Adam J

you may be waiting 6 - 12 months based on their past releases relative to ZWO, but i like the idea of local service and their build quality / accessable tilt plate design.

ATIK are bound to come out with a varient too i would think.

I dont see this at all on my Astrodons with ASI1600MM Pro so its not to do with other filters masking the issue. It could be a result of the low F-ratio optics and large apperture resulting in newtons rings...The only time I have ever had this effect was with a coma corrector, I sent it back and it turned out that they had not coated two of the lens surfaces. Adam

Yes that is what I worry about. Its lost of cash unless you know can be sure its actually going to cover it. I have been looking on astrobin through and found this: https://www.astrobin.com/75ejog/0/ Its no so bad as I worried it might be. BUT and this is the thing, he is using 50mm square astrodon filters or maybe unmounted round, might be worth asking him? Adam

Thats really interesting but I remain skeptical. Do you have a picture of your setup? I would have throught that unless the dew sheild is very long there would be sufficient air circulation within that space to prevent the air temperature from raising too much. Suppose you could sirect a fan at the front of the setup with the sheild in place to enhance circulation and se if it helps. Have you done any other testing? Adam

Sounds good for my proposed application then.

I asked a simple genuine question would one of these be a good bet in a F12 scope or should I consider something else, what makes them not stand up against similar at this price. I considered it a throw away comment as I did not think he gave sufficient detail for me to understand his opinion as a none expert in eye peices especially in relative performance terms. I think Vlaiv expanded quite well on what John said for me. I am not the type to just take what someone tells me as a given I need to know exactly why they have that opinion so I can decide if I should follow it. One way or another I was just asking for more detail. Adam

It's just the size and the field flatness in the corners.

No idea what will work, just know that lots of people are struggling with the small pixels and full frame sensor. It is a big challenge optically.

With the smaller pixels the new generation full frame mono cameras are challenging the flat field claims of established scopes like yours. I would stick to APS-C for that reason.

To be honest, I have never seen images from a reduced esprit 100 and thought yeah that's something I want to do. Usually results in either a soft image or poor corner stars unless it's a very small sensor. If its a truely dedicated unit, if it comes out hopefully it will change my mind.

What would you suggest as an alternative that you feel is better for that price? As from the perspective of someone who dosnt do visual it seems like a bit of a throw away comment. I accept that these are not something that I would chuck into my Esprit at F5.5 and expect good performance, but if i got my wife a StellaLyra 6'' F12 to look at the moon would one of these not be a good bet? Adam

It's odd that the 533 which probably could actually manage without cooling (no amp glow low thermal noise) is one of the only sensors to only have a cooled version.

Depends comparison between my ASI1600mm pro and a DSLR with similar pixel size shows me that there is a nice improvement in detail with the mono camera due to it having all pixels and that the optics support that. In a dense star feild for me its the difference between the stars starting to blur together and them remaining seperated. Also which OSC would you go with? A ASI183mc would seem to be a good choice but in reality its going to be a sacrifice in FOV and that sensor is not the fastest on the marked. An ASI533mc pro had good sensitivity but again your losing out in FOV and this scope can deliver on large sensors. A 294mc has even larger pixels and that pritty much leaves something like a ASI2600mc and thats one expensive camera to pair with a £350 refractor in my opinion. I did see a QHY247 second hand recently and was tempted. Another consideration is that with OSC you will not be able to refocus per LRGB filter and that is going to result in worse CA effects as this scope is not perfectly corrected as I note above. All in all when mobile imaging I want to collect as much data as I can in as little time as possible and so to me that means a mono camera shooting LRGB and Proper Narrowband filters. The only argument for OSC is that you will not need to take the filter wheel and refocus between filters, thats why I made sure to implement an auto fosuser on mine. Adam

I agree with what Vlaiv just said grab the 115 and use super pixel mode for now. The get a better camera later, the ASI183mc is a introductory to dedicated astronomy camera imaging, but I would not let it dictate your future purchases as most likely you will upgrade down the line. I would also say that I suspect the GT81 is not a scope you will settle on for long. Despite the AT115EDT not having top end ED glass like the GT81 its a solid triplet lens design and I believe that like the TS Optics copy incorporates a Lanthanum doped rear element in addition to the core ED element (FLP51). It produces colour correction that would surprise most for its cost, apperture and glass. I am a really big fan of this lens and don't recall ever having seen one produce poor quality stars (when used correctly) on astrobin. Pleanty of other scope riddled with pinching, poor colimation, turned edges, decentred elements and worse. I considered this one long and hard before chosing the more expensive Esprit 100 and in some ways I still wonder if i made the right choice as a little more apperture is always nice. If you want to see what you can do with one of these I am a huge fan of Maicon Germiniani's work on Astrobin: https://www.astrobin.com/users/GerminianiMaicon/ He uses it for most of his imaging although it is the TS Optics branded version of the scope. A large number of his images also use the ASI183mm pro. I think if you take a look you will agree that the small pixels are not holding him back. https://www.astrobin.com/399934/B/?image_list_page=2&nc=&nce= Astrobin Image of the Day: https://www.astrobin.com/full/394045/D/ I would get the TS copy btw that way your sure it has the Lanthanum doped element. Hope that helps, Adam

The QHY5IILc was notorious.

all vaild, just remember the most important thing is the optics, which should be solid being a doublet.

No idea how its supposed to be as I dont have mine yet, maybe someone else has one to confirm?

Yes I remamber having a chat with them about that at the 2019 parctical astronomy show and it sounded promissing but I have still not seen an image from that camera anywhere on the internet. Its a complete unknown, you would think someone must own one by now though. Adam

What Vlaiv means is that they are likely working with the same chip set as specfied by sony along with the interface diagram etc etc. I am sure they do assemble their own boards etc as you say.

If that was from FLO then I think mine is sitting on a box some place in the warehouse waiting for a tripod to go with it. Did it come with the couter weight thread intact? Adam

Yes I agree, if its working as intended then its unlikely that you would see much difference, but build quality, support, drivers and other factors need to be considered. Personally on those grounds I would not look to skimp on a couple of hundred pounds and would just get the thing from a Make / vendor with a good reputation. This is a good look at the ASI1600mm pro vs the ATIK Horizon for example. http://www.astrosurf.com/buil/atik_vs_zwo/ Adam

I dont know about WO after sales, though I suspect that much depends on who you purchased it off. I think the bigger issue with WO is that they cant seem to settle on a scope design. You could see it as constant inovation I suppose but to me I would rather see something that just works and doent change every year like the Esprit range for example. If you are put off WO then I have always found TS Optics to be very responsive when problems occure, just not nearly as flashy. https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p8637_TS-Optics-Doublet-SD-APO-80mm-f-7---FPL-53---Lanthan-Objektiv.html Adam

I like this change, a while back I ordered an Astrodon filter from IKI and a Losmandy plate from FLO and it would have been easier to have been able to just order them together.

I am waiting for a Mono IMX533, I dont imagine it will be long. Over 2k is a bit over budget for me, for now. Adam