From: Mark Gaffney <markgaffney@me.com>

Date: February 14, 2010 5:48:55 AM MST

To: Astro_IIDC@yahoogroups.com

Subject: Re: [Astro_IIDC] Re: guiding..M 42 etc.

Hi Peter, 

I thought from my previous enquiries into Moonlite SCT focusers (I can`t remember the serial number they give these) that Shoestring focus will work with these if you have an FCUSB focusing box...I may go back in that direction myself (Moonlite)..!

Mark.

On 14/02/2010, at 7:45 PM, Peter Tattersall wrote:

On 2010-02-13, at 9:57 PM, Mark Gaffney wrote:

>
>
> By golly, these Feathertouch focusers etc, don`t come cheap! Control through ASCOM & a PC too..with no indication of any Mac compatibility..!
>

Don't give up for that reason. The Feathertouch units use a MicroFocus controller from Starizona. and you may be able to get more specific programming information directly from Starizona, and use that to put a little program together, as long as you don't want full automation. I did that with a MoonLight Focuser with a James Lacey LazyFocus controller (I think that's been replaced by EasyFocus, but it's the same principle). Lacey's manual gave the serial commands, so it was pretty straightforward to build an AppleScript application to control it from the desktop.

Peter Tattersall
ptatters@zerobyzero.ca
http://www.zerobyzero.ca/Skewed/
Games lubricate the body and the mind.
-- Benjamin Franklin