puttting a crayford focuser on a heritage 130p is it do-able?

[mr saddo]

Hi there all, i am pondering weather you can put a crayford focuser on a heritage 130p newt? has i do not like the helix type focuser on it, just a thought.

[bombassa]

I've thought about this myself but think it could be somewhat difficult.

The focuser and the front end looks like one big piece of plastic and I think drilling holes in this could perhaps cause it to crack.

Furthermore I think the current design could have a problem with weight. For instance (without having tried it) I think heavy eyepieces could cause the plastic to flex and ruin alignment between mirrors and eyepieces.

So perhaps a solution could be creating a whole new frontpiece and somehow redesign the current focuser setup to make it more stable.

Certainly work for people smarter than me

[mr saddo]

yeah, i was thinking of cutting away the plastic mount and fabricating a aluminium one to accept a crayford, or get a crayford that will go over the 49mm o/d helix thread hole. Trouble is if i chop the plastic of then it don`t work out i have ruined the scope, have to think very carefully on that one.

[LukeSkywatcher]

I also have a Heritage and my only gripe with the scope is the screw in/out focuser.

I'd love to be able to replace it with something.

[Mountain View]

I know this is a very late post, but I own the 130 too and like everyone would like to improve the focuser , it does move about a bit and thereby alters the ep focus

I have tried using just a couple of wraps of ptfe tape to the screw thread, I'm pretty sure it won't last too long but it does succeed in smoothing the focus and making it more stable

It's a simple matter to remove the old ptfe and wraps a new one on

Hope this helps if you pick this up

Regards

Gordon

[kenmyers]

I know this is a very late post, but I own the 130 too and like everyone would like to improve the focuser , it does move about a bit and thereby alters the ep focus

I have tried using just a couple of wraps of ptfe tape to the screw thread, I'm pretty sure it won't last too long but it does succeed in smoothing the focus and making it more stable

It's a simple matter to remove the old ptfe and wraps a new one on

Hope this helps if you pick this up

Regards

Gordon

Just got one of these myself and I can say the focuser is terrible but the above solution is just that... a solution!

[Moonshane]

I'd be tempted to sell the scope intact and buy a slightly larger one with a crayford on it. the net cost is likely to be about the same as buying a crayford.

[Albenn]

I too have had one of these scopes for a couple of weeks now and have had no issues with the focuser.

Have I just been lucky or is it one of those problems that become more evident the more it gets used?

[Dodge]

I too have had one of these scopes for a couple of weeks now and have had no issues with the focuser.

Have I just been lucky or is it one of those problems that become more evident the more it gets used?

The stock focuser is the only 'weak' thing about the Heritage 130P - mine was ok, a bit sloppy perhaps but certainly usable. To be honest, if they'd sold it with a cheap rack and pinion focuser it would be even better than it already is.

I shouldn't have sold mine, that's for sure...