Esprit 80 Unboxing

[kirkster501]

I think the lack of spacing information and the original reliance on the assumption that we all use DSLR cameras is a real issue but in fairness to Sky-Watcher, they are no worse than many other reputable suppliers in this regard. I have recently taken delivery of a rather expensive Takahashi reducer - now this did come with an instruction sheet - entirely in Japanese and with a set of pretty meaningless diagrams referring to an adaptor known as a CA-35 of which there are at least three different variants!!

This is not a problem peculiar to Sky-Watcher or new product releases in general, this is an industry-wide problem and one that it looks like FLO might be trying to resolve locally although it is the manufacturers who should be making this information readily available in the first place. I get more private technical queries about spacing issues than anything else and this is on a wide range of equipment manufacturers!

I really hope that John's spacing is out by 20mm because if it is, it shines a totally new light on his Esprit and we can start anew with reviewing it with it correctly set up for imaging!

Other than the T adapter (which is of photographic origin and not astronomy), I am not aware of any true standard that applies in astronomy equipment circles.  The subject of adapters is an absolute minefield.

[Gina]

Sure is

[Alien 13]

The problem of spacing and flattener to sensor distance seems to be common with a lot of scopes from various manufacturers even when its a dedicated scope/flattener design. The idea of a manufacturer specifying a lens to chip distance is also crazy, who wants to poke around the glass with a pair of calipers trying to get a decent measurement. I dont have an espirt but had exactly the same issues with my wo zs71. Why cant we have a simple datum line marked on the flattener (dslr cameras have it) and sensible basic diagrams of some typical setups indicating a parts list of required spacers etc.

[ollypenrice]

As much as it sucks, to be fair to Skywatcher i rarely see FF spacing info supplied with other reducers/flatteners, even more costly ones than the FF that comes with this scope.

Doesn't seem to be the done thing, for whatever reason..

Full marks to TEC in this regard. They state the model of AP adapter needed to fit their reducer and the exact chip distance. They also get it right, which is a darned good job given the price of custom adapters! Finally they stress that the larger the chip the more accurate it needs to be.

Olly

[swag72]

The spacing has been confirmed John and it looks like you were right just to screw in the DSLR - 54.9mm from the mating surface. No more spacing issues now, which I am sure will be a relief.

[Sp@ce_d]

The spacing has been confirmed John and it looks like you were right just to screw in the DSLR - 54.9mm from the mating surface. No more spacing issues now, which I am sure will be a relief.

Oh dear I was hoping the spacing was out...

So that's the same as the 80ED then. No room for OAG or rotator in there either.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[JohnC64]

now i am confused - Skywatcher confirmed to me that it was 75mm ?.  where did you get 54.9 from sara?

[swag72]

now i am confused - Skywatcher confirmed to me that it was 75mm ?.  where did you get 54.9 from sara?

FLO thread and site

[FLO]

Here y'go John  

 

Skywatcher Field Flattener for Esprit-80 

 

Skywatcher Field Flattener for Esprit-100 

 

[JohnC64]

ok i have 55mm as now and have star shape issues.  

SWatchersupport  and astronomics (retailer in states have 75 mm),  fogboundturtle and sw on cloudy nights have 75 mm too.

If it is 55mm - I am going to get VERY upset with  Skywatcher support as i have emails from them confirming backfocus distance as 75

If it is 55mm then the esprit will be going back to SW as it doesn't give a flat field across a APS-C chip

hmmmm  





 

[FLO]

John, I have only just read through your thread. This is just a thought but has your supplier included the correct flattener?

The Esprit-80 and Esprit-100 flatteners look the same but have different spacing requirements. Currently there is no labelling on the product itself and only 'SED-80' (SED-100 for the Esprit-100) hand-written on the corner of the box. 

HTH, 

Steve 

[Sp@ce_d]

Gosh... is this scope having a really tough birth or what!

Think you're going to have to go through & check the whole light train. I had similar problems with the 80ED & turned out to be lens cell not sitting in properly as well as misaligned focusser.  Not saying thats your problem but get a laser in there & check the path.

[Sp@ce_d]

John, I have only just read through your thread. This is just a thought but has your supplier included the correct flattener?

The Esprit-80 and Esprit-100 flatteners look the same but have different spacing requirements. Currently there is no labelling on the product itself and only 'SED-80' (SED-100 for the Esprit-100) hand-written on the corner of the box. 

HTH, 

Steve 

Good point Steve..

[FLO]

Gosh... is this scope having a really tough birth or what!

To be fair, it is still early days and all the Esprit-80 and Esprit-100 we have sold are still out there. Nobody has reported any problems. Touch wood….   

Steve

[JohnC64]

Steve - where did you get the info for 54.9mm from?  OVL?

Cheers John

[JohnC64]

Just checked the box that the flattener came in and it definitely says SED-80 :-(

[Gina]

Probably nobody has had any clear skies lately!  I certainly haven't     A few hours clear sky forecast for tonight  but there's cloud ATM

If the new figures are right I'm in trouble - I won't be able to use an OAG and filter wheel with my 460EX

[JohnC64]

well i have clear skys at the mo -  but no spacers .  I will give the 55mm a go again tonight but without any filters (like last time) - just as it comes and see what happens

John

[ollypenrice]

I'm losing the plot here! John, the original images you posted did have the official chip spacing, then? 

Olly

[JohnC64]

Hi Olly,

yep i  had canon camera (44mm), and skywatcher adapter(11mm)  giving me  55mm in total  - and i ended up with distorted stars

There was information on cloudy nights said that the distance should be 75mm(as posted by skywatcher USA)


I contacted Skywatcher support via email  to get confirmation of the back focus and got back 75mm from them

FLO's latest info now says that 55 was correct after all.

If Skywatcher support are correct - then i need to try again with spacers that i have ordered.
If FLO are correct then Skywatcher support will get a very irate email and  a request to refund me for the items that i bought based on information that they supplied. I will then go through the refunds process with my supplier if it turns out that the telescope does not give a flat field over an APS-c frame

I will test tonight(if possible) with just camera and telescope to check images again

JOhn





 

[FLO]

Just checked the box that the flattener came in and it definitely says SED-80 :-(

Just to be absolutely sure, the rear screw-on thread adapter supplied with the Esprit-80's flattener should measure 11.1 mm deep (the actual knurled area). The same adapter supplied with the Esprit-100's flattener is 8.1mm deep. What does your's measure? 

[JohnC64]

measured it with vernier's and got 11.08 - so looking at 11.1mm  so definitely a sed-80

JOhn

[steppenwolf]

I think we need to be careful here about this figure of '69.8 mm from centre of rear element' and '75.0 mm from centre of rear element' - although of academic interest, it is of no interest when it comes to measuring up your own system and I suspect that this is where the confusion has come from via SW USA and elsewhere. The only figure that an end user can realistically work from is the MATING surface of the flattener to sensor distance irrespective of whether they are using a DSLR or CCD camera.

[Gina]

Absolutely Steve!

Cloud, cloud go away come again another day - NO NO make that year!

It's near enough dark now and not a star in sight   The odd gaps in the cloud earlier seem to have gone   And no clear night sky in the forecast for the next 10 days

[FLO]

The only figure that an end user can realistically work from is the MATING surface of the flattener to sensor distance irrespective of whether they are using a DSLR or CCD camera.

Those are our thoughts precisely