Adam J

I would think that if you add 1mm for the AD filters the Bàader will still reach focus at infinity.

I asked Uranium about this several months back and he said it was in the pipeline so glad to see this. The samyang 135mm is one possibility for my coming mobile setup. I wonder if there is room for a filter draw and a filter adaptor... Great Idea.

My preference is the first version, I think that the stars almost look like noise when they have been reduced in the second version. Adam

Ok well on my focus cube and virtually all other brands of auto focuser I can think of attach to the course side. The reason for that design choice is that for the most part they are easily accurate enough to allow you to do this. For example on my Esprit 100 I was using a step size of 60 and I found that it took between 10 and 20 steps to make any detectable difference in focus. So attached to the course side it was giving between 10 and 20 times the required level of accuracy. The second reason that most makes do not place the auto focuser onto the fine adjustment is that it increases backlash, the reduction takes place via a pair or rings with ball bearings sandwiched between them and what you will notice is that even with the focuser locked down hard you can move the fine adjustment slightly (backlash) while the course side is virtually rock solid if you have the rack and pinion mesh setup correctly. Essentially it feels slightly sprung. So as it appears I am indeed wrong and this particular auto focuser attaches to the fine focus nob ill add that to the long list of reasons I am glad I went for the Pegasus astro focus cube instead of a SESTO SENSO, along with things like the cost of the adopters (£70) for different sized scopes and the fact that they don't include a temperature sensor and expect you to pay an additional £40 for the privilege (a temperature probe that costs maybe £2 to make). Adam

You don't attach it to the fine adjustment side you install on the course side.

No but I have of the 533 which is similar technology and intact the 2600 should be even better due to the 16bit a/d.

I would not personally as I have heard reports that Baader are bringing out a revision of those filters due to reflections.

Yes a Log scale is something for scientists and engineers and not something that is useful to the general public. Also why are we not suggesting the ASI2600MC Pro in this thread? Or is that out of budget for the OP?

Yes a remember commenting on that one, it was an extreme example. Glad its now improved with the replacement.

I never experienced it with mine either, it must be a coating issue.

FPL55 and FCD100 are both harder than FPL53 and the increased hardness makes it easier to achieve a precise finish and shape. Also its not all about the Crown its about the flint too and although FCD100 is slightly more dispersing than FPL53 I have heard it said that the flint glass better matches its properties and so the combination of the two glass types may actually out perform FPL53 combinations. In theory the same may be true of FPL55 but my guess is FCD100 is being used here.

Its almost certainly FPL55 or much more likely FCD100 as you say, this is a more premium scope than the EvoStar so I would be extremely shocked if they used a FPL51 class of glass in it, it would show up immediately and no one would buy a scope costing more than the EvoStar but with inferior performance. They just would not get away with it and I think they know that. I would personally be happy to take a change on the 62mm scope as a lead customer, skywatcher have a good reputation. Adam

I think that at 400mm of the esprit 80 its a more even choice, much less though and I would say for me it would swing over to the 533. Certainly with 50 - 70mm scopes I would chose the 533, I might also chose it if I wanted to image smaller galaxies at much longer focal lengths due to the better calibration (on deep images the 294 can show artefacts against a black backdrop) and higher sensitivity. I think that if the OP selects the 533 he will not be disappointed at all with the performance, some targets wont fit into the FOV but there are plenty that will.

Honestly with your scope being up at almost 500mm focal length I would be more inclined to go with a larger sensor like the ASI294mc pro but if your willing to sacrifice field of view then the 533 is most likely a better sensor. On the other hand why not mono? Someone is selling a Atik460ex on here for only £880 I would take that over osc any time.

I would certainly hope less than for a Zenithstar of the same aperture. I predict 300 - 350 for the 62mm. Personally I am not interested in the 82mm its a very similar focal length to my Esprit 100 at lower F-ratio. But the 62 may well make a ideal travel scope for me. If there is a list put me down for one lol. I really do like the look of it even down to the dovetail extending under the focuser (good for mounting a electronic focuser). Adam

How much are you looking to pay for it?

Some new information from SW twitter account. I think this is looking very promising for the mobile setup I have planned for 2020. Hope @FLO have some more information on when this is going to be available. The information shown here implies a F6.4 - F6.5 design with a dedicated 0.9x field flattener to take that down to F5.8, just hope the flattener is a screw fit. A close look at the focuser also shows it to be a rack and pinion design. Am glad that they lost the mint green on the original image from this thread and went with silver instead. I was thinking ZS61 but there are a number of things that I like about this design not least the inclusion of the proper dove tail bar and finder mounts. Adam

I have owned two myself and the issue for me was that while one of them was good the other was terrible. The design is not horrible in of itself its just quality control on a mass produced cheap as chips focuser is not great. .

To be honest with you if anything is going to work and be common between the different ASI cameras it's going to be the cooling. So it is looking like something is amiss.

Chip getting to 100% but not cooling is often caused by fan issues. Confirm the fan is spinning.

It is illegal to point a laser at aircraft irrespective of power so really would not do this close to a active runway. The 5mW level is based on safety against eye damage not Dazzle and you can Dazzle with much less power leaving the pilot with temporary flash blindness. I am not saying dont use a laser for astronomy, just dont expect to get away with pointing one close to aircraft irrespective of power output.

Ok but the problem that you need to be aware of is that the smaller the diameter of the rotator the harder it is to build it so as to prevent tilt.

what triplet did you order?

I use the Pegasus v2 its a great bit of kit and unlike ZWO actually comes with what you need so a temperature probe and a bracket that is more universal than the ZWO.

Its an integration because it shows it better but the effect is still visible in individual LRGB subs and even in a couple of Ha subs that I shot while testing, but less obvious in the smaller Ha stars.