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A bracket for my EAF to move around
Posted: Sun Sep 19, 2021 3:07 am
by SkyHiker
Have you noticed how the bracket for the
EAF autofocuser only fits on Skywatcher-like focusers? No matter what I tried, I could not make it fit.
Eventually I glued a wooden post to my 12" Newt with E6000 glue and the
EAF to it. It worked great but it's not nice if you can't move the
EAF around. So today I added an aluminum bracket that I can move around from scope to scope. I have a bracket for my 12" Newt and for the
Mak-Newt. Aluminum is as easy to work with as wood.
I wanted this because I am beginning to see how a 12" scope can hamper my astrophotography - though I'm slowly crawling out of the pit that I dug for myself - so I wanted to move everything over to the
Mak-Newt including the autofocuser.
Re: A bracket for my EAF to move around
Posted: Sun Sep 19, 2021 3:49 am
by bladekeeper
Great solution, Henk!
Re: A bracket for my EAF to move around
Posted: Sat Oct 23, 2021 11:42 pm
by OzEclipse
Henk, Looks like it works but it's not exactly a quick change arrangement and really looks out of place. It's a bit late now but you may have been better off buying a finder dovetail to attach to the dovetail and two finder shoes to attach to the two OTA's. Given that it's done, maybe paint the wood pieces black & white to match the tubes?
Joe
Re: A bracket for my EAF to move around
Posted: Sat Oct 23, 2021 11:55 pm
by OzEclipse
Henk
I hear what you are saying that bigger is not always better. I am doing mental somersaults now trying to work out how big an observatory to build and how big an instrument I should put in it. Given that my Dob is an 18" and is my primary visual instrument, this instrument will be primarily a photographic instrument. I have the Vixen VC200L which is lightweight, solid, not prone to flex and easily carried on my EM200. I had a 12" in mind but that entails a bigger observatory, bigger mount and the new OTA. The problem is that the smaller aperture limits my ability to record occultations of faint asteroids. Nonetheless, I might end up just sticking with the VC200L instrument and be limited to brighter asteroid occultations.
Joe
Re: A bracket for my EAF to move around
Posted: Sun Oct 24, 2021 12:35 am
by SkyHiker
OzEclipse wrote: ↑Sat Oct 23, 2021 11:42 pm
Henk, Looks like it works but it's not exactly a quick change arrangement and really looks out of place. It's a bit late now but you may have been better off buying a finder dovetail to attach to the dovetail and two finder shoes to attach to the two OTA's. Given that it's done, maybe paint the wood pieces black & white to match the tubes?
The
EAF does not have a dovetail Joe. Believe me it has to be accurate to the millimeter that's why it's best to fit everything in place the way I did. The result is solid and very accurate, and it was an easy fit. I don't mind the wood color, it now has my signature.
Re: A bracket for my EAF to move around
Posted: Sun Oct 24, 2021 1:05 am
by SkyHiker
OzEclipse wrote: ↑Sat Oct 23, 2021 11:55 pm
Henk
I hear what you are saying that bigger is not always better. I am doing mental somersaults now trying to work out how big an observatory to build and how big an instrument I should put in it. Given that my Dob is an 18" and is my primary visual instrument, this instrument will be primarily a photographic instrument. I have the Vixen VC200L which is lightweight, solid, not prone to flex and easily carried on my EM200. I had a 12" in mind but that entails a bigger observatory, bigger mount and the new OTA. The problem is that the smaller aperture limits my ability to record occultations of faint asteroids. Nonetheless, I might end up just sticking with the VC200L instrument and be limited to brighter asteroid occultations.
For asteroids / planets in an observatory I would get an
SCT or an Edge HD because they don't need much space. They can be used for planetary but also for
AP at
F/2 with Hyperstar. I would not go lower than 11". A 12" Newt needs more space and it's far from ideal for visual. For sure they need a heavier mount. I was surprised reading the specs of that EM200, 18 kg visual is only 9 kg
AP, how can that be for such a pricy mount?
Regarding your 18", big Dobs are best used on an
EQ platform. If you want to use your 18" for
AP try an Osypowski
EQ platform, they are high quality dual axis and people do
AP with them.