03/11/2024
While we’ve had some constant cloudy whether recently, I’ve done some major upgrades to my Sky-Watcher 130PDS!
Last month at the International Astronomy Show, I picked up a ZWO EAF - One step further towards being fully automated! - However, when I went to install it, I messed it up pretty badly, to the point of where the stock focuser was completely shot! 😬🤦♂️
After watching a video that released about the CYCK focuser that he fitted to his Sky-Watcher 150P Quattro, and how impressed he was with it, I decided to get one myself! It ticks all the boxes that I like in a focuser; rack and pinion instead of crayford style & a graduated rotator to boot! Perfect!
Fitting it was quite simple once I had drilled out the ripped bolt head on the original focuser! 😅 The only other issue that I came across was the adapter ring didn’t quite fit the 130PDS, so I ended up taking a chisel to the scope and had to scrape off all the paint inside the mounting plate, thus allowing the new adapter ring to sit flush, as shown in the pictures. I transferred the rubber washers & grub screws from the original focuser, and it was a perfect fit!
The ZWO EAF was then a simple attachment at the end of the process. What’s even better, is my William Optics Rotolock that I had fitted to the old focuser fitted in place of the blue compression ring attachment at the end of the focus tube!
