spaceman_spiff

I'm sure it will be worth the wait! Not long now...

I asked this question to FLO and their answer was no. The do provide an adapter that screws in front between the flatterer and focuser that will accept 2'' filters. Here's the link: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/adapters/astro-essentials-filter-cell-adapter-for-sky-watcher-esprit-flatteners.html Dan

Thanks for that Vangelis, always thought that Skywatcher quality control was the compromise you make for the (relative) lower price tag...Perhaps the Esprit range is the exception here. I am feeling more drawn to the Esprit 80 or even the 100 as they both provide the wide fast views I am looking for.

Interesting find thanks for that, it does look exactly the same minus the branding. The price difference worries me though...

Unfortunately, it won't be happening often!

Weird.. I'm now flip flopping between the Starwave and the SW Esprit 80. I like the extra accessories of the SW and it's a bit faster as well. But the Altair scope is a bit lighter and has proper tube rings/may have better QC.

Thanks for the reply! The price of the Altair Wave is comparable with the Esprit 80 which is very well regarded.

Hi all, I am in the middle of deciding what my next Astro upgrade will be and I came across these two similar scopes on RVO. They appear to have very similar specs but quite different price tags; the Starwave 80 EDT-R being around £720 while the Altair Wave Series 80mm is £1100. 🤨 I assume that the price difference is not just pure profiteering, there must be a difference in the glass...has anyone compared these two scopes/know the details. Is the wave series worth the extra money? I am looking for a decent apo to get many years of enjoyment out of. The scope will be use mainly for AP, I aim to add a mono-camera with a filter wheel for narrowband imaging. Altair Wave Series 80mm (£1100): https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/altair-starwave-80-edt-r-triplet-apo-refractor-ota.html Altair Starwave 80 EDT-R Triplet (£720): https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/altair-wave-series-80mm-f6-super-ed-triplet-apo-refractor-telescope.html Thanks guys! Dan 🙂

Hi there, it was 300ms or 0.3 seconds. I know this is still a pretty short exposure and atmospheric seeing could still shift the guide star but I normally guide using 50ms exposures which must be worse! 🙂.

Just a brief report on the issue... I am about to bring the scope in after a very good night guiding on M64 (the Black Eye galaxy). I added a 0.1s DEC backlash signal to the guider so it automatically provides a small amount of movement every time the guiding switches direction. I was worried about spurious small changes in direction causing an unnecessary backlash input so I increased the guiding exposure to 300ms to help prevent seeing conditions causing this issue (hopefully by smoothing them out a bit). I also slightly de-balanced the scope (both RA and DEC) and the auto-calibration procedure worked perfectly, no issues at all. No meaning to brag, but my PA was excellent this time (one of the best I've done). TBH, I was easily getting round stars with 3 min exposures. I am not sure if this played a part in the issues with the auto-calibration procedure but I will bare it in mind next time. Cheers, Dan.

Also, Is it worth altering the dec play feature? Will this be accounted for in the auto-calibration procedure?

Good point Michael, I could also slightly unbalancing the DEC axis and see if that helps.

Hi everyone, I'm restarting my astrophotography after a year or so out and I am having trouble with my Synguider 2. During auto-calibration it correctly calculates the RA movement but then it tries to complete the DEC drift calibration goes wrong. It basically hangs and then times out (after the timer hist 30). The result is the RA aggressiveness has a reasonable value but the Dec is zero or near zero. I have to guess what the DEC aggressiveness is (about 2/3 of the RA) and it works fine. Weirdly, it worked fine a year or so ago and once I have manually set the DEC aggressiveness it works well (which means the mount is receiving the guiding signals and moving properly). The mount is a AZ-EQ6 and the guider is attached to a ST80 scope. The guider has the latest 1.2 firmware installed. Any ideas? Many thanks, Dan. ?