Meade 12" LX90 - Focuser Options

This is not going to be an answer you’ll like….

But, when I was disgusted with my Orion ED80T CF’s focuser, I decided to get a Rack & Pinion focuser. It came built into my new telescope.

So sometimes it is just better to upgrade and get solutions to more than a single thing.

Told you you wouldn’t like my answer…. 🙃

Maybe this Pick-A-Part can help?

andrea tasselli · Feb 9, 2026, 06:58 PM

Dan R:
Hi all,

I have a big 12” LX90 that I’m planning on de-forking and setting up for astrophotography on an equatorial mount.
The OTA only has the one manual focus knob and so I’m searching for a rack & pinion focuser that I can fit to the back so I can largely eliminate the use of the manual focus knob and therefore the mirror-shift problem. The back of the OTA has a 3.25” opening, which also has a removable adaptor that reduces this down to 2”.

Can anyone recommend a focuser for this situation?

I’ve been reading up on the Moonlite focusers however I’m based in the UK and delivery from the US can take an age, which I’m happy to wait for but obviously shipping overseas comes with a bit more risk than simply ordering from a UK retailer.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated!

*I had this and it's pretty good:

2" BDS-SC Baader Diamond Steeltrack® Focuser - English

Cheers Andrea, I’ve had my eye on one of those for this project and by amazing coincidence, this morning I had a back-in-stock email for it from First Light Optics - ordered and should be arriving in the next few days.