Fitting a ZWO EAF Focus Motor to a Celestron EdgeHD 11 or 14 Telescope
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- Опубликовано: 29 окт 2021
- Whether you are a visual observer or an astrophotographer, you will at some point want to control your focus electronically and/or remotely. This brings many advantages including avoiding disturbing your pointing, preserving your polar alignment and enabling autofocus. In the case of long focal length telescopes, such as the Celestron EdgeHD 11" and 14" Schmitt Cassegrain Telescopes (SCT) the need for remote focus control is particularly strong since the use of manual focus can disturb your pointing so much that you can completely lose sight of the target!
In this video, I show you, step by step, how to fit the excellent ZWO EAF electronic focus motor to a Celestron EdgeHD 11. The process for an EdgeHD 14 is identical. Note that the software settings and determination of backlash correction are covered by another video...just click the link on the left and the end of this video.
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Here are links for the ZWO EAF and the adapter bracket needed to fit it to an EdgeHD 11 or 14:
ZWO EAF
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astronomy-imaging-camera.com/...
www.firstlightoptics.com/zwo-...
ADAPTER BRACKET
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www.365astronomy.com/photogra...
You can also visit my website at martinsastrophotography.com where there is a gallery of my images, information about my equipment and useful tools, tips and tables.
Clear Skies! 
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You can use filler gauges to measure the gap on all 4 corners up down left right and once they are all the same you have achieved perfect alignment.
Thanks a lot, this helped me to install EAF on my EdgeHD 8! The C8 bracket now comes with three screws to fix it to the telescope body which are a bit longer than original compensating for the bracket thickness. It is important to keep orange plate in its place as the bracket does not replace it as I initially thought.
Glad it helped. Clear skies!
Very handy tips. Thanks Martin.
Well done, very helpful. Thanks for the tutorial.
Excellent tutorial Martin 👍
Thanks Scott.
Super clear, Martin… thanks !
Thanks for commenting Ken! Clear Skies.
Thank you - super useful! Jan
Thanks Jan!
Incredible. We share the same name. And apparently the same video ideas 😅 Although mine focuses (pun intended) more on the problems when you do it wrong.
Small world…I’m sure we can co-exist!!! Clear Skies.😊
Thanks for the video. How big of a V curve do you get with using the ASIAIR? Mine seems to be working and in focus on my C11 but it's a lot more shallower of Curve compared to my refractor.
I don’t use ASIAIR... I use NINA. If the curve is too shallow I increase the step size used. Perhaps you can do the same on ASIAIR?
Hi, Martin - Question for you in case you have dealt with this issue.... I have the Celestron Edge HD 9.25 and installed the EAF on it. I use a ZWO filter wheel and ZWO OAG-L that are both screwed onto the ZWO camera in a fixed position, possibly same setup you have. So, rotating the camera means rotating the OAG and EFW. However, If I want to shoot without the Celestron 0.7x reducer, I can only rotate the camera a few degrees because: a) on one side the guide cam (in the OAG) prevents rotation because it will bump up against the EAF; and b) on the other side the USB cable sticking out of the EFW will bump up against the EAF. So, the EAF is kind of pinned between the two preventing any real camera rotation. I see that the Celestron OAG will rotate but rotating that OAG without rotating the camera along with it would mean that the OAG prism would be moved out of its ideal position relative to the camera sensor. Have you run into this and is there a workaround? Thanks very much. Ken
Hi Ken. Yes, I am familiar with this problem. It is one of the reasons I ditched OAG a long time ago and went back to a separate guidescope. Another solution is to lock your primary mirror, remove the EAF altogether and use a microfocuser for focusing. This has the benefit of eliminating image shift when changing focus adjustment direction due to mirror flop. I hope this helps.
@@martinsastrophotography Thanks very much for your input. I will look into this option. Much appreciated.
Can the ZWO EAF be used on a Celestron EdgeHD 925 with a Celestron 0.7X focal reducer or is there not enough Clearence between the reducer, focuser and bracket?
Sorry for the slow reply...Yes it can, but note that if you are using the 0.7x reducer you will need to grind a little off the base of the EAF mounting bracket to prevent it from fouling on the reducer.
Curious why point bracket out and away. Can it not orient inwards? Or is that a bad thing?
Or is it because you had to lower to the third slot ?
If you point the bracket inward it will foul on the optical train coming out the back of the telescope tube. I have the reducer fitted and it would definitely foul on that.
@@martinsastrophotography ok thank you!
Is good for imaging planets?
Yes. Check out my new video on EdgeHD 11 upgrades and configurations which includes a planetary imaging setup.
I'm willing to purchase one for my EdgeHD 11.. are you enjoying it?
Hi Luiz. So far, yes it works very well. Of course when the focus direction is changed you get mirror flop and image shift, but that is the telescope, not the focus motor.
@@martinsastrophotographyMartin do you have a workaround the minimise the mirror flop issue?
@@teslar1 You can either complete focus always in the same direction, or lock the primary mirror in place using the locking knobs, ditch the EAF, and use a micro focuser such as the Primalucelab ESATTO.
Martin this does NOT work correctly for the latest 1400 EDGE HD because the orange plate has 5-6 mm deep flange around the rim. It really fouls this process up.
Thanks for the comment Bob. I read online that it was also suitable for the 1400 but I have only applied it to the 1100 myself.