The Filter Wheel: Atik EFW3 and the case of the missing Astrodons
As far as the filter wheel is concerned, the frontrunner was actually one by FLI (I read several reports of folks having trouble with Atik’s EFW2). After talking with Larry at OPT I learned that Atik released a new filter wheel, specifically for the the 16200, the EFW3. That made the choice easy. I was quite glad that he mentioned it, since it wasn’t yet on OPT’s website. It’s really good to have someone help you with this process!
Even EASIER - if you recall my goal of a fully-threaded imaging train, I was excited by the fact that this filter wheel, when used with the Atik 16200, can be bolted directly to the camera body for an even more rigid connection.
You may have noticed that I am talking cameras and filter wheels here, with nary a word on the filters. Oh, I didn’t forget them, they just took three and a half months to get here. I ordered Astrodons (5nm in Sii, Ha, and Oiii, along with gen2 Tru-Balance filters, all of the 2” variety). Astrodon got bought out by another company, Farpoint Astro, and hit some QC & production snags around the same time. They probably are still not in stock– the Farpoint site shows a six- to eight-week backlog. They are worth the wait. Granted, the set costs just about exactly as much as the camera did.
I did have to wait quite a bit on this since it was new, but it still came way before the mount.
I mounted the Atik-16200 directly to the EFW3 - a pretty easy procedure once you get the nosepiece off (you have to unscrew a teeny tiny hex set screw to do so). While I still didn’t have the filters, I was finally able to start messing with the actually full assembly.
Since the camera didn’t come with a case, and because I can’t haul a case with my rig fully assembled, I ordered a pelican storm case for the camera and filter wheel. I even had a custom foam cutout made for it at MyCaseBuilder - I suggest you pay the $8 for the “oopsie” insurance. DAMHIKT.
I got the IM2275 and used the technical drawing of the filter wheel as the basis (except, well, I had it upside-down). I even added a recess to use as a storage nook for the camera & telescope dust caps. The case
Unboxing the Filter Wheel
If you click on a picture in the gallery you can then just scroll through with the left & right arrow keys.
These pictures are actually of the ME/MEII/MX Pyramid Portable Pier- the right has a smaller plate.
