Gina's Esprit 80ED Pro Unboxing and First Impressions

[swag72]

Make sure that you don't end up over your 30 day returns promise while waiting for your lathe and adapter making if you think you'll not be happy with it and there is an optics problem.

[Gina]

Make sure that you don't end up over your 30 day returns promise while waiting for your lathe and adapter making if you think you'll not be happy with it and there is an optics problem.

Good point Sara - I'm not an expert but I don't think this problem would be cured with a flattener.  I'll process last night's data and then contact Steve probably.  As you say this does seem to be a faulty one

[Nathan_Pembs]

After the long wait for these to come out and to find these issues, I'd be a bit gutted. Especially having to fork out for a lathe just to fit your imaging gear.

Return it and get a Borg, you know you want to 

[swag72]

Return it, save up and get a Tak - That's what you ultimately want!!

[Gina]

After the long wait for these to come out and to find these issues, I'd be a bit gutted. Especially having to fork out for a lathe just to fit your imaging gear.

Return it and get a Borg, you know you want to 

Well, I'm not pleased that's for sure!   I've wanted a little lathe for a long time - this has just brought it forward so not so bad,  However, I was rather miffed at needing to make my own adapter or mess about with adapters from Germany that might of might not work.  An adjustable adapter SHOULD make the flattener work properly but I have to say, I am becoming more and more disillusioned by this scope and dumping it for a Borg is by no means out of the question particularly with the limited supply probably extending delivery of a replacement a lot.

Disillusioned of Devon

[Gina]

Return it, save up and get a Tak - That's what you ultimately want!!

Well yes, that's true.  Have to say after seeing the coverage a 400mm lens at f5 without CA I'm feeling decidedly upset by the thought of having to return this scope   I had such high hopes of it but I guess at my age I should not be surprised if something new doesn't turn out as great as expected.  I really should know by now not to expect too much of things!   It will take a long time to save up for a Tak and I can't put it on my credit card as there isn't that much credit left on it.

I was working out last night how many panes it would take to make a mosaic of the Heart & Soul of this scope and likeing what I saw.  Still I guess 510mm and f6.3 is possible using the Evostar but quite a step down

Disgruntled of Devon

[Gina]

I guess the equivalent Borg would be the 77 ED with f4.6 and 355mm FL - a couple of hundred quid more than the Esprit.  But I'm not sure about the helical focuser and what would be involved in connecting up a stepper motor for remote focussing.  I wouldn't want to go from messing about with one scope to messing about with another.  The Esprit was easy and I like the R&P focuser - now that is beautiful.

Edited November 13, 2013 by Gina

[Gina]

Well here's the Ha stack.  13 x 10m Ha stacked in DSS and stretched and cropped (not resized) in Ps - saved as JPEG.  The brightest stars showed an ADU of around 64,000 - just below saturation but they are unusually large and spikey.  This is not what I usually see with the Astrodon 5nm Ha filter!

I agree that this shows the scope is faulty   I was just wondering if it's due to pinching, whether there's a DIY remedy (without voiding the guarantee).

[Chris]

Sorry to hear all this Gina, I would speak to Steve sooner than later.

[FLO]

Make sure that you don't end up over your 30 day returns promise ...

Oh Sara, you know we aren't like that

Return it and get a Borg, you know you want to 

If you aren't keen on the shenanigans associated with placing the camera sensor at the correct distance and square on the optical axis then you won't like a Borg. Borg are a modular system so are more versatile but they aren't easier to setup than your Esprit, if anything they have an even higher 'fiddle factor'. 

Return it, save up and get a Tak - That's what you ultimately want!!

If that is what you really want Gina then that might be the best option 

Please email if you would like a free collection and refund. 

HTH, 

Steve 

[Gina]

Oh Sara, you know we aren't like that

If you aren't keen on the shenanigans associated with placing the camera sensor at the correct distance and square on the optical axis then you won't like a Borg. Borg are a modular system so are more versatile but they aren't easier to setup than your Esprit, if anything they have an even higher 'fiddle factor'. 

If that is what you really want Gina then that might be the best option 

Please email if you would like a free collection and refund. 

HTH, 

Steve 

Thank you Steve   Having spent quite a lot of time and effort working out the design of an adapter I would be prepared to try another sample of the Esprit but two things bother me about that.  One is that the QC seems to have fallen and at least one person has reported focuser problems and the other is delivery times.  I gather getting a replacement would take quite a long time.

Edited November 13, 2013 by Gina

[FLO]

You wouldn't know it from reading one or two threads here at SGL but the Esprit launch has gone remarkably well. We do have one being collected (for relatively minor quality control problems) so as a precaution I am now personally checking every Esprit dispatched. Otherwise the feedback has been good, other than the usual (for a new telescope) confusion over spacing requirements and adapters. I am confident convenient solutions will be found and the Esprit-80 will do for the triplet market what the Evostar 80ED PRO has done for the doublet market.  

You are of course welcome to a refund or replacement but keep in mind we are discussing a new Skywatcher triplet that is receiving a great deal of attention. And the attention isn't entirely neutral. Your early experiences with spacing has triggered a number of negative comments while elsewhere here at SGL someone else's experience (mis-shapen stars) from a considerably more expensive telescope passes almost unnoticed... 

Please take your time and give it some thought. Rest assured we are here for you and all options are available (supply of Esprit-80 are currently okay)

HTH, 

Steve 

[Gina]

You wouldn't know it from reading one or two threads here at SGL but the Esprit launch has gone remarkably well. We do have one being collected (for relatively minor quality control problems) so as a precaution I am now personally checking every Esprit dispatched. Otherwise the feedback has been good, other than the usual (for a new telescope) confusion over spacing requirements and adapters. I am confident convenient solutions will be found and the Esprit-80 will do for the triplet market what the Evostar 80ED PRO has done for the doublet market.  

You are of course welcome to a refund or replacement but keep in mind we are discussing a new Skywatcher triplet that is receiving a great deal of attention. And the attention isn't entirely neutral. Your early experiences with spacing has triggered a number of negative comments while elsewhere here at SGL someone else's experience (mis-shapen stars) from a considerably more expensive telescope passes almost unnoticed... 

Please take your time and give it some thought. Rest assured we are here for you and all options are available (supply of Esprit-80 are currently okay)

HTH, 

Steve 

Thank you very much Steve   I'll take your advice and think a lot more about it.  A Takahashi is rather beyond my needs as well as beyond my finances.  I do not need a vast flat field area - I can't see me going larger that APS-C size sensors and the Esprit seems to cover that comfortably

[ollypenrice]

Let's just look at these stars. They have six evenly distributed spikes. This doesn't smack of pinching (triangular stars) or any other randomly generated effect because the effect is too regular. It smacks to me of six regularly spaced intrusions into the light path. So, first question, does the Esprit 80 have six lens clips? Are there any other possibilities for incursions into the lighpath? Dewsheild, OAG, F/W, filters, adapters? I'd advise Gina to pull the whole rig apart (again! I know, I know, I've been doing it all day myself sorting a new F/W) and peer through the components of the lightpath. What is odd is that you'd expect this to affect all scopes as it did with the WO132 (was it?) rather than just Gina's. (I don't want Gina's SW kit to be atypical because I want our EQ8 to track like hers!!)

Or (belated brainwave) just make a quick mask for the outer part of the objective. See if that loses the spikes. Just stop it down slightly to block the outermost part of the incident beam.

Before deciding on what alternatives to go for (though I wouldn't throw out the baby with the bathwater on first bathnight) I'd be sure to look at broadband images from the candidates on the shortlist. Any old apo can take a good NB image. It beats me why Optique Underlinden (Tak Europe) only show narrowband FSQ images on their website. All they show is the size of the field.

Olly

Edited November 13, 2013 by ollypenrice

[Gina]

Let's just look at these stars. They have six evenly distributed spikes. This doesn't smack of pinching (triangular stars) or any other randomly generated effect because the effect is too regular. It smacks to me of six regularly spaced intrusions into the light path. So, first question, does the Esprit 80 have six lens clips? Are there any other possibilities for incursions into the lighpath? Dewsheild, OAG, F/W, filters, adapters? I'd advise Gina to pull the whole rig apart (again! I know, I know, I've been doing it all day myself sorting a new F/W) and peer through the components of the lightpath. What is odd is that you'd expect this to affect all scopes as it did with the WO132 (was it?) rather than just Gina's. (I don't want Gina's SW kit to be atypical because I want our EQ8 to track like hers!!)

Or (belated brainwave) just make a quick mask for the outer part of the objective. See if that loses the spikes. Just stop it down slightly to block the outermost part of the incident beam.

Before deciding on what alternatives to go for (though I wouldn't throw out the baby with the bathwater on first bathnight) I'd be sure to look at broadband images from the candidates on the shortlist. Any old apo can take a good NB image. It beats me why Optique Underlinden (Tak Europe) only show narrowband FSQ images on their website. All they show is the size of the field.

Olly

Thanks smuchly Olly   I thought it looked like diffraction spikes - just like I get with a six bladed iris on a camera lens stopped down a bit.  I'm going to bring scope, FW and all the bits inddors tonight and have a good look at it.  Nothing would make me happier ATM to find something simple that I can fix and continue to use this scope - it has a great look and feel and I've become quite attached to it   I'm afraid I got rather emotional earlier as I'm prone to at times

[Alien 13]

Thanks smuchly Olly   I thought it looked like diffraction spikes - just like I get with a six bladed iris on a camera lens stopped down a bit.  I'm going to bring scope, FW and all the bits inddors tonight and have a good look at it.  Nothing would make me happier ATM to find something simple that I can fix and continue to use this scope - it has a great look and feel and I've become quite attached to it   I'm afraid I got rather emotional earlier as I'm prone to at times

 

Its allways a pleasure to read your posts, joy frustration and all the other emotions are all part of this great hobby. I too have noticed tiny diffraction spikes with my set up from the other day imaging the pleiades so ill take a look down the tube (could have been the washing line though just a few feet away)

[Gina]

Its allways a pleasure to read your posts, joy frustration and all the other emotions are all part of this great hobby. I too have noticed tiny diffraction spikes with my set up from the other day imaging the pleiades so ill take a look down the tube (could have been the washing line though just a few feet away)

Thank you   That's interesting.

[Gina]

Well...  I've just got round to stacking and stretching the OIII subs (been a very busy and hectic day) and the spikes are a lot less evident in fact hardly noticeable   This is binned 2x2 though.

Edited November 13, 2013 by Gina

[Earl]

Gina the brightest star has spikes and from the looks of it spacing is not right as all the corners look a bit stretched

[Gina]

For completeness, here's the SII stack.  Again binned 2x2 but this image shows pointy stars much the same as the Ha so the binning makes little difference.  Maybe the colour wavelength has some affect.

In actual fact these images are no worse (in fact they're better) than my lenses but this is supposed to be a high quality telescope and you wouldn't expect it.

[Sp@ce_d]

Gina.. I hope you don't mind me posting this image from mine on your thread. I'm not trying to do anything other than ease your mind if that's ok?

It's still early days for these scopes but I've been able to get a few subs with the Esprit 80 & I haven't seen anything yet to get alarmed about. In fact I'm quite excited having compared them to my doublets & can't wait for some decent seeing. (& processing skills  ) If there is a problem with the optics on yours I don't think it will be a general issue (at this stage from my checks anyway). In much the same way as my initial issues with the focuser wasn't experienced by anyone else.

One thing I have found compared to my other scopes is the sensitivity of the spacing & alignment.. and I'm using a small chip! I didn't expect this as I get away with a bit more tolerance on the faster WO's. I've yet to dig out my 1000D & try that as a larger chip.

Anyway, here's a 5s unstretched L sub of Capella... with one of the 314L+  please critique away in case I have got it wrong... 

[Gina]

Gina.. I hope you don't mind me posting this image from mine on your thread. I'm not trying to do anything other than ease your mind if that's ok?

It's still early days for these scopes but I've been able to get a few subs with the Esprit 80 & I haven't seen anything yet to get alarmed about. In fact I'm quite excited having compared them to my doublets & can't wait for some decent seeing. (& processing skills  ) If there is a problem with the optics on yours I don't think it will be a general issue (at this stage from my checks anyway). In much the same way as my initial issues with the focuser wasn't experienced by anyone else.

One thing I have found compared to my other scopes is the sensitivity of the spacing & alignment.. and I'm using a small chip! I didn't expect this as I get away with a bit more tolerance on the faster WO's. I've yet to dig out my 1000D & try that as a larger chip.

Anyway, here's a 5s unstretched L sub of Capella... with one of the 314L+  please critique away in case I have got it wrong... 

Capella_ES80_314L_09-11-13_006_L.jpg

Well, it's better than mine it seems.  Thanks for posting

[Gina]

At last I've had time to process the data from last night and this morning so here is the result with Hubble Palette. 13 x 10m Ha, 14 x 10m binned 2x2 OIII and 13 x 10m binned 2x2 SII.  Stacked in DSS, stretched in Ps, aligned and resized with RegiStar and post process in Ps.  Resized for upload and saved as JPEG.

[Gina]

Gina the brightest star has spikes and from the looks of it spacing is not right as all the corners look a bit stretched

This is without the flattener

[Gina]

I think I shall probably wait until I have the flattener in use and at the right distance to the image sensor before making a decision on this scope.  It also needs a lot more testing.  I'm not going to condemn it just yet   (I'm a lot calmer now )