From: Mark Cowan 
To: Scott Berfield , atm{at}shore.net
Reply-To: Mark Cowan 


Say, I like the looks of the Clement focuser, and it's nice to know the weight...

But as to this:

-+- Scott Berfield  wrote:
> Also, in looking at other focusers I find myself
> wondering about maybe
> mounting them so that they are lower than the OD of
> the tube - perhaps
> on a flat section on the tube. This could get me
> enough closer to the
> secondary to get the smaller secondary with a more
> traditional focuser.

That's right on and quite traditional heresy.  

> Are there any downsides to doing this? With a
> 12.125" usable diameter on
> the primary and a tube with an ID of 14.25, I figure
> I could lower the
> focuser a good 3/4" without messing up the light
> path too badly. Any
> thoughts?

No.  What you /don't/ want to do is to get into the light path itself.  An
easy calculation, or just observation, will show you where the edge of that
is for the FOV you're using.  You can go as close to it as you like in
practice.

Cheers,
Mark Cowan
Salem, OR USA


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