The Muscle Plate for CFW-8

Installation Instructions

Steve Mandel & John Smith

This product is a replacement for the cover plate that comes as part of the SBIG CFW-8 color filter wheel. It offers the following features:

• Solid mounting for any T-thread adapter via a nylon-tipped locking setscrew.
• Very secure and rigid mount for the camera to the AO-7, the AO7 is flush-mounted to the Muscle Plate
• No modification of the basic CFW-8 or AO-7 is required.

Because the Muscle plate is made of material twice as thick as the original product, potential flexure of the original cover plate, which can lead to image movement, erratic filter wheel operation, and potential loosening of the T-thread adapter is minimized.

Supplied hardware

1 ea. Muscle Plate

6 ea. 4-40 x ½” flat head screws

4 ea. 4-40 x ½” pan head (Phillips) screws

4 ea. #4 split ring lockwashers

1 ea. 6-32 x ¼” nylon tipped setscrew

Installation of the Muscle Plate (MP) is very straightforward. Please follow the steps below. (Note: these pictures were taken of the prototype MP. The actual product will be black anodized.)

1. Place your camera and filter wheel is a stable, well-lighted area. You will need a #1 Phillips head screwdriver and a 1/16” Allen wrench for the T-thread setscrew lock, if used. Remove the six 4-40 pan head screws that secure the CFW8 cover to the body.
2. Remove the two screws that secure the motor cover to the cover plate. Place both the cover plate and the screws aside.
3. Install the MP using the supplied 4-40 x ½” flat head screws (do not use the supplied pan head screws; they are for AO7 installation only.). Install the motor cover plate using the hardware retained above.
4. (If you are installing an AO-7, skip to step 6.) To install the T-thread adapter, first place two screws used to hold the original cover in the lower two holes below the T-thread hole, identified as ‘A’. These are used to block the tapped holes, preventing dust from entering the CFW-8. Thread in your T-thread adapter, bottoming it on to the cover plate.
5. Tighten the setscrew at the top edge of the cover plate at B to provide additional security for the T-thread adapter. The setscrew is nylon-tipped to prevent thread damage. This setscrew is not required for an AO-7 installation. This completes the T-thread adapter installation. The next steps apply to an AO-7 installation only.
6. First separate the AO-7 diagonal housing from the mirror box. Then attach the diagonal housing to the MP using four 4-40 x ½” pan head screws and #4 lock washers. The diagonal housing should sit flush on the MP.
7. Attach the AO-7 mirror box to the diagonal housing using the hardware supplied.

This completes the installation. You now have a securely mounted and integrated camera, color filter wheel and AO-7.