Skyline

1 hour ago, johninderby said:

First impressions of build quality are excellent. Fit and finish are excellent and it has a quality feel to it. A big step up for SW and now seems more like the offerings of Long Perng. Focuser feels very solid and smooth. Like the extra long dew shield which is one advantage over most other fracs out there. The design seems well thought out with some nice touches.

Is this the best built SW frac yet? 🤔

Enjoy, now you understand what I meant about the quality of my 62ED. I am sure will not be disappointed with the viewing which it will give you.

That PLA is a nice red, may I ask what make is it please?

Here are some images of the scope.

Admittingly I was apprehensive initially in buying this scope as the scope was close to my 72ED. But I wanted something smaller to manage and of course cosmetically better, as I want to go down the route of having more of a portable mount in the future.  I was keen in buying the 62 when they were announced, but lost interest as time went on thinking when if Skywatcher would release the scopes. 

One thing you will notice straightaway is the build quality of the Evolux models, they remind me of the quality of a particular brand with their powder coatings, the Evolux's are gloss finished. The OTA is very beefy in design and would be better if handled with two hands instead of one. The green anodised 2" threaded collar is no cheap fitting either.

The build quality is way superior then the Evostar range, included are two mounting shoes, which makes a nice difference. One I can mount my Mele PC running Ekos/Kstars and Two I can use my 30mm Guidescope with using shorter neat cables.

The focuser is a heavy bearing Dual Speed 2.4" Rack and Pinion with two locking thumbscrews one on top and underneath the focuser and there is zero shift, indexed on both sides of the drawtube.

The dew shield has two locking thumbscrews and easily slides back and forth. The lens has a serial number of the cell fitted on the scope (not 001,  😉) 

The clampshell is of high quality.  With two large thumbscrews fitted.

There is one modification which I would need to do is either 3D print off a riser so I can move the dovetail further down the tube for better balance of the scope as the underneath focuser lock intrudes into this path, or buy a Counterweight Kit.

Alongside the 62ED I also bought the matching reducer. According to FLO's website blurb, the corrector/reducer also has one ED element fitted 'An optional 0.9x two-element focal reducer/field flattener, which includes one ED lens element and adaptor/field rotator is available separately, which when combined makes the Evolux-62ED into a four-lens optical system comprising two ED elements!'.

I have not tried the field rotator as yet, as I am used to using a push fit adaptor with reducers. After having some little mishaps with power I finally got going and produced this image of NGC6811 in Cygnus, only 90 minutes of data, no calibration files, 600D Modified, it would have been nice for Ha imaging, but the targets are not high enough in the sky at the moment due to my obstructions for me to image them. The colour of the stars look very fine to me.

Constructive comments welcomed.

That's always the case with smaller apertures, the mating element(s) is easier to figure then larger apertures.

I can remember the conversations people were having when the 72ED first came out. But look how now the scope has become quite popular. 

9 hours ago, Ags said:

Back to the scopes, I have only seen superficial reviews so far, but the Evolux 82 is a scope I would like to own if the optics are in order. The optics are apparently designed by the same outfit that did the Esprit lenses.

As a side note, the square tube rings on the StellaMira are another fashion choice I will decline!

Yes by OL, it says on the side of my 62ED 'Exclusively Designed by OL' (Lichtenknecker Optics) Belgium.

1 hour ago, Adam J said:

I would go with the Stellamira in this shootout you have no idea what glass is in the EVOLUX and I have seen blue bloat from it in images.

Adam

I have a Evo62ED, i have seen no blue bloat in my raw images so far.

Yes you are correct.

Beautiful rendering, lots of depth. 

One pic, you can guess the rest.  But I will reveal this to you, the telescope is very chunky. 😁

More then my expectations. 

Thank you FLO, my new imaging telescope arrived today, but FedEx failed to deliver my reducer which was meant to come with the scope as next day delivery. 

I wonder if that explains zero amp glow removing the in built usb 2 hub.

Keep both, their quality scopes and still are quite competitive with premium range scopes.

Sofa is hard to beat...

The black looks a bit clipped.

Well, time will see, if I had not the 72ED, it might have been worth a punt ! As the 72ED with a reducer giving a focal length of 357mm at f4.9 is too close to call and your getting another 10mm in aperture.

Maybe the same glass used in the 72ED, whatever it is. The 72ED remarkably handles the blue well even at f4.9 with the dedicated reducer.

These are offered in many flavours. Quite a popular focal length.

Wonderful service from Zoltan from 365 Astronomy. I have bought many things from Zoltan, small transactions and big orders. Delivery always on time and time to have a chat is always helpful as always.

22 hours ago, lukebl said:

Well, here's the replacement.

It's just a 4' x 4' shed bought for £400. I know it's not the TARDIS and just looks like an outdoor khazi, but it's pretty sturdy and, best of all, is waterproof!

Thank you - you have give me an idea.

That's really good to know.

20 hours ago, iantaylor2uk said:

I use a 1x Hotech flattener (which in fact can be used for any scope between f/5 and f/8) on my William Optics 81 GT IV and have been happy with it - although it isn't a reducer (so focal length is the native 478 mm).

I read from other people's comment - the hotech is very good!

I have been using the WO Flat73R Variant and it is a very fiddly. The back focus I need is 56.8mm according to the WO brochure. So 2.4mm additional

If you get tight corners, Please post up pictures of barrel distance measurement. 

Easy tutorial, thanks.