Reg Pratt:
10" ONTC here. I went with the 2" Feather Touch focuser paired with a Sesto Senso 2 motor. To date I have not had to use any backlash compensation for autofocus. Also am not experiencing any tilt or flexure issues with the compression ring and TSGPU coma corrector. Coming from Moonlite focusers I was concerned about not being threaded to the drawtube but it hasn't been an issue at all. The primary mirror clips were a bit loose but took very little effort to tighten. Its been a workhorse for the 4 months I've had it. Holds collimation no problem when I leave it mounted.
I previously had 2 steel tube GSO F4 Newts and while they worked for the most part there was a lot of mechanical issues ( to be expected form cheap scopes). There's none of that nonsense going on with the ONTC. Thing is built like a tank and even at 10" its very light. I'm of the opinion that the carbon tune does make a difference. Not only does it make the scope a good deal lighter but it also cools very fast. I usually have my scope uncovered within an hour or 2 of night and there are many nights where autofocus may only run once or twice. I've had nights where it didn't run again after the initial run (NINA triggers AF after a 10% HFD increase).
When I was looking to get into newts I didn't feel there was a whole lot to choose from for a higher quality scope. I considered OOUK but read some less inspiring things about them. In this price range I don't think you will find a better scope than the ONTC. The last handful of images on my profile were made with it if you're interested.
Side note: Mine has GSO mirrors as is the default for UNC and ONTC scopes. TS does sometimes take OOUK parts and put them into their own carbon tube though. I know someone who had a 12" with OOUK optics and as far as the mirrors themselves were concerned the quality was good. In either event I agree that the you're not going to gain much from the optics over your SW. What you will gain is vastly superior components and having dealt with cheaper newts I can tell you that it makes a very big difference. I don't have to fiddle with things. I don't have to trouble shoot. I unpacked the scope, put it together, collimated, and use it. That's it.
Thank you, sounds like you are happy with the tube! This is exactly why I am upgrading. I want something that won't fight me at every turn and that I can just set up and leave be. Again I am unsure what focuser I should choose, not completely clear how compatible the one they recommended me are with the ZWO EAF I already have. Will have to look into this more.
I personally would go Moonlite or Feather touch. I've had 4 Moonlite over the years and they're excellent focusers but I find the FT to be higher quality. At the end of the day you can't go wrong with either. I've also heard good thing about the Steel track but since that isn't one of the options you'd have to find one yourself (I've not seen the newt version in stock anywhere for over a year). If you did go that thought I'm sore you could give TS the base hole dimensions though for them to drill. If I had to do it all over again I'd still choose the Feather Touch. I just wish my Falcon rotations were compatible. But since you already have a ZWO the Moonlite is the way to go as it for sure is compatible with your motor.
