this EAF isnt going to cure the problem you have.

Hi Adam

YES, this is exactly the problem and I had the same experience with diagnosing the problem. The motor slips on the spindle, the spindle doesn't slip. Frustratingly if I tension the actual focuser anything above lightly (to hold the weight of the camera/EFW etc) the motor then slips on the spindle and it becomes useless.

I've ordered the ZWO EAF so I hope this can be tightened directly to the shaft via a couple of grub screws and drive the now well tensioned focuser without slipping.

[Spaced Out]

6 hours ago, cletrac1922 said:

First of all welcome from Land Down Under

I have been looking as well, and my local astronomy shop also advise to run with the ZWO ASIAir WiFi unit

John

Thanks. I hope to connect mine via a powered USB hub to my laptop. 👍

[SplintUK]

I use mine with a EOS60Da on the back with no problem. I use an Astroberry (free mod for Raspberry Pi which is really all the ASIAIR is too)  which runs the mount (HEQ5), camera, EAF , GPS, plate solving, autoguiding, polar alignment  and camera sequencing, and pretty much everything else using KSTARS and INDI. It even lets me hook in with SkySafari on my phone over the wifi, which is nice. All works really well.