SW Evo 80ED Pro or SW Equinox APO 80?? TORN

[Gohan75]

Torn between the two and was looking for some advise as looking to purchase before Xmas. 

I have been doing some reading up on both the scopes. I originally planned on getting the Evo ED80 but the look of the equinox is tantalising! 

I think im right in saying both scopes have the same optics, however the equinox has a shorter focal ratio at F6.25 as standard. Does this mean you will not need to buy a reducer as you would need to with the Evo thus saving some cash? The equinox does need a field flattener though, but thats half the price of the reducer for the Evo on FLO.  

I also read that the equinox has a better focuser and is more aimed at AP, is this the case? One down side to the equinox i believe is that it is heavier than the Evo due to its higher build quality, will this be an issue when guiding on a HEQ5 pro?

Also, whats a Standard ¼-20 Tripod Bush ?

I guess what i am trying to ascertain is whether the equinox is worth the extra cash, or should i stick to the tried and true Evo ED80? Opinions? 

Thanks

[emadmoussa]

I think both are the same scope, but the build of the equinox is slightly better?

Have you considered the Starwave ED series?? I replaced my Evostar 80ED with a Starwave 102ED and never looked back.

[Hargo]

I'm having the same issue.

I'm edging towards the equinox though cause I reckon with it's build quality it will last longer.

Plus I'm just getting into the photography side so was looking for something that I could use initially as my main instrument but also use as a guide scope when I upgrade in the future.

Also it does just look gorgeous.

If you haven't read the sky at night review it has a section on the focuser which sounds ideal for astrophotographers.

[emadmoussa]

If anything the Equinox has a better focuser than the Evostar and looks great. .I give you that. However, having fiddled with both and then with the Starwave ED ...I can tell you with confidence that the latter has a more superior focuser.

[Daniel-K]

The equinox has a faster f ratio. I have one and love it

[nmoushon]

I have the same setup you are looking at and love it. Been using it for two years now. I wouldn't recommend any other scope in this budget range. Optics are great, the build is great, the focuser is decent.  I can't say for sure if one focuser is better than the other but its the major downside to both scopes. I was using my 450D for all but the last couple months and the focuser held it fine if you tightened it up other wise its slips, which I'm sure will happen with either scope. Not that I've switched to a CCD the exrta weight has required me to tighten even more and so much so that I can't use the dual speed to focus if its tightened down. Now with that said once you have it tightened it wont slip even at the zenith. And i'm not saying you need to tighten with a giant rench either, just a the little allen rench will do it.

As for the f/ratio: Yes you can use either with just a flattener and it will work fine. Its just how fast you want your setup to be. I use a x.76 reducer on mine and love it. Gives it a nice wide FOV that can comfortable fit M31 on my DSLR sensor with plenty of space around it and it even still fits on my even smaller sensor of my CCD. I would suggest getting a ff/r combo. Though do take not that the standard grey and black SW ff/r for their new ED80 does NOT work with the Equinox. Not sure about the other scope though. But there are a couple options out there that do work. Just have to make sure and do a little research to make sure. I know the TV 2008 ff/r does work.

[IanL]

What camera are you planning to use?

The build quality of the Evostar is perfectly fine; OK it is not a CNC manufactured thing of beauty but for a doublet I don't really see the sense in spending a fortune on the rest of the OTA; neither is a premium triplet and you're not going to be selling it in the future for nearly as much (or more) than you paid for it.  The Evostar Focuser is fine with the reducer and a DSLR and could probably handle a bit more weight no problem.  It is smooth enough and doesn't seem to suffer with flexure or other mechanical problems.  It isn't rotatable though, which can be a pain.

If you're looking use a heavier CCD, filter wheel and so on with it then you probably would want a better focuser than the stock Evostar one.  You could either upgrade later if (like me) you have to chip away at your kit when budget allows. or buy something better now if you have the funds and know you are going to need it in the future.  Whether the Equinox focuser is so much better as to justify the cost vs. a truly premium after-market focuser I couldn't say, but then you could always look at an Esprit since it isn't *that* much more money (and so on we go!)

[Gohan75]

IanL - the cam im using atm is a 450D. 

Im assuming the extra cost involved is the quality of the build, the focuser, and the reduced F ratio (which is appealing) ?

[IanL]

Evostar is f/7.5 or f/6.37 with the matching 0.85 reducer.  Equinox is f/6.25 native (or better if you buy a suitable reducer) so the f-ratio is not really a deciding factor.  The Evostar with the reducer gives a reasonably flat field on a DSLR APS/C chip.  I don't know about the Equinox, but I am guessing you need (at least) a flattener to do the same which pushes the price up slightly.  Also you may need to budget for a dovetail for the Equinox depending on balance issues whereas the OTA only version of the Evostar has a small one included. Say £509 for the reduced/flattened Evostar and £587 - £610 for the flattened Equinox.

There is no doubt the overall build of the Equinox is better, and the focuser is rotatable which is a big plus, but doesn't sound from the comments above like it is exactly at the top end of the market.  It is a bit of a hard one to call to be honest.  I think the price differential was slightly more (but not much) when I bought my Evostar and the saving of about 100 quid was something I needed to make to get it through the head of procurement.  If you don't see a CCD in your near future it probably makes no difference whether you go for one over the other, but if you are likely to buy a heavier imaging rig in the next year or two you might want to look at the focuser upgrade options and/or similar scopes with better stock focussers to see how the economics stack up.

I don't think you'd have an issue re-selling either scope in the future - they're not going to hold all their value but you often seen used Evostars up for sale for maybe £100 less than the current asking price and they do appear to sell.  Either way I think they are a bargain - not a premium triplet but good value for money.

[Gohan75]

THanks IanL

[nmoushon]

I didn't use a dovetail plate till I switched to CCD from DSLR. It was perfectly balanced but pretty close. I was able to get 2min unguided subs with my setup (see sig). If your planning on keeping either scope for a while I would suggest looking to upgrade the focuser, when you can of course. Personally I would want as fast a setup as possible. Both scopes wont give you a flat field so you'll need a flattener. But with a reducer the Evo doesn't even drop down to the Equinox native. I get my Equinox from a native 500mm FL @ F/6.25 to 380mm FL@ F/4.75. Thats a good bit difference in speed. Now other than the build and the speed I think they are pretty equal. So just need to decide if the faster and heavier built scope is better than a lesser built (But still a good quality build) and slower scope is what you want and is the difference in price really worth it? Up to you now.

[Gohan75]

Thanks. Hmmm is it worth it for the faster focal ratio? that's something I will have to consider. What focal reducer/flattener Is recommended for the equinox?

[nmoushon]

Mine is an unnamed and bought second hand so I'm not even sure what it is. It works great though but unfortunately cant tell you where to get one. But a common one is the Televue TRF 2008 ff/r or ....well the name escapes me at the moment. Sorry. I know theres one other though that works. If my brain decideds to work today and remember it I'll post it if someone doesnt do it before then. Maybe I need more caffine...

[lensman57]

I think both are the same scope, but the build of the equinox is slightly better?

Have you considered the Starwave ED series?? I replaced my Evostar 80ED with a Starwave 102ED and never looked back.

Hi,

They are not the same scope, Equinox is a doublet but with a native  F ratio of F6.25, EvoStar is also a doublet but  it is a lot slower @ F 7.5. Both need a Flatner to even out the field for DSLR or large chip CCD AP. The EvoStar has a dedicated FF/FR with a 0.85 reduction, these are about £170.00, the Equinox does not have a dedicted FF/FR and a lot of folks use either a TeleVue 0.8 FF/FR @ £230.00  or the TS version , SW also do a Flatner that may work with Equinox but this has no reduction it is about £ 65.00. The EvoStar has a longer native focal length than equinox. The focusers are also totally different, although this  does not mean that one is necessarilly better than the other. The inaduquacies of both have been well documentd. The equinox has a rotatable focuser and draw tube and depending on which camp you belong to you either love it or hate it. Both type  use the good quality FPL 53 Synthetic  Flouride Glass in the lens arrangement, perhaps that is why these scopes perform  above their price point but this does not mean that they are optically perfect or even close. The equinox has better paint, finish and is also more compact.   Both types are very popular.

Regards,

A.G

I also have a StarWave 80 ED and the focuser is 3" these are over specified and the scope is really heavy so a decent mount is essential., Optically there is not much between them.

[IanL]

The difference between the reduced Evostar at f/6.37 and the flattened Equinox at f/6.25 is negligible in terms of exposure times, but if you reduce the Exquinox to somewhere in the f/5 to f/4.75 range that is a huge difference.  But there is a significant extra cost for a reducer vs. the standard flattener. See my post here for a bit of an explanation of the effects of f/ratio on imaging times:

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/198737-skywatcher-80ed-pro-or-skywatcher-150pds/page-2#entry2096779

In terms of field of view here are some comparisons between an Evostar Native (Yellow), 0.85FR (Green), Equinox Native (Magenta) and 0.8FR (Cyan).  All these are with a fairly typical Canon 1100D DSLR.

You can roll your own versions with any combo of camera, scope and reducer/barlow using the link in my sig below.

[Gohan75]

Wow thats certainly a difference in terms of field of view. Thanks IanL. Equinox with a reducer is starting to push my price limits however.

Thanks for everyones input. I have much to consider!

[ollypenrice]

A doublet at F5 or even less strikes me as more than a little optimistic. I haven't seen an Equinox in use but I wonder if it has such good control of the blue channel as the Plain Jane ED80? I seem to remember wondering about this in looking at Equinox images a while back but I can't be sure. But squeezing a doublet down to F5 and below? Not convinced.

I don't like Crayfords so I wouldn't like either focuser and would expect both to need a bit of attention, but for the price can we complain?

Olly

http://ollypenrice.smugmug.com/Other/Best-of-Les-Granges/22435624_WLMPTM#!i=2277139556&k=FGgG233

[nmoushon]

A doublet at F5 or even less strikes me as more than a little optimistic. I haven't seen an Equinox in use but I wonder if it has such good control of the blue channel as the Plain Jane ED80? I seem to remember wondering about this in looking at Equinox images a while back but I can't be sure. But squeezing a doublet down to F5 and below? Not convinced.

I don't like Crayfords so I wouldn't like either focuser and would expect both to need a bit of attention, but for the price can we complain?

Olly

http://ollypenrice.smugmug.com/Other/Best-of-Les-Granges/22435624_WLMPTM#!i=2277139556&k=FGgG233

I finally got my internal guide chip to work and connect and control my mount! (After nearly 2months of messing with) So as soon as the full moon goes away and some clear nights come about I will be giving my new CCD a proper first light with the Equinox. As I'm not as experienced yet as I want to be I'll let you judge on the color correction with my kit as it drops the Equinox below f/5. I have DSLR pic up but..well its a DSLR so I'm sure the color correction isn't the best in those anyways so not the fairest judgement.

[lensman57]

I finally got my internal guide chip to work and connect and control my mount! (After nearly 2months of messing with) So as soon as the full moon goes away and some clear nights come about I will be giving my new CCD a proper first light with the Equinox. As I'm not as experienced yet as I want to be I'll let you judge on the color correction with my kit as it drops the Equinox below f/5. I have DSLR pic up but..well its a DSLR so I'm sure the color correction isn't the best in those anyways so not the fairest judgement.

Good Evening Olly,

I think that you are 100% bang on. I have a WO ZS71 as well as the usual ED 80 from SW and an SW 80 called starwave. The 71 is a lovely scope but @ F5.9 and a doublet it has a little issue with the blue channel, and so has the StarWave,  the common denominator between them is being a doublet and having a reasonably fast F ratio. Perhaps pushing a doublet to F6 or so is not viable but around F8 these seem to  perform better.

A.G