tommyr

I have noticed that if it gets too windy 'enhanced" mode gets briefly interrupted but resumes pretty quick for the most part. My old eyes find viewing on the app better than the eyepiece but the views are the same.

I used the evscope last night for the first time at night. The scope sets up in about 5 minutes and is ready to go. When I "goto" an object the scope slews for less than a minute and places the object in the center of view then begins tracking it. The tracking is perfect. I'm still learning digital imaging (I never did it before) so I have to get used to making adjusts in gain, exposure time and brightness and contrast. 

When in "enhanced" mode the gain and exposure times can not be changed (as far as I know). Brightness and contrast can be changed however. Using the Bathinov mask my focus looked fine but when looking at the images sent to my email stars look slightly out of focus. Looks like I'll have to possibly tweak collimation the next night out. Or re-check with the Bathinov mask.

The scope senses vibrations. It was slightly windy last night so when in "enhanced" mode the scope will stop stacking until the vibration stops, usually after a second or 2. It then resumes.

I think the images are fairly decent. Are they high quality? No. But they were not meant to be considering the sensor used. The scope is for viewing after all, not photography.

Unistellar is working on making video tutorials and a better technical manual as well. Videos should be available sometime in January or February. On Youtube I believe.

To be able to bring a scope out and be seeing deep sky objects in less than 5 minutes is pretty neat. You all know that with most conventional scopes there is no way that is possible, even with better EAA equipment. I do want to dip into EAA with better cameras eventually with my Celestron Nexstar 5 but for now the eVscope whets my appetite just fine.

Tom

5 minutes ago, Ruud said:

The citizen science argument is still there. I cannot imagine how eVscope owners around the world will help scientists in any useful manner. I suppose time will tell.

 

http://cosmicdiary.org/dpeluso/2020/01/11/get-your-unistellar-evscopes-and-help-observe-an-exoplanet-this-weekend/

4 minutes ago, Anthonyexmouth said:

There you go, at that price for the release model it probably wouldn't have got negative attention . 

Oh it would still get some negative reaction. Just not as many. There will always be complainers. People will complain about the price of gas then turn around and buy a gas guzzler. Go figure.

17 minutes ago, Anthonyexmouth said:

The "hate" as you call it is kinda valid. I agree, the concept is good but the execution is poor and expensive. It needs to be much cheaper considering it's very limited uses, it's a 3 grand dust collecter after someones seen a few bright nebula and nothing else.

Who would you say this is aimed at?

could you in good faith recommend a newbie spend 3K on this? I truly hope not.

It's aimed at people who want an easy to set up and use telescope that allows them to see deep sky objects easily. That's the main objective of the scope.

As you know most deep sky objects are not easy targets in small scopes. Especially with all the light pollution now a days. They are nothing more than faint blobs of shades of gray light. Not very impressive to a lot of people. 

I would not recommend it to newbies. It IS expensive and if I had to pay $3,000 I would have not joined the kickstarter for it. I paid $1,299. I typically recommend an 8" dob. to newbies. 

6 minutes ago, Anthonyexmouth said:

I can see the pictures and iv'e used enough tripods to know what i'm looking at, legs are thin. It just screams of a college electronics project. great proof of concept but zero real world use. 

Who is it aimed at?

1. Newbies, well they won't be spending 3k on a scope that has very limited use if they've done any research

2. experienced users, Well they would/should know better

3. outreach, refer back to 2.

EV is great for outreach but not in this form, much better with a scope they can look at but do the viewing on a laptop screen, even a proper tripod doesn't want to be touched when imaging. 

It's not for you, move on. The hate for this scope is beyond stupid. I've been using scopes for over 50 years, I like this concept. I also still love/use "regular" scopes. You will see more scopes like this in the future and they will get better and cheaper priced. Get used to it. Or don't.

6 minutes ago, Anthonyexmouth said:

only seen it pointed at M42 in light polluted areas and that target is super bright. and even then it wasnt looking great. As for the tripod being solid, well maybe when it's at its lowest postion but those legs at full extension look pretty thin and shaky. 

You need to do more research. The tripod is solid. It's not thin and shaky. Unless there's gale force winds the tripod will hold it's own. And again, no one ever said the scope would give views that rival traditional AP set ups.

4 minutes ago, Anthonyexmouth said:

ability to use it in light polluted areas? This is likely to be rubbish in light polluted areas. 

The scope has been used in Las Vegas with decent results. Also San Francisco and NYC just to name a few places with bad LP. 

42 minutes ago, HWStar said:

I just looked at the Unistellar website and they have 3 images, stating that they are what would be seen through the eyepiece. https://unistellaroptics.com/product/ Scroll halfway down the page.

But when I look at what was posted so far from users, it's not what I'm seeing. Perhaps they were taken under very controlled conditions.  Okay, enough. I will wait and hope for the best. ;o)

Well, Unistellar would want to show the best images they have so far. Users will be anxious to show what they have so far without fussing too much at first. I've seen some decent images on Twitter so far from a few users. People that have been getting them haven't had them for very long so it'll take time for them to get used to operating and using the scope and app. I have yet to have clear night skies since Christmas eve to try mine out. I have looked at the Sun a few days ago with it but there's no spots right now visible and I'm still getting used to adjusting the gain and exposure times. I'll say that Buzzard's review is so far spot on. It's a solid scope and Tripod. And they give you a nice pouch with all the tools needed for making adjustments. They even include a Bathinov mask in the front cover for tweaking the focus.

I'm new to this forum as of today. Thanks for that very detailed review. I too am an eVscope backer and received my scope on Christmas Eve. As always when getting a new telescope it's been cloudy every single night since! SO frustrating! I hope to read other reviews from users and see more images as well. My first target once the sky clears will be NGC 7331. One of my favorite galaxies.

Tom