Don’t drill into your Esprit APO focuser to add a ZWO EAF!

Seriously. Don’t.

There’s a tutorial that a ton of folks see that instructs you to drill into your SkyWatcher Esprit APO focuser in order to add the ZWO Electronic Automatic Focuser to your setup. This is totally a no-go for me. There’s no way I am drilling into that sucker.

Anyway, there is an easy solution. The Takahashi bracket from ZWO works perfectly fine for the Esprit line of APOs. The new wider configuration does not need any modification (previous versions were a bit narrow) and will bolt directly onto the Esprit focuser. Some folks use the included screws, but if they seem a bit too long or too short, a set of $1.17 M4-35mm socket cap screws from Home Depot or your local DIY shop (for those of you outside of the US) will do the trick.

The standard directions for the EAF will work using that bracket, including the included flex couplers with the EAF itself. The 12v and 5v EAFs work exactly the same mechanically.

Check the video below for more info!