OK, I received the Micro Touch and was able to setup the system on the TV NP101 and the WO 80mm f/6 in a short time. It works just fine on either scope and I only need the one motor to use for both. They gave me a thumb screw for tightening the clamp that holds the motor to the focuser, so no tools are required to change it over. Also was sent an extra pinion gear for the WO 80mm.
The WO required me to make a shim for the pinion. Even though it came with a pinion shim that fit the shaft quite well, the shim did not fit the pinion well enough. So I used aluminum tape and wrapped the shaft with 2 wraps of .004" aluminum and this made the pinion fit snugly and the set screw held it tightly. The pinion did have to be installed upside down compared to the NP101 with the Feathertouch focuser, but that was a minor change. I also added two wraps of the aluminum tape around the focuser where the motor clamped. The motor would clamp without the tape, but I made it the same diameter as the Feathertouch so the motor clamped the same on both scopes.
This system is quite nice. It is compact and uses USB2 to hook to the laptop. Autofocus is done with FocusMax or you can use other software. There is a Micro Touch program too which allows you to tune the setup and establish presets for the rough focus on each scope. This makes it pretty easy to just put the motor on with the focuser racked in and then tell it to go to the set point for that scope. Then true focus can be done with FocusMax.
I have not used it in the field yet, but will hopefully do that this month.
The motor is small and nicely packaged and it uses RJ11 cable to go from the motor to the hand pad. They will supply you with a 6' cord and any other length that you might require. My second cord was 12'. The quality of the system is nice, clean and easy to use. Well made with a professional finish, that looks great.
I will post again when I get a chance to put it through its paces and see how it goes in real time.
The WO required me to make a shim for the pinion. Even though it came with a pinion shim that fit the shaft quite well, the shim did not fit the pinion well enough. So I used aluminum tape and wrapped the shaft with 2 wraps of .004" aluminum and this made the pinion fit snugly and the set screw held it tightly. The pinion did have to be installed upside down compared to the NP101 with the Feathertouch focuser, but that was a minor change. I also added two wraps of the aluminum tape around the focuser where the motor clamped. The motor would clamp without the tape, but I made it the same diameter as the Feathertouch so the motor clamped the same on both scopes.
This system is quite nice. It is compact and uses USB2 to hook to the laptop. Autofocus is done with FocusMax or you can use other software. There is a Micro Touch program too which allows you to tune the setup and establish presets for the rough focus on each scope. This makes it pretty easy to just put the motor on with the focuser racked in and then tell it to go to the set point for that scope. Then true focus can be done with FocusMax.
I have not used it in the field yet, but will hopefully do that this month.
The motor is small and nicely packaged and it uses RJ11 cable to go from the motor to the hand pad. They will supply you with a 6' cord and any other length that you might require. My second cord was 12'. The quality of the system is nice, clean and easy to use. Well made with a professional finish, that looks great.
I will post again when I get a chance to put it through its paces and see how it goes in real time.
[SIZE="Large"][/SIZE][COLOR="Blue"][/COLOR] Floyd Blue
Amateur Imager
