Skymax 127 Motor Focuser.

[banjaxed]

After fitting motor focusers to my other scopes I wondered about fitting one to my Skymax 127. The first priority was the speed as these scopes have a long focus  travel. Here are a few pics of the finished project which works perfectly with a good speed variation.

 

l

[gazza25]

looks neat and simple good work 

[banjaxed]

A long awaited clear night gave me a chance to give my new motor focuser a try out and it was a great improvement over the manual one . I tried it out on the moon and was able to get very sharp focus without any wobble at all so I am very pleased with my upgrade. What I found most useful was the fact I could use the fastest speed to get nearly focused then slow down to reach fine focus, which IMO is a must with a Mak.

[simmo39]

Neat, can I ask what belt drive cog are you using on the 127? 

[banjaxed]

6 hours ago, simmo39 said:

Neat, can I ask what belt drive cog are you using on the 127? 

It is a 12mm bore GT2 timing pulley which fits nicely on the focuser shaft when you  remove the plastic knob (making sure the OTA is level and not vertical) 🙄😀

Edited November 15, 2021 by banjaxed

[simmo39]

12 hours ago, banjaxed said:

It is a 12mm bore GT2 timing pulley which fits nicely on the focuser shaft when you  remove the plastic knob (making sure the OTA is level and not vertical) 🙄😀

Ok thanks, I have been thinking on the same lines as your focuser but couldn't see a way of fitting a cog to the focus knob. My I ask what happens if the OTA is verticle?

[banjaxed]

If you remove the knob with the scope vertical everything slides down towards the front lens as the knob is the only thing that hols everything is place. I was lucky as turning the scope the other way it slid back far enough for me to retrieve the focuser shaft. When I bought the pulley they only supplied them in twos so if you decide to proceed with your project you can have the pulley for what I paid for it.

3 hours ago, simmo39 said:

Ok thanks, I have been thinking on the same lines as your focuser but couldn't see a way of fitting a cog to the focus knob. My I ask what happens if the OTA is verticle?

 

[simmo39]

5 hours ago, banjaxed said:

If you remove the knob with the scope vertical everything slides down towards the front lens as the knob is the only thing that hols everything is place. I was lucky as turning the scope the other way it slid back far enough for me to retrieve the focuser shaft. When I bought the pulley they only supplied them in twos so if you decide to proceed with your project you can have the pulley for what I paid for it.

 

Hi and thanks, II'l keep that in mind. I have got to sort out the motor yet. I have a RC servo that was used as a focuser motor on an old scope I need to find that and measure the shaft diameter to see if I can get a cog to fit that.

[banjaxed]

1 hour ago, simmo39 said:

Hi and thanks, II'l keep that in mind. I have got to sort out the motor yet. I have a RC servo that was used as a focuser motor on an old scope I need to find that and measure the shaft diameter to see if I can get a cog to fit that.

If I can be of any help in giving you my sources for the parts you need just let me know.

[doublevodka]

@banjaxed would it be possible for you to put a parts list on this thread? (Sorry to revive an old one)

I'm looking to put together something simple that doesn't need a computer to control, this looks like it fits the bill 👍

[banjaxed]

5 hours ago, doublevodka said:

@banjaxed would it be possible for you to put a parts list on this thread? (Sorry to revive an old one)

I'm looking to put together something simple that doesn't need a computer to control, this looks like it fits the bill 👍

I have just noticed your message and I will be happy to let you have a list of parts and where I sourced them. I know I have a drive pulley that is a perfect fit for the 127 Mak which you are welcome to for what it cost me which is less than the present price. It will take me a while to look up all the suppliers and parts list but I will sort it out when quickly as I can. I might have some more parts in my box if you would be interested, but in will check anyway.

[doublevodka]

3 hours ago, banjaxed said:

I have just noticed your message and I will be happy to let you have a list of parts and where I sourced them. I know I have a drive pulley that is a perfect fit for the 127 Mak which you are welcome to for what it cost me which is less than the present price. It will take me a while to look up all the suppliers and parts list but I will sort it out when quickly as I can. I might have some more parts in my box if you would be interested, but in will check anyway.

That's a lovely offer thank you 👍 sadly I don't think the pulley will work with either of my current scopes focusers

However, if you can let me know the motor and controller I'm sure I can knock the rest together easy enough 🤞

[banjaxed]

On 13/04/2022 at 12:51, doublevodka said:

@banjaxed would it be possible for you to put a parts list on this thread? (Sorry to revive an old one)

I'm looking to put together something simple that doesn't need a computer to control, this looks like it fits the bill 👍

This is the motor I used from Amazon

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07YRPVW59/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

This is the controller I used from Ebay

 

194435863614

https://www.technobotsonline.com/ are one of the sources for drive belts, drive pulleys and bits and bobs.

If you need any further info just ask.

Edited April 14, 2022 by banjaxed