Having upgraded my software routine to using Sequence Generator Pro, I now have the last piece of the puzzle - the motorised focuser. I specifically bought the Lakeside Motorised Focuser as this was the one listed and recommended by Ian King Imaging. Thanks to Ian once again for the excellent service, as always. I bought the motorised focuser with two motors and brackets, to adapt my Borg 77EDII and Altair Astro 8" RC telescopes' FeatherTouch focusers. Switching between telescopes will now be very quick and easy as I have the cables and the hand controller for the motorised focuser in my accessories case, with each telescope prepared for use. Here is the Lakeside Motorised Focuser installed on my Borg 77EDII:
Given all the screws and washers that came with the motorised focuser, I looked up what went where, on YouTube. Unfortunately the only video I found was not very good at all - going from a long explanation, to pointing a finger at a screw to remove, to a video transition that had the end result (i.e. no intermediate steps of any kind). In any case, with a bit of persistence, I worked out how everything fit together and managed. Setting up the second one will be a breeze.
Oddly, the drivers for the Lakeside Motorised Focuser are out-of-date if downloaded from the official website. The latest ones are actually available on the CD provided with the motorised focuser. That seems very odd to me, but I just installed the drivers provided and copied over the setup files as a backup. You have to install two things - the ASCOM driver for the motorised focuser (for software to communicate with it) and the FTDI chipset driver (for Windows to recognise the USB connection to the hand controller). The hand controller is used as the interface between the motorised focuser and your computer in Auto mode (or yourself in Manual mode). Via the ASCOM configuration screen for the device, you can quickly calibrate it to tell the hand controller how far in and how far out your focuser actually goes (focuser travel). This is thankfully programmed into the hand controller so that connecting it to another computer keeps these values saved and prevents the focuser attempting to travel beyond its range, or limiting itself within its range.
I have tested it thoroughly with the telescope sitting on my desk, working perfectly with the hand controller in Manual mode and ASCOM in Auto mode (through both, Lakeside's own utility and Sequence Generator Pro). It appears to work perfectly well and can work through the focuser's travel in little time, and with very finely-tuned precision. Worthy of note however is that once the focuser is adapted to be connected to the motor, you cannot viably turn the focus knobs yourself by hand (doing so would be forcing the motor to turn and feels tough on attempting to do so). In any case, the hand controller can be used in Manual mode if one wishes to make manual adjustments.
Despite the motor's size, it is fairly heavy. Adding the bracket in provides that little bit of extra weight. In summary, with the motorised focuser attached, I lost my previous balance point when setting up my entire optical train on my mount. Unfortunately adding my smallest 0.55 kg counterweight to my Avalon M-Uno was too much weight, so I had to resort to adjusting the fork arm position from 3A to 3B, which did the trick. Now I do not even need counterweights or the counterweight bar for it to be perfectly balanced in Right Ascension. As for the Altair Astro 8" RC, I await a custom-made 2 kg counterweight for the Avalon M-Uno from Ian King Imaging in order to get it to balance in Right Ascension.
Now all I need is that damn weather to clear up and I will be out testing my new filters, motorised focuser and software routine. Lots to look forward to!
Oddly, the drivers for the Lakeside Motorised Focuser are out-of-date if downloaded from the official website. The latest ones are actually available on the CD provided with the motorised focuser. That seems very odd to me, but I just installed the drivers provided and copied over the setup files as a backup. You have to install two things - the ASCOM driver for the motorised focuser (for software to communicate with it) and the FTDI chipset driver (for Windows to recognise the USB connection to the hand controller). The hand controller is used as the interface between the motorised focuser and your computer in Auto mode (or yourself in Manual mode). Via the ASCOM configuration screen for the device, you can quickly calibrate it to tell the hand controller how far in and how far out your focuser actually goes (focuser travel). This is thankfully programmed into the hand controller so that connecting it to another computer keeps these values saved and prevents the focuser attempting to travel beyond its range, or limiting itself within its range.
I have tested it thoroughly with the telescope sitting on my desk, working perfectly with the hand controller in Manual mode and ASCOM in Auto mode (through both, Lakeside's own utility and Sequence Generator Pro). It appears to work perfectly well and can work through the focuser's travel in little time, and with very finely-tuned precision. Worthy of note however is that once the focuser is adapted to be connected to the motor, you cannot viably turn the focus knobs yourself by hand (doing so would be forcing the motor to turn and feels tough on attempting to do so). In any case, the hand controller can be used in Manual mode if one wishes to make manual adjustments.
Despite the motor's size, it is fairly heavy. Adding the bracket in provides that little bit of extra weight. In summary, with the motorised focuser attached, I lost my previous balance point when setting up my entire optical train on my mount. Unfortunately adding my smallest 0.55 kg counterweight to my Avalon M-Uno was too much weight, so I had to resort to adjusting the fork arm position from 3A to 3B, which did the trick. Now I do not even need counterweights or the counterweight bar for it to be perfectly balanced in Right Ascension. As for the Altair Astro 8" RC, I await a custom-made 2 kg counterweight for the Avalon M-Uno from Ian King Imaging in order to get it to balance in Right Ascension.
Now all I need is that damn weather to clear up and I will be out testing my new filters, motorised focuser and software routine. Lots to look forward to!