Installing a Feathertouch focuser on my 18'' Obsession

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I ordered a Starlight Instruments Feathertouch focuser to upgrade my Obsession Telescope.  The new focuser arrived during our holidays, so I had to wait a bit before I could install and test the focuser. I installed the new focuser on August 3, 2020.  The installation was very straight-forward: 
  1. I removed the old JMI NGF-DX3 focuser.  The old focuser is still in very good state and up for sale.  If you are interested in buying the focuser, just drop me a note.  
  2. The Feathertouch baseplate was screwed onto the upper cage.  The location of the screws is exactly the same as the location of the screws for the old focuser.  So this was an easy step.
  3. The hole in the upper cage was a little bit too small to be used with the Feathertouch focuser, so I had to make the hole a bit longer.
  4. The final step was to screw the new focuser on the baseplate. 
I could only do the first tests on September 11, 2020.  During the new moon of August, we were in Austria and the weather was not good enough to do some observing.  The weather was not so good, so I could only observe Jupiter and Saturn.  I guess the seeing was very good, because the views were really amazing!  The focusers really feels a lot sturdier and the fine-focusing knob makes it really easy to find the exact focusing position.  

The newly installed Feathertouch Focuser

The old JMI NGF-DX3 focuser.

The disassembled JMI NGF-DX3 focuser.

The Obsession telescope without a focuser.

Installed the baseplate of the Feathertouch focuser.

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