Anonymous
Unregistered
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I am not happy with my declination clutch and the focus backlash on my scope. Can anyone tell me exactly how easy it is (or is not) to install the Peterson EZ Clutch Kit and/or the EZ Focus Kit. I am my fathers son (ie. a klutz) and do not always get along well with small hand tools 
Many thanks in advance. Clear, dark skies to you!
Cheers,
-- Craig
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Grizz
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 04/24/03
Posts: 2172
Loc: Waldwick,New Jersey USA
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I can't comment on the EZ clutch. But I installed the EZ focus kit without a problem. But I'm not a klutz  The instructions are very complete and IMHO pretty foolproof.
I still have minor image shift but the smoothness factor has improved a great deal. A worthwhile mod. 
Craig
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Craig
LX200GPS 10" UHTC SMT
ETX90EC
Orion ED80 APO
Meade LPI Canon 10d Meade DSI
My Photo Gallery
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GeorgeDuke
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 04/24/03
Posts: 1142
Loc: PARADISE! (So.Florida)
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Hi Craig, I just joined the group and see that you have the honor of posting the very first message!
The EZ-clutch is very easy to install and I don't think it requires any tools. You simply unthread the DEC knob and insert the supplied spacer. I havn't actually used one because my DEC lock works fine. I did try a similar mod using a fender washer as a spacer and it worked good but I took it out and decided I would stay stock until I really had a problem.
George
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George
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LX200GPS 203mm f10
StellarVue SV102ED2 Feathertouch Ser#0018
Celestron 130mm f15.4 Mak
LXD75 GOTO with Orion 16" pier extension
Desert Sky DSV1 dual head ALT-AZ mount
Baader Hyperion 8mm ,13mm, 21mm and 8-24mm Zoom
2" GSO ED barlow, Orion 2" Prism Diag. 2" WO Dielectric
Chinese Scopes, Chinese Eyepieces, Chinese Wife, Love them all!
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Are these 30-minute mods or 2 hour mods????
Assuming one takes their time, reads directions, etc.
Thx.
Cheers,
-- Craig
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Quote:
Hi Craig, I just joined the group and see that you have the honor of posting the very first message!
Woo-Hooo!!!!
Do I get a T-Shirt or something???
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Grizz
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 04/24/03
Posts: 2172
Loc: Waldwick,New Jersey USA
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I guess the EZ focus is a 1 hr job, taking your time, reading instructions, reading instructions again.
Craig
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Craig
LX200GPS 10" UHTC SMT
ETX90EC
Orion ED80 APO
Meade LPI Canon 10d Meade DSI
My Photo Gallery
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GeorgeDuke
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 04/24/03
Posts: 1142
Loc: PARADISE! (So.Florida)
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Well, if you use the fender washer mod, it takes about
two minutes. You unscrew the dec lock knob and carefully
slide it out along with the aluminum spacer. Be careful
that the OTA does not drop suddenly. Place a fender
washer, which you can get at home depot or Loews, on
the threaded shaft on the dec lock knob and slide the
dec knob shaft with the aluminum spacer and fender washer back into the hole and thread the knob on until it is
finger tight. That should complete the mod.
George
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George
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LX200GPS 203mm f10
StellarVue SV102ED2 Feathertouch Ser#0018
Celestron 130mm f15.4 Mak
LXD75 GOTO with Orion 16" pier extension
Desert Sky DSV1 dual head ALT-AZ mount
Baader Hyperion 8mm ,13mm, 21mm and 8-24mm Zoom
2" GSO ED barlow, Orion 2" Prism Diag. 2" WO Dielectric
Chinese Scopes, Chinese Eyepieces, Chinese Wife, Love them all!
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Grizz
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 04/24/03
Posts: 2172
Loc: Waldwick,New Jersey USA
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I don't seem to have any problems with my dec lock. I know alot of folks do. Even with the camera, dewshield, 2" diag and 90 mounted it holds very well.I don't have to crank it down either just a little turn to make it snug. It seems funny that some scopes have problems with it and others don't.
Craig
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Craig
LX200GPS 10" UHTC SMT
ETX90EC
Orion ED80 APO
Meade LPI Canon 10d Meade DSI
My Photo Gallery
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Thanks, Gents!
Interesting side-note... I was looking through my documentation yesterday and it seems OPT replaced the Decl knob when they were doing their inspection - the original apparently had issues as well.
Not that the current one is unuseable - it just seems that I have to apply just a bit too much torque to get things snug.
I think I'll order the kit and see how she goes.
Thanks again!
Cheers,
-- Craig
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Well, after six weeks of far too much work.... 
and FAR TOO MANY cloudy nights (59 and counting).... 
I ordered the EZ Clutch and EZ Focus Kits from OPT last night. I'll let you know how it goes.
Clear skies to you all.
Cheers,
-- Craig
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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My, my, how time flies when you're having fun...
I finally received and installed the EZ Clutch. Installation was straightforward - the instructions are well laid out and easy to understand. The 5 3/4" aluminum drive gear was a bit of a PITA and needed a touch of pursueding to remove, but other than that, no problems. Beware, you are dealing with some fairly greasy parts, so have plenty of newspaper and paper towel handy!
The results are well worth the effort - a gentle touch is more than sufficient to tighten the declination clutch. Very nice.
I'm still waiting for delivery of the EZ Focus Kit. A fellow star-gazer had it installed on his scope and WOW! What a difference! Pure silk! And NO backlash.
I can't wait!
Clear skies to you!
Cheers,
-- Craig
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Where do you get the EZ clutch and EZ focuser? Also will they work on the ETX-125? I have some sloppiness with my declination knob as well...Thanks in advance.
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Grizz
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 04/24/03
Posts: 2172
Loc: Waldwick,New Jersey USA
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You can get these from Peterson Engineering
But they are for LX200 scopes
But you can check here- Weasners's Mighty ETX site for all things ETX. There is a wealth of info there and I'm sure you will find a fix for your DEC problems along with anything else you might want to know
Craig
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Craig
LX200GPS 10" UHTC SMT
ETX90EC
Orion ED80 APO
Meade LPI Canon 10d Meade DSI
My Photo Gallery
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Thanks, Ive been to Weasners..I never saw anything about the EZ clutch there though.
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Grizz
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 04/24/03
Posts: 2172
Loc: Waldwick,New Jersey USA
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Your correct there is no info on the EZ clutch there but there is a section on mechanical upgrades you can do to improve various aspects of the ETX including the DEC sloppiness. Here is a link ETX TUNE UP Maybe that will help. Good luck.
Craig
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Craig
LX200GPS 10" UHTC SMT
ETX90EC
Orion ED80 APO
Meade LPI Canon 10d Meade DSI
My Photo Gallery
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Thanks, Ive looked there as well, but taking apart my forks and degreasing them sounds risky...Thats why I thought the EZ clutch would be a better option. I understand there is a person that will do this service for you. Maybe I will explore that option. All in all the DEC is not that bad, if there was a quick and east fix, id be interested. Thanks again !
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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The EZ Focus kit arrived this week and I just finished the installation.
Wooo-Hooo!! Three cheers for me!!!! 
As advertised, the step-by-step instructions are precise with lots of pictures (for those of us who need them). The only hangups involved the removal and reinstallation of the focuser. The end of the focusing shaft slides onto and off of a retaining pin buried in the scope. It took some pursueding to come off, and was an extreme PITA to re-attach... You can's see bloody anything while you're trying to align the hole at the end of focusing shaft precisely in line with the retaining pin. After a few choice words, it was on, but I certainly wouldn't want to that for a living....
The end result? Silky smooth! Like buttah!!! And MUCH less slop/backlash in the focusing mechanism. I may just do away with the microfocuser! Its THAT good.
Many thanks to Pete Peterson - your products rock! 
Cheers,
-- Craig
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Starman1
Vendor - Scope City
Reged: 06/24/03
Posts: 10920
Loc: Los Angeles
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For those reading this thread, Chad at EZ Telescopes.com also makes a Meade focuser replacement that is either stock diameter, or 2-1/2" in diameter to achieve ultra-fine focussing sensitivity. He's on AstroMart.
Don Pensack
don@supergo.com
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Don Pensack
12.5" Truss Dob, 5" Maksutov
Sustaining Lifetime IDA member, TeleVue junkie
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jrcrilly
Refractor wienie again
Reged: 04/30/03
Posts: 22365
Loc: NE Ohio
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Quote:
For those reading this thread, Chad at EZ Telescopes.com also makes a Meade focuser replacement that is either stock diameter, or 2-1/2" in diameter to achieve ultra-fine focussing sensitivity.
Be very careful with this vendor. I wouldn't recommend dealing directly under any circumstances. I'm not the only person who has had problems. I've been unsuccesful at receiving a product ordered and paid for in early March. I've also been unable to receive return phone calls, emails, or a refund.
I can't understand why Herb lets him remain on Astromart; he's normally very careful. Thanks for reminding me. I'm gonna send Herb another note. 
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John C
Urban Observatory
Tele Vue Pronto
A&M/Astreya 76mm F/6 APO
TMB/LOMO 80mm F/7.5 APO
Tak FSQ-106N F/5 APO
Meade 152ED F/9 "APO"
152mm F/10 achromat
Tak CN-212 8" F/12 classical Cass/ F/4 Newt
Teeter 20" F/3.8 truss Newt w/ServoCat
LXD750, EM-200, CI-700
ST-10XME
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jrcrilly
Refractor wienie again
Reged: 04/30/03
Posts: 22365
Loc: NE Ohio
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I just looked; I don't think he's on Astromart any more.
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John C
Urban Observatory
Tele Vue Pronto
A&M/Astreya 76mm F/6 APO
TMB/LOMO 80mm F/7.5 APO
Tak FSQ-106N F/5 APO
Meade 152ED F/9 "APO"
152mm F/10 achromat
Tak CN-212 8" F/12 classical Cass/ F/4 Newt
Teeter 20" F/3.8 truss Newt w/ServoCat
LXD750, EM-200, CI-700
ST-10XME
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