Baader Planetarium 2 Inch SCT Steeltrack Crayford Telescope Focuser

Comments about Baader Planetarium 2 Inch SCT Steeltrack Crayford Telescope Focuser:

I wanted to update my previous review on this Baader focuser. Baader did get back to me about the fit on Meade products. Meade has some variations in it's large 3 1/4" SCT threads. This may or may not fit the larger Meade telescopes. JMI is also aware of this problem and does make a unit with a slightly smaller thread available to fit these odd sized Meade threads better. I am disappointed I can not use the Baader, but the JMI is also a quality product and I am going to test one of their units. Many thanks to Baader and JMI for their insight and help!

Comments about Baader Planetarium 2 Inch SCT Steeltrack Crayford Telescope Focuser:

This is a very nice product. However, I purchased this for a 12" Meade ACF and chose this over others because I wanted to use the big SCT thread and not the 2" SCT thread to minimize vignetting. This does not fit the big threads. It is 3.3", the Meade threads are 3.25" and this focuser is too large; it will not screw on. The 2"SCT threads fit fine, but the Zhumell focuser does a fine job on that, for far less money. I contacted Baader about the problem and received no response. It's too bad. I am disappointed this did not work with my Meade. I am going back to the Zhumell.

Comments about Baader Planetarium 2 Inch SCT Steeltrack Crayford Telescope Focuser:

well made, smooth operating. it great

Comments about Baader Planetarium 2 Inch SCT Steeltrack Crayford Telescope Focuser:

After getting my new 12' Meade SCT, I was disappointed with how difficult it was to focus by moving the big slug of glass called the primary mirror. It usually took at least two or three passes in and out to get the mirror to settle in to the desired position. And it was especially difficult for beginners to get a good focus, not fully understanding exactly what is going on with the mirror. Since the discontinued Meade motorized focuser was no longer available, I decided to look for a feather touch focuser. The Baader Planetarium 2 inch SCT focuser looked very good in the ads but I was still very surprised at just how massive and well constructed it appeared after I actually received. it.

The focusing mechanism actually has significant flywheel inertia (like the old style mechanical FM tuners) if you spin it… not a problem in actual use; just a nice mass to smooth out the fine adjustments. I was a little concerned about the complexity of having the original mirror focuser and this new eyepiece focuser to deal with; but It's incredible easy to use. Just set the eyepiece focuser to the midpoint of it's adjustment range at the beginning of the evening. Then do a rough focus using the original mirror focus knob and dial in the final focus with the two speed adjustment knobs for the rest of the night. Actually, I don't recall needing to use anything but the inner fine focus wheel. I never had to touch the mirror rough focus knob again during an evening's viewing. I'm glad I couldn't get the motorized focuser; it's so much easier to just point others to the focus knob and tell them to adjust it to meet the requirements of their vision.

The only disadvantage I can see is that the installation precludes the use of threaded rear cell accessories such as focal reducers and rear cell filters.

I'd highly recommend this unit to anyone with a larger SCT and wouldn't hesitate to buy another in the future if needed.