ZWO EAF won't fit my focuser! Even with a bracket designed for it : (

[pipnina]

I waited 2 months for my ZWO EAF to arrive and now that it has, it doesn't fit, even with the 3D printed bracket FLO recommended to me!

I tried to fit the bracket any number of ways, but the only way I could think of that made sense was fitting the bracket as in the picture below, leaving the motor to connect to the fine control. However the bracket only barely fit on, and wouldn't fit at all if the focuser's cover was fitted. When finally in a position where it would be able to accept the motor, it was covering the threaded hole that lets me adjust the level of tightness between the roller and the focuser barrel! I need that applying some tension to stop the tube falling out let alone avoid sag.

 

So I changed strategy, and tried to install the motor using the supplied bracket and affix it to the focuser on the normal speed end. However this also occludes the tension and locking threaded holes, so I am none better off!

2 months of waiting and it seems I am still some way off of being auto-focused! : (

Anyone know what I should be doing? This is the TS 2" crayford focuser supplied with the TS-PHOTON 8" F4 Newtonian.

Image below shows how I tried to install the motor with default bracket, and also the 3D printed bracket in the orientation I tried to install it in before, for reference.

As usual, instructions would have been amazing from the bracket manufacturer but none are to be found!

[Len1257]

The issue with the 3D printed bracket should be sorted out with FLO, they are usually very helpful!

Have you seen this list of focuser fitments? eaf-support-list Must be a nightmare when every focuser on the market has a different pattern of holes.

However if you have: 

9 hours ago, pipnina said:

I need that applying some tension to stop the tube falling out let alone avoid sag

then that should be sorted out first. No off the shelf electronic focuser is going to work optimally if you have the tension screwed up tight. I have three scopes with rack and pinion focusers and they all perform faultlessly with the EAF.

Edited July 1, 2022 by Len1257

[scotty38]

These should fit the normal focus side and when fitted the focus is locked solid and cannot be moved manually so there should be no need to be able to adjust focus tension anyway. That's on a refractor but I assume the principle is the same regardless.

[pipnina]

12 hours ago, scotty38 said:

These should fit the normal focus side and when fitted the focus is locked solid and cannot be moved manually so there should be no need to be able to adjust focus tension anyway. That's on a refractor but I assume the principle is the same regardless.

This was the issue. I had the bracket on the wrong way around! I guess everything is easier after a good sleep and not being tired any more lol.

I got it all sorted now, and I don't put a huge amount of tension on the focuser, just enough to ensure the rotating metal shaft and the focuser barrel have good grip and the sag is corrected. It's still very fluid and doesn't take effort to adjust by hand, so hopefully the EAF should handle it all fine.

Gotta wait for another night to put it to the test though!

[RolandKol]

On 01/07/2022 at 22:18, pipnina said:

This was the issue. I had the bracket on the wrong way around! I guess everything is easier after a good sleep and not being tired any more lol.

I got it all sorted now, and I don't put a huge amount of tension on the focuser, just enough to ensure the rotating metal shaft and the focuser barrel have good grip and the sag is corrected. It's still very fluid and doesn't take effort to adjust by hand, so hopefully the EAF should handle it all fine.

Gotta wait for another night to put it to the test though!

Hi Mate,

I think upgrading my 130PDS to this scope.

Any comments?
Especially on focuser as I will hang ASI1600MM + EFW(7) + GPU CC.
PDS focuser is way to cheap for such amount of toys...

P.S.
I will also use ZWO AEF.

P.P.S.

Do you have any images of bright stars after colimation?

Edited October 12, 2022 by RolandKol

[pipnina]

19 minutes ago, RolandKol said:

Hi Mate,

I think upgrading my 130PDS to this scope.

Any comments?
Especially on focuser as I will hang ASI1600MM + EFW(7) + GPU CC.
PDS focuser is way to cheap for such amount of toys...

P.S.
I will also use ZWO AEF.

P.P.S.

Do you have any images of bright stars after colimation?

I'm not sure I can recommend the TS-PHOTON scopes personally. Even after buying a dew shield, putting flocking around the focuser, flocking behind the secondary, blackening the secondary edges etc, it still didn't calibrate my images correctly with flat frames (over-correction) or had off-frame problems like gradients introduced by the flats. I also noticed some background colour mottling at larger scale but I largely had that controlled at the end.

Collimation is much harder IMO on these photons. Not just because they are F4, but because the mirror cell design is worse than that of the PDS lineup. My 130P-DS held collimation like a champ once set, and was super easy to set to begin with. The photon moved as I swung the scope on DEC and while I fixed it on the primary, it needed modifications to do so.

Eventually I worry the mirror simply got distorted from stress or some other issue, as my stars became very bloated and also started to elongate slightly. I recently got a refractor triplet to replace it and was WOW'd by the shaprness of stars in the center- which is something newts are *supposed* to do well!

For all those faults though, the focuser was pretty solid. I'd agree it was sturdier than the one on the P-DS, however it had no male or female thread on the camera side so you couldn't screw any correctors into it.

By what I've googled, if we want quality and no-stress newtonians, we either have to limit ourselves to the small ones like the 130P-DS and only do some tweaks to them, or we need to splash out the big ££££ for something like the Teleskop Service ONTC newtonians or the orion high tier newtonians...

It's a bit sad, but the "it's too good to be true" factor of cheap large newts is... Too good to be true by my own experience.

I also noticed that because the GPU CC is very long (about 10-11cm) it causes vignetting of even APS-C sensors. And maybe un-parfocalises the scope, as I used that CC and my filters had offsets like this:

Red: 34

Green: 3

Blue: -22

But on my refractor, with the same filters, the gap is pretty much nonexistant and I can swap between LRGB filters without having to move the focuser at all! Very suspect.

I know this doesn't make things any easier but I personally would avoid this scope change : (

[RolandKol]

5 minutes ago, pipnina said:

I know this doesn't make things any easier but I personally would avoid this scope change : (

OMG...
£1k+ for sucha headache.... I am really sad to hear about your experiences, but also very thankfull!
I played and tinkered with PDS for quite a period of time and simply want a scope without any aditional "games", however I want aperture! hahaha damn...

P.S.
Have you placed the primary on the silicone?

[Lee_P]

The metal of the stock EAF bracket is quite soft. It's possible to use a small file to widen the gaps, perhaps enough to line up with the focuser screw holes. You may need to use a washer to ensure the screws are then tight against the metal bracket's widened gaps, but that's no biggy.