Short tube 80 focuser upgrade

[10538]

I was recently thinking about purchasing another ST80 short tube refractor and I remembered they come with an 11/2 inch focuser. This is a great little scope for wide field viewing but the drawback is the focuser. A while back on the old AF forum site a friend recommended that I upgrade to a 2 inch GSO Crayford focuser, dual speed with 86.4mm adapter. I thought I would pass this along for those that have this little scope. I ordered mine from Agena Astro and could not be happier. It’s a perfect match to my ST80 using the same screws from the original focuser. There are two models. The more expensive one has linear bearings and is intended for use with heavier AP equipment and has tube travel of 50mm. so you might need an extension. The less expensive version (like mine) has 79mm of travel. What a difference this upgrade makes to this scope. Buttery smooth and well made. I have no affiliation with Agena but I have bought a few things from them over the years. I like to use a Baader Mark IV zoom eyepiece and I have a lot of fun with it.

[StarHugger]

Cool, we did similar with an Omegon st80 some years back and the 86.4 worked nice with that tube too.

Agena can sure help in alot of ways.

Wound up giving that scope and a nice llittle az mount to a scopeless friend who said they liked it.

Miss it a bit...

[10538]

I can understand why you miss it. I don’t use mine as much because I’m usually using the big scope but when I do it’s an awesome scope. It makes me feel a little guilty because it’s not the only Astro equipment that does not see much use.

[Bigzmey]

When I upgraded my ST80 with GSO crayford it cost as much as the scope, but it was well worth it. The stock focuser is quite flimsy.

[Lady Fraktor]

Enjoy the new upgrade Ed.
I have recently replaced my Moonlite and a Antares/ GSO focusers with the Baader Diamond Steeltrack.

[Makuser]

Hi all. When I got my Celestron XLT150R achro refractor the stock rack and pinion focuser was one of the smoothest I have ever used (out of the box). But we all know that this will not last for long. The lubricant gets gummy and the focuser starts getting sticky. You can take it apart, clean it, use white lithium grease, and reassemble it. Or you can try a trick that I read decades ago in Sky&Telescope magazine where you clean it and push teflon pipe thread tape over the teeth with a tweezers. Or you can just change out the focuser with a GSO 10:1 dual speed Crayford focuser in one session and be done with it. I love my 6" f/5 refractor and it has been well worth the upgrades that I have made over the years. I would have taken it outside in the sunlight but there isn't any as we are going to have a rain/thunderstorm soon. So I took the picture in the garage. I keep my two smaller scopes in the house and the four larger ones in the garage under cover.

Since it is a wide field high contrast scope I like to use 2" eyepieces when observing. However, I can always put the adapter back into the dielectric diagonal and use 1.25" eyepieces too. Also, don't forget to get the $15 adapter to remount your finder scope on the new GSO focuser. This came from the great helpful folks at Agena Astro.

[10538]

That’s a beautiful scope Marshall. The focuser looks awesome on it!

[10538]

Thanks Gabby! I’ll have to look into the Diamond Steeltrack focuser. I don’t know much about them.

[pakarinen]

I put a Lunt (which I think is the same as a GSO) 2-speed Crayford on my Meade ST80. Made a world of difference IMO. The funny part is the focuser cost more at the time than the scope (and the focuser was on sale).

[Lady Fraktor]

I put a Lunt (which I think is the same as a GSO) 2-speed Crayford on my Meade ST80. Made a world of difference IMO. The funny part is the focuser cost more at the time than the scope (and the focuser was on sale).

Amazing how much a good focuser can cost.
When I purchased my AOM I had a choice of either a chinese copy Feathertouch (quite good really) or a actual Feathertouch...
The Feathertouch was 40% of the OTA cost! It should last longer than I do though

When I bought my Moonlite for the C6-R you could buy the refractor OTA for 300USD, the Moonlite with taxes cost me 420USD!