5 replies to this topic

[rsliva]

I wanted to add a ZWO EAF to the 12" LX200ACF I recently acquired, so I purchased an SCT adapter from Buckeye Stargazer. I did request the ACF version but was a little surprised that the cylinder that goes over the focus shaft had lots of play as I expected a better fit. Maybe there's different size shafts on different ACFs? The center hole had the half-circle shape which meant the EAF shaft would only go into the cylinder so far. When I put it together, and with the bracket attached to the OTA as expected, all this resulted in the cylinder getting torqued a bit sideways. To address this I slowly drilled out about 4mm into the cylinder's hole to round out the half-circle which allowed the EAF shaft to move forward enough that the cylinder was now straight. I used some paper around the focuser shaft to help take up the play and was able to center the cylinder well as I tightened the grub screws. After that it was just a matter of figuring out the autofocus parameters for N.I.N.A. The LX200 took quite a bit more steps to affect focus compared to my C11. I settled on 160 for the step size, with 200 steps each for the In/Out Backlash. I am happy with how well it is now working for me.

[EGregerson]

Hi; I'm wondering if you looked into mounting a crayford style focuser on the LX200; then mounting the auto focus on that;  rather than having to mod the oem focuser; thnking u could lock the focuser, avoid mirror shift; would that be doable?  

[rsliva]

Sure, and it is a better solution to lock the mirror, but this is something I wanted to try. I had a nice session again last night before the clouds rolled in so I am happy it is working as-is. If/when I defork the OTA and mount it on a GEM I'd add the external focuser. For now I'm just enjoying the new experience of having a fork mount. But there's little space between the back of the OTA and the fork so I'm trying to keep the image train as short as possible.

[Old star gazer]

I'm looking to purchase the same 3D printed adapter, but for the Meade LX200 10" classic. Do you have to use the connector that comes with the adapter or could you use one of the flexible connectors that come with the ZWO EAF?

[rsliva]

I am not familiar with the Classic so maybe someone who is can pipe in about ZWO EAF compatibility, but I have several EAF's and none of the connectors are close to big enough to fit the Meade focuser post on my ACF. 

[peterc]

You might consider the Buckeye Stargazer for 24 bucks. That gets you the needed.

https://agenaastro.c...ca_s_model=6547