Crayford Focuser::Any good??

[DAVPPK]

Im interested in this:

1.25/2 Newtonian Crayford Focuser for Explorer 200 and 250 - 176 by SkyWatcher

Is it any good for my scope ?? (See signature)

Thanks,

David

[steve_bham]

Are you not happy with your focuser at the min? if its ok use it and only upgrade it till you feel you will get more from the crayford focuser.

[adamsp123]

I'm with Steve on this one, can't see it improving much on what you have.

[DAVPPK]

thanks guys, ill wait then until I have some money to spend

[peeceeTal2M]

You'd be better off spending the money on some good quality eyepieces first, and bear in mind you might have to open out your existing focuser hole to fit a 2" crayford.

Phill

[haitch]

You'd be better off spending the money on some good quality eyepieces firstl

Of course, if you are thinking of getting some 2" EPs that's a different matter.

I've got the same focusser* on my Dob (picked mine up cheap 2nd hand off Astrobaby on here when she upgraded to a Moonlite) and I found it an improvement over the original 1.25" Rack & Pinion. Suits me for visual stuff. I guess you need to have a think about whether you want to get into imaging as one of the many pieces of expenditure you'd make then would probably be a further focusser upgrade.

* Well the base and mechanism looks the same but it looks like they've changed eyepiece adaptor section.

[haitch]

That's quite a tall focuser after I fitted mine I need to move the mirror an inch up the tube. Before you decide you could check its suitability for your scope by running your scopes dimensions through this software Dale Keller's Newt Software page (ask the seller the height of the focuser racked in & out). On mine it says I am borderline for vignetting at focuser but it looks ok to me. I guess I can afford to lose a little with 14"

PS - I notice FLO sells these too for £59 and they sponsor this site. You'd also struggle to find someone more helpful.

[haitch]

Sorry, for 3 posts in short succession. Just noticed there is a link to a review from FLO's site and the one in the review look the same as mine.

http://firstlightoptics.com/proddetail.php?prod=SWfocuser

[Astro_Baby]

Its not a bad focuser - and to be honest I found it quite good having only ever used rather rackety old R&P focusers.

It depends what you have on your scope to start with I guess. I recall haitch had either nothing or a cranky old focuser.

If the current focuser works ok I'd stick with it and wait til you can afford something like a Moonlite.

[haitch]

Its not a bad focuser - and to be honest I found it quite good having only ever used rather rackety old R&P focusers.

I recall haitch had either nothing or a cranky old focuser.

Ah yes, 'twas a cranky old thing. Push fit with no screws to hold the EP so risk of losing anything over a 20mm to the concrete floor below . The main reason I wanted to upgrade (apart from avoiding dropping EPs on the floor) was to go for 2" EPs with limited funding.

Have to say at £60 it doesn't sound so much of a bargain as Astrobaby's was.

[Kokatha man]

A different part of the planet (but still on Earth!!!) and for (possibly) different reasons but with all the aforementioned provisos re focus attainablity etc.....a good crayford-style 10:1 focusser can be a significant improvement.

Not sure about the quality/build of the S/W job though - on my venerable old Long Tom 6" refractor the R&P unit was hardly first-class (he was a S/W) which would have me checking any other unit carefully!

Don't know if GSO (Guan Sheng Optics) gear is available over your way (or rather, whether it's branded as such.....) but I found converting to one of their crayford-style 10:1 units was a big improvement - but as I imaged with that scope up till recently, minimal image-shift and ultra-fine focus control were paramount to my needs therein.....

The build quality was vastly superior as said - however, depending on your needs etc it may well be something that is best left for now as opposed to other gear....!

[DAVPPK]

thanks for all your replies guys, they're very helpful

[Astro_Baby]

I think at £60 I'd hold off myself unless the existing focuser was really bad news. Even then I think I'd just bite the bullet and get a Moonlite.

Its not just for the focusing - though a 10:1 focuser is good news but its the collimation where you really notice a difference. The total absence of 'slop' makes collimation much more precise and removes all the uncertainties.

Advice here - DONT go to Star Parties. Last year I went to Salisbury and saw Astronuts scope with a Moonlite and immediately listed it as a MUST HAVE.