Hi, I just joined stargazer lounge. I got my eVscope last December. I paid for it about a year before that. I've been following many of the chat groups and this one actually felt the least hostile about eVscopes. I have been waiting for a telescope like this since I was 6 years old. I have always loved deep sky objects, I'm not the least bit interested in astrophotography and I got tired of lugging a big telescope around to get just a slightly better smudge of a target. Some of the pictures I've captured are immensely satisfying, no way could I see galaxys and nebulas with any other set up that I would be interested in or capable of. That being said I've had a few issues. Some of which I am still working on with Unistellar
My eVscope got stuck in update mode. Unistellar said they were aware of the problem and sent me an updated SD card. Problem fixed. They also sent out a mass mailing of another SD card so I swapped that one too. I'm guessing it was for the same problem and even though they had dealt with me individually, my serial number was still part of a group.
The on off button sticks and is flimsy. Again Unistellar is aware and working on a fix that can be installed by the end user. I am careful to depress the on/off button gently and evenly until the telescope turns on but sometimes it sticks and I need to "pop" one end or the other of the oblong button to get it back out.
Park My eVscope. Great feature but mine goes over center and does not always correct to vertical as the final maneuver before shutting off. At maximum deflection is fits a little tighter in the backpack. Unistellar's response. Yes, it does that. Not a big deal, especially as they are working with me to solve some more important issues and I can park it myself.
Another area of confusion for me is the storage. It just fills up and starts over and I can't find anything out about it on their website which is a mix of glossy selling points, overly simple answers and precious little detailed instruction or troubleshooting information. When I asked they said not to worry about it. My guess is it has something to do with mass observation campaigns as your way to upload data. I don't think they were being flippant, They are busy, busier than they should be if they are dealing with every inquiry on an individual basis and there is a language barrier. They make every effort to be polite and kind in their communication and I understand they are working on a guide.
Now the big problems. 1. My telescope does not focus on anything close. I was shocked when I saw that people were imaging the moon, I just get a field of white. 2. My stars are almost doubles with a wider spread at the bottom of each star. The focus wheel works in the direction to unfocus a star in order to collimate but does not fine tune the focus with the Bahtinov mask. Unistellar has had me take the mirror out a number of times, make short videos of various aspects and send via email. Right now they are at a loss. There is nothing bound up or loose. we are still working to solve this problem.
The other major problem is 1. a mislabeling of photos and 2. targets being non centered after having been centered earlier in the evening. Unistellar is aware but we haven't worked up to that yet. My guess is software and/or an intermittent mirror issue.
I don't feel duped. I think this is the nature of crowdfunding they are not promising a shelf ready product. Unistellar is very responsive and is working to determine the best course of action.