Focus Cube

[gpowers]

Hi Folks, I have one Focus Cube en route, I have two scopes i use equally, a 115 Triplet Refractor (805mm focal Length), Aluminium tube and 8" Ritchey Chretien (1600mm focal length) Steel Tube.  and here is my conundrum, ? Which one do i fit it to, I cannot reconcile in my mind which would benefit the most given the expansion rates of the Materials and focal lengths.  or am i over thinking it , chip in folks if you've got any thoughts, or better any experiences ... gary

[Incisive_Solutions]

Be interested how you find it if you fit it to your 115 triplet - I’ve got the Altair Wave Series 130 triplet and haven’t fitted my focus cube yet - I’ve got the Pegasus Universal v2 

[MarkAR]

The two options I see are :

1. Move it from one scope to the other.

2. But a second one.

[MarkAR]

Just thought of another alternative, if you have a Pegasus power box then you could get a Lakeside motor focuser for about £90. You'll just need a bracket to mount it and a shaft coupler. Lastly a cable to connect it up.

[gpowers]

Thanks for chipping in MarkAR,

1) reconfiguring my equipment may well be what i do, I go thro spells on using the RC8 or the Altair Astro 115EDT.

2) I guess doubling up on everything is an option but not for free. This focus cube works in concert with my UPBv2 so there is that valid option to purchase a second lesser expensive Pegasus Motor Focus Kit v2 Universal kit  and end up with one on both OTAs.

My initial motive for the question is to gauge the benefits of a Focus cube as it is a new device to me and thus i did not want to be disappointed with what it can do. give it the best chance to impress.

many thanks ... Gary

 

 

[KevS]

I have a focus cube; I  fitted the supplied bracket to a separate dovetail itself fitted to the top holes on the rings of the refractor. I bought in a timing belt pulley with the same pitch as the thumbwheel on the focuser and use a timing belt to connect them.  On the "upper" dovetail I also have the guide scope, power distribution box, usb hub  and dew heater controllers. The upper dovetail is attached with thumbscrews. I made this assembly to be deliberately modular in nature so I don't have to set up the entire imaging rig in one go. Also, when the muse is upon me, so to speak; I can leave the upper dovetail off and just do a bit of boggling.  

[gpowers]

folks, just an update, in the end i decided to fit the Pegasus Electronic Focuser to my 72EDF Rig whilst i am still learning with it, it was a little easier to attach and so i will have a play with it on that setup for a while. Also, to be honest I need to get my head around all the settings and terminology associated with Auto focusing, maybe it's easy but the penny has not dropped yet. 

[gpowers]

Early experiences:

hi,

a couple of things that caught me out in deploying the Pegasus electronic focuser.

1) firstly, it made some horrible noises to start with because I had incorrect settings for max speed, I have this running through a Pegasus UPBv2 and although I use NINA for my sequencing these settings were made in the UPBv2 dedicated Application, I had ‘starlight….’ set and it should be ‘Pegasus default’, also checking the ‘rabbit’ recommended.

now whisper quiet.

2) secondly I got a bit confused when setting the steps to 5755 ( see focuser specification for one rotation ) and the electronic focuser only rotated 180°., all down to these focuser cubes employing half step drives, effectively doubling resolution. 11510 gets you a full rotation.

 

[gpowers]

Success I think, did a bit of Maths to determine my Step size [ .. may need to increase my step size a little now i have watched thro Chads tutorial .. ], established 'in-focus' as best I could by eye then final clamp of the Focuser. I then used NINA autofocus and let it run through its routine to state I was 600 Steps off (which i think equates to about 19° on the coarse focus knob). Image looked good so i will resist the temptation to tinker any further.

 

Edited July 13, 2021 by gpowers
later information

[gpowers]

I found a use for the Red dot finder, to balance out the focus cube on the opposite side.

onwards ......

 

[gpowers]

Chad has released a great tutorial on setting up a Pegasus focus cube with NINA

( and a couple of other options ) .  a nice job.           

 

 

Edited June 25, 2021 by gpowers

[TareqPhoto]

I really hope and wish to use my Focus Cube v2 as well, i bought it for my 90mm triplet, blue touch matching, but i have a Mak and two Newt as well and maybe i will buy one or two more scopes soon, so i have to think about how many autofocusers i need and which one, and most important question is, how to install and then set them as i am ZERO in settings and calculations. 

[PaulB]

Hi Guys

 

I also have one of these and have it attached to my AA 115EDT. I'm using APT software but I am really struggling to get it working right.

 

I believe the way to go, when using a Pegasus FC V2 for the first time. Is too get your telescope/CCD focus, as close to focus using a Bahtinov mask and then run the autofocus routine in APT, without the mask.

 

I tried to get Autofocus working last night. And after many hours of head scratching. I was eventually able to manually focus on the Moon. With the Moon in focus. I then moved the G11 over to Hamel which was in good focus and tried to run  Autofocus but It didn't work. The star very slowly went out of focus.

 

 Can somebody on here please tell me what I am doing wrong using Autofocus In Astro Photography Tool? 

 

I have all the drivers installed and I used the Focus Controller software to manually focus. I have the Reverse set to ON under Motor Config. And motor speed at default (400) What are the correct config settings for APT? are there any useful tutorials for setting up?

 

Thank you.

[AstronomyUkraine]

59 minutes ago, PaulB said:

Hi Guys

 

I also have one of these and have it attached to my AA 115EDT. I'm using APT software but I am really struggling to get it working right.

 

I believe the way to go, when using a Pegasus FC V2 for the first time. Is too get your telescope/CCD focus, as close to focus using a Bahtinov mask and then run the autofocus routine in APT, without the mask.

 

I tried to get Autofocus working last night. And after many hours of head scratching. I was eventually able to manually focus on the Moon. With the Moon in focus. I then moved the G11 over to Hamel which was in good focus and tried to run  Autofocus but It didn't work. The star very slowly went out of focus.

 

 Can somebody on here please tell me what I am doing wrong using Autofocus In Astro Photography Tool? 

 

I have all the drivers installed and I used the Focus Controller software to manually focus. I have the Reverse set to ON under Motor Config. And motor speed at default (400) What are the correct config settings for APT? are there any useful tutorials for setting up?

 

Thank you.

Have you got any backlash set in the autofocuser settings in APT?

[PaulB]

No, not yet.

[AstronomyUkraine]

7 minutes ago, PaulB said:

No, not yet.

That could be your problem. The focuser will be moving, but will be taking up backlash before it starts to autofocus.

[PaulB]

Thank you Brian.

 

I will have a play later with the Backlash Aid.

[AstronomyUkraine]

3 hours ago, PaulB said:

Thank you Brian.

 

I will have a play later with the Backlash Aid.

The easiest way to determine backlash is by setting your fine step size to 10. Make sure the last focuser movement is inwards. Move the focuser out 10 steps at a time. Count how many times you have moved the focuser, until you see movement in the fine focus knob. That is your backlash. eg. You move your focuser 5 times, your backlash is 50.

[PaulB]

50 minutes ago, AstronomyUkraine said:

The easiest way to determine backlash is by setting your fine step size to 10. Make sure the last focuser movement is inwards. Move the focuser out 10 steps at a time. Count how many times you have moved the focuser, until you see movement in the fine focus knob. That is your backlash. eg. You move your focuser 5 times, your backlash is 50.

Good morning.

 

Thank you Brian. We will have ago. 

[AstronomyUkraine]

25 minutes ago, PaulB said:

Good morning.

 

Thank you Brian. We will have ago. 

Good afternoon here. 😀

It doesn't matter if you set the backlash higher than you think it is, just don't set it lower.