Orion 7395 AccuFocus Electronic Telescope Focuser

The first thing I want to mention is that I'm using it for a telescope that it wasn't intended to be used with (Celestron SE8). This reduces my score by one point since it's only a mounting issue rather than one that affects operation. Despite minor bending and drilling, the entire modification was relatively easy to perform. I only needed a bracket and adapter as opposed to the two I needed and it would have only added a few dollars to the price. Including a lot of thinking, it took me about an hour. I have a non-profit that I can't afford to Despite the standard use, you would think the engineers at Orion would know they should provide a big enough battery compartment to accommodate a standard 9 volt battery if they want to mount one. The battery could not be inserted in this one because it was made with a piece of plastic that was put there intentionally. The problem was solved in ten minutes with a Dremel and a grinding bit.

Tyler Ayala

| Jan 17, 2021

In total, it took me about half an hour to modify this piece of equipment to fit my new Nexstar. There was a small nut on the thumb screws it came with that needed a drill to fit. In the end, I used a set screw to hold the focuser in place. Instead of using a drill, I drilled a very small hole under the rubber grip at the very tip of the focuser to drive a rubber band drive. Inservo motor tips must be installed in the focuser and then the set screw must be tightened to hold the motor in place. I really like how it works and its appearance is great. Honestly I was hoping the fast setting would be a bit faster, but it's just fine. JML is just fine imo. No need to spend 300 dollars. The cost would be better, but in my budget is not possible.

Philip Walsh

| Dec 31, 2020

There's no more jitter when I zoom in. My camera is set up and connected to my laptop, so focusing it manually can be a real pain. My motor drive is set to the slowest speed so it does exactly what I needed it to. After I made the necessary modifications, it actually worked great. I knew before I bought it that it would not fit my telescope without some modifications. It's a great deal for the price when compared to some of the other drives out there.

Promise Booth

| Oct 22, 2020

I've given the hand controller two stars. My Celestron Nexstar 130 SLT has a manual focuser that is much harder to manipulate at high magnifications, so I am excited to give this a try. While it could have been much better for the price you pay, this could have been even better for the price. Despite its affordability, this is still one of the most popular motorized focusing systems. I found that most of the others were in the $200 to $300 range. It made me think Orion must make a killer profit on these things due to the cheap way this thing was assembled. It was all carefully bubble wrapped) was easily removed from the battery case. It felt like it was pulling off when I reattached it. There would be no continuation of this. As far as I could tell, one side of the cover kept hitting part of the controller that it was supposed to rest upon. There would not be an agreement to slide onto it, but instead to When I put a battery in, that pushed up the cover just enough to get it past However, once you snap the cover back into place, you find that it's really tight. There was a sense that the compartment would burst open at any moment because of the strain. The impact has yet to be felt (So far. hooked up the motor and tested the buttons to ensure that it functioned before going through the entire process All appeared to be well with the motor, and the battery appeared to be full. Designed with durability in mind. Getting the program up and running was a breeze. To my telescope or the motor assembly, I didn't have to make any special modifications. There were so many people there that it was self-centered My only concern was that the instructions are too explanatory to warrant a second glance. The focuser knobs proved to be quite difficult to remove according to some people. Lucky for me, I got a good job. After it was installed, I took it out to test it. There was no problem removing it by hand. There are four reasons for me to give it four instead of five stars *"Fast" is a bit too slow for me. I wouldn't call it unbearably slow, but it still could have been a bit There is also a potential upside to adding just one more volt to the motor. There was a point where you could not move the focuser. My initial thought was that the battery had already run out. As I reviewed the problem, I realized I had tense up a screw on the focuser shaft, preventing the motor from passing through. This screw was loosen and the motor seemed to work ok after that. Although it had difficulties getting out, it had no problem getting in. It did have difficulty moving out when my camera was mounted and it had to lift a heavier weight. The pain is still bearable, though One other issue I experienced with this motor - which didn't affect my rating for the motor itself, since it has more to do with my telescope focuser - was that the motor caught on the lens of the telescope. You can feel if your focuser shaft has any play when you change directions because the torque of the motor will remove it. However, objects did move from one side to the other and stayed in view. Even when I racked my eyes in the same direction, there was hardly any movement. There was a lot of room for improvement with the hand controller. It is hard to turn the speed control knob because it Rather than add a larger knob to it so it can be easier to use, they left it off. An arrow on the knob's actual side indicates the current setting for "Fast" and "Slow. " There are labels on each side for "Fast" and "Slow," with a line running down the middle between the two. In my case, however, the knob has been installed upside-down so the arrow points into the air rather than downward at the line, so when the motor is set to Fast, the arrow points into the air The problem wasn't that big since I was working in the dark most of the time and used the knob by feeling most of the time. But it was always a nuisance.

We have great concerns about the directional buttons on the interface. need to press these buttons very far for them to engage, and when they do, they make a loud and deliberate clicking sound. It's not an issue when you're moving at a quick clip, but when you're moving slowly and fine-tuning your focus in small steps, it's a real problem. I was even more disappointed with the size of the holes through which the buttons protruded. So the buttons rubbed against the sides because the holes were so small. The buttons kept getting stuck in the engaged position when it was cold. To get them to snap back out I had to wiggle them. If you're trying to focus in very small incremental steps, this is not an ideal situation. My first step was to completely disassemble the RC unit and enlarge the holes with a hobby knife once I brought it back inside. I reassembled the computer, and the buttons are no longer rubbing against one another. Now it looks like everything is working fine. Yet that didn't seem like a modification I should have been required Overall, I would recommend this to anyone comfortable with the prospect of perhaps making some modifications to the controller (it was easy to take it apart and put it This is probably the best motorized focuser you can get out there at the present time. Realize that you are not getting a fancy, low-end product The equipment has a tolerance. I'd like to point out a couple of things An adhesive strip is included as part of the package to help you attach your telescope to it. Rather than sticking it to the mount, I placed it on my mount so there would be less wobble when I removed it. As I was yanking on the telescope, I didn't want to mess up the alignment. My motor assembly is right under the telescope, right under the motor assembly. Make sure you mount the controller high enough such that the bottom of the controller will not hit the telescope legs while it is Having not taken this into consideration as I stuck the Velcro on, I failed to realize what was going on. I'm lucky that the strip is long enough for me to just attach it to the top of the strip and not This is just something to think about.

Abigail Foley

| Mar 29, 2021

This is amazing! This thing's motor is constructed solidly and I was impressed by it. A motor with this much torque and smoothness is very rare. It was a perfect fit on my Celestron 130 SLT and I bought it. Both sets of instructions can be found below There are two types of scopes 1. for Orion, Focusers with rack and pinions like those found on the 130 SLT are best. During installation, there was no problem with the knob but be aware that it has to be removed with force, because it is glued onto the focuser. The knob had to be broken in order for me to remove it. To assemble the motor, first hook up the motor coupler to the focus shaft, then mount the motor on the coupler and tap the bracket to hold them together. The easiest thing in the world. Having the ability to adjust the focus speed is a nice feature, as the motor is very smooth. The initial speed should be fast enough to get the focus close, then dialed back down to fine tune it. Using the accufocus system on my Celestron 8 SE, I now avoid putting any pressure on the focus knob and don't have to worry about the dreaded wobbles associated with a mount that's been touched.

Millie Wells

| Nov 06, 2020

This is the second one that I bought to use with It was easy to adjust them during installation and they were reliable. You can use the slow motion controls to focus on just the right point. Moving in a different direction causes the image to shift just a little, but that has to do with the focuser, A couple of weeks ago, I needed to buy a new scope so I got a second one. I've used one with no issues for over five years. Overall, this is a great product for use on refractors that allow the focus knob to be removed It's my first time trying any other brand, but the Orion items I purchased in the past have been of good quality, and these were.

Ahmed Sosa

| Jan 01, 2021