NEW Skywatcher Focal Reducers

[martin_h]

There is not a given focal length in instructions but I deduced it was 55mm from the back of the reducer and this seems to work

Harry

Is that 55mm from the reducer to the ccd chip face?

[harry page]

Hi

Yes thats 55mm from the flat back of the reducer to the front of the CCD

Hope this helps

Harry

[martin_h]

Thanks for that - sorted!

[adamsp123]

Here is a stacked, unprocessed, uncropped, full frame image I took at SGL5 using a 120ED with the SW flattener and a Canon 1000D DSLR

[Fay]

Any news of the arrival of the adaptor that will connect the Skywatcher 120 flattener to the Equinox?

Thanks

Fay

[FLO]

They have been delayed but will arrive, perhaps another 10-15 days

[glowjet]

Steve,

Did you manage to check with Ron Newman of MoonLite, that the adapter will be threaded for 2" filters, as all his other accessories are?

Thanks John.

[samtheeagle]

So I've just read through all of the posts here, and maybe I missed it, but what's the deal with using one of these with a C80? I saw talk of some kind of adaptor, did I miss a link or something? Is there an attachment solution?

Thanks.

[FLO]

We are having some adapter's made for us by Moonlite focusers, we think they will arrive in 10-15 days. The adapter will enable you to use the Skywatcher focal reducer on the Celestron 80ED. It will also be compatible with Skywatcher Equinox 100 and 120 telescopes.

Hope that helps,

Steve

[samtheeagle]

AWESOME Cheers Steve, any idea on the price of these adaptors? Is there a waiting list?

[FLO]

Not sure at the moment but we expect it to be around £35-40 depending on the $-£ exchange rate.

There is a possibilty that the 2" adapter will vignette slightly when used with large CCD sensors so Moonlite will also produce an adapter to suit thier 2.5" focusers.

[samtheeagle]

Ok, so I assume that the whizzy 2" adaptors from moonlite will be front threaded for filters, but is this reducer really designed in such a way as to prevent the use of filters, even with the telescopes it is specifically designed for? That just seems very odd to me... Or am I missing something?

[FLO]

We might have hit an obstacle, it might be that the Moonlite-made adapter will be too expensive. We are currently looking into an alternate supplier. Sincere apologies for the lack of progress.

If anyone has an engineering facility or knows someone who does, please contact us

[samtheeagle]

Gah!!!!! And indeed Nooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!

Not that I have any manufacturing facilities, but to summarize we need a 55mm (I think) male thread that steps down to a standard 2" tube that is threaded for filters right?

Edit:- Ooooh look 500 posts!

[samtheeagle]

Ummm, all this talk of adaptors made me think that this reducer doesn't fit the C80 as is... But I've just had a play around and it most certainly does! I guess the adaptors are for other scopes / getting filters in the mix?

If C80 owners are unaware, the plastic end part of the stock focuser unscrews, revealing a thread that's just right for the reducer to connect to I can post pics if required...

[Deneb]

Im wondering Steve, could you not approach someone like Beaconhill Telescopes, as they may do jobs like this..

Nadeem.

[FLO]

The Skywatcher focal reducers fit directly to the Evostar 80, 100 and 120 APO PRO series of telescopes via a thread on the focuser tube. An adapter will be necessary if they are to be used with with the Equinox 100, 120 and Celestron C80 and C100.

HTH

[samtheeagle]

The Skywatcher focal reducers fit directly to the Evostar 80, 100 and 120 APO PRO series of telescopes via a thread on the focuser tube. An adapter will be necessary if they are to be used with with the Equinox 100, 120 and Celestron C80 and C100.

HTH

Well for the C80 I beg to differ. May I present exhibit A:

The following picture hopefully shows the parts of the stock R&P focuser that comes with the C80, and how it unscrews to allow the fitting of the reducer.

Some adaptor magic will be required in the long term I think, as I REALLY need to use a LP filter from my town location, but for the time being I should be able to try the reducer out

[Deneb]

Thats great, but would you do if you've changed the focuser ??? That where a 2" push fit adaptor comes in handy ...

Nadeem.

[harry page]

I made my own and you can't have it

Harry

[samtheeagle]

Yeah, there's definitely still a need for the adaptor, but for those of us still with the original R&P focuser there is this one small benefit at least.

I've picked up a 55mm male camera thread to T female adaptor from the AstroBoot in the hope that the 55mm thread will fit the reducer. If it does I can then use the T mount camera adapter I currently use with the t-ring to create a custom push fit adaptor. I'll post whether it works or not here... If these 55mm camera to T thread adaptors are more readily available then perhaps a 2 piece adaptor solution will be possible?

EDIT - This is similar to the item I got off the AstroBoot I think: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&Item=360271586983&Category=3636&_trkparms=algo%3DLVI%26its%3DI%26otn%3D2 It's all going to hang on whether the 55mm male thread is correct for the front of the reducer or not, and whether the threaded section will be long enough to make me confident that it'll support the weight of the reducer and the camera...

[FLO]

Well for the C80 I beg to differ....

I stand corrected

Thank-you Sam

[samtheeagle]

Denied The 55mm to T adaptor is the wrong size... The thread on the front of the reducer is slightly bigger, does anyone have an accurate measurement for it? My high-tech plastic ruler held up against it approach is clearly lacking in the accuracy department... Otherwise the adaptor looks ok, a bit scrawny, I'd like the male threaded part to be longer so that the connection is stronger. But it's the wrong size anyhoo :/

Some good news though, the direct connection of the reducer to the C80 worked a treat last night

[glowjet]

Steve,

If its is not too politic can I ask how much more expensive is the MoonLite adapter likely to be ?, and if so how many of us would be happy to pay that little extra for the product from the Ron Newman stable ?.

Thanks John.

[sgazer]

this is very intersting Sam as I've been long interested in the Skywatcher reducer for my C80. But looking at your photos of it attached, it appears your focuser is slightly different to mine, the I noticed that your's is a C80-ED R, I don't think mine is an R, unfortunately it's all boxed up now in storage, so I can't check.

The black ring that you have remaining on yours with the reducer screwed in is different on mine in that this ring has the locking thumbscrew and no thread which could be used for the reducer.

In your second photo you have a further attachment which contains the thumbscrew for the 2"/1.25" adapters, which doesn't exist on mine.

However, the single black ring with the thumbscrew (on mine) does screw onto the end of the silver draw tube, but I have no idea on the thread size. I'm lead to believe it's not the same as the reducer, but have not tried it.

I stand to be corrected as it's all from memory, but it may be that only the C80-ED R (if it is indeed a different beast) has the correct thread.

edit: scanning the web, it appears the C80-EDR is the same as mine with the 600mm focal length and 80mm objective. However, that black focuser ring definately appears to be different. It would be interesting to hear from others with this scope.