help with focuser

[paulbeer]

hi all im now the proud owner of a skywatcher 250px dob, the bloke i got it off supplied me with a swa 2in 26mm ep which he never used as the dob only seems to take 1.25.

my question is can i get a replacement focuser that will bolt straight on with no hassle, and take both 2in and 1.25 if so which one would be best.

does anyone recommend anything else to add to the dob ie: dew shields ,finder scope that sort of thing.

thanks all in advance

paul

[Ant]

I'd be VERY suprised if the scope came with an EP that doesn't fit the focuser.

Can you take a picture of the focus and post it - you may need to remove something for it to fit. Or a fairly cheap part may be available without going to the trouble (and expense) of replacing the focuser.

When I owned a big newt, I had a telrad finder. Fantastic device!

Cheers

Ant

[johninderby]

The focuser comes with a 1.25" and a 2" adaptor and it sounds like you're missing the 2" adaptor. Here's a photo of the focuser with the 2" adaptor sitting at the side of it.

John

[John]

Assuming that your scope has the rack and pinion focusser, you may be missing the 2" eyepiece adaptor which could have got lost if the previous owner only ever used 1.25" eyepieces. There have been a few threads on here about these going missing recently.

If you don't have a finder on the scope you will need one, either an optical finder, eg: 8x50 or a red dot type.

EDIT: John and I were posting at the same time !.

[paulbeer]

Here is the focuser, I didn't get any adapter so that could be the issue here. Are the available to buy on there own

[johninderby]

That looks like the old rack and pinion focuser. Getting hold of just the 2" adaptor can be tricky. Try asking here on SGL to see if someone has a spare one. I'd be inclined just to replace it with a modern dual speed crayford.

Telescope House has their Revelation dual speed crayford focuser on at £89.95

http://www.telescopehouse.com/acatalog/Revelation_Newtonian_Crayford_Focuser_Dual_Speed.html

To go with that Scopes'n'skies does a replacement focuser base that will let you bolt the Revelation focuser onto your OTA using the existing bolt holes.The correct base is the wider one fairly far down the page and is £2.00 (they have a narrow one that isn't right that is £3.00)

Newtonian focuser base

http://www.scopesnskies.com/AstroBoot

Here's a photo of one I fitted last week (note: I changed the knobs on the Revelation focuser and there is an eyepiece extension in the focuser)

John

[paulbeer]

thanks John ive ordered the plate and will upgrade the focuser to the one you suggested on the next pay day. where did you get them knobs John i like the look of it.

can anyone tell me if it is best to flock the tube and if it is where can i get it

[johninderby]

The knobs are off a William Optics focuser. I upgraded the WO focuser to a Feather Touch R&P so I had them going spare.

I'll PM you about the flocking.

John