PARTY MARTY

Thanks Gina!!     

Still F5 is still better hard to beat!! F5 in a APO is pretty good to be honest Gina?? 

My Lunt 80mm ED APO F7 once fitted with a 0.8x FF/FR only comes close to F5.5!! 

I wonder if Skywatcher makes a FR for it, I'm sure that will be next plan from SW??? 

Love to see what the actually the Focal Ratio would be on the Esprit 80mm after a FR is fitted??? 

I struggle with just one imaging rig as it is!!! But 2 or more imaging rigs running at the same time that's just hardcore to be honest!!    

Gina I noticed that you got a FF/FR for the Skywatcher 80mm Esprit, how much is the Focal ratio been speeded up Gina you haven't explained the FR/RR in detail what's the reduction  on it ??? 

I noticed that the Esprit is F5, so I guessing you might be getting around F3.5 or F3 for the scope, that's incredibly fast, infact compared that my 8" Quattro Newtonian, my Newt is slower!!     

That must have superb FOV, I guess no need for a large CCD chip I guess???     

Great review!!!     

I own the 26mm, 32mm and the 38mm Panaviews, all excellent eyepieces though the 38mm being quite huge I need to the counterweights on my 12" Dob tube, as it makes the Dob very top heavy and unsteady!!

I totally agree that the 70 degree FOV is unbelieveable, 32mm is a very good buy and 26mm is not bad ethier, I would skip the 38mm is far to big and bulky!!! 

For £79 you can't grumble at the price, infact it's quite cheap!! As some eyepieces can cost several hundreds of pounds, which for me being an owner of a ES 100 degree 14mm Explorer 2" eyepiece, I hardly use it and too be fair I prefer to use these Skywatcher Panaviews, I think the FOV is perfect for DSO observing, I feel that 100 degree is for too much and I often get eye strain from it, which shows that overly priced eyepieces aren't usually the better choice!!

The Panaviews are superb!! And would seriously suggest anyone to purchase one any day!!     

That would be an excellent imaging rig set-up for all scopes and CCDs altogether never need to disassemble equipment again Gina!! 

I guess this going to be your permenant set-up for an Obsy Gina??  The EQ-8 isn't exactly light??? 

Thanks Gina!!

 How does it cope with the OAG, filter wheel and CCD! I noticed that on my LUNT 80mm with all the weight of my imaging rig, the 2.5 focuser slips, quite annoying really especially when you capture light frames and you need to re-focus the image again between filters. The lock bolt doesn't even does any justice ethier??

6.9Kg that's still OK for imaging even on a EQ-5 mount Gina!! 

Even if it's a 5 element super APO (which I can imagine the sheer robust weight of the scope having alot of glass!) with a filter wheel and CCD that's pretty good actually!!

I've managed to successfully image my Lunt 80 ED APO with a QHY 2" filter wheel and QHY9 mono CCD on a EQ-5 without any dramas of tracking and guiding problems, but I had to stick to the finder guider method. But still 7 Kg is maximum for the EQ-5 for imaging!!

It's great to hear that the Skywatcher 80mm Espirt is not too heavy, so even low budgeted EQ mounts can also be fitted!! 

What is the focuser like on the Skywatcher 80mm Gina???

Looks brilliant Gina!!     

I'm glad that you replaced the original dovetail to Losmandy style, looks more sturdier now!!

I wasn't keen on the stepped up dovetail one!! It didn't look right!!

Tell us how you get on!! I love to see the images!! I bet they will be awesome!! 

I've made my eyepiece case myself, using a scrap wood and using my DIY knowledge, I've made a superb case and cost me vitually nothing which I can store many 1.25" and 2" eyepieces, also my Stella cam EX, all power leads and even my tools and scope maintenance kit. Everything I can possbily need for a good nights observing.

I made the slots in the case in such a way that I can slot dust covers at the bottom, so when I no longer need such eyepiece I just the eyepieces into the dust caps, without having to worry about dust getting on the eyepieces, A great idea and makes observing a lot less hassle!!!