What can the Skywatcher Evostar ED80 do for me?

[Uranium235]

Just a small selection from the 80ED, however its something I rarely use thesedays. But with a bit of effort it can do the business. All done with the 383, with the exception of the Soul - which was with ye olde Atik 314.

 

 

 

 

[MattJenko]

Rob, those are quite frankly spectacular!

It's great to see that the limiting factor in my imaging with my kit is still me - and by a long way!!!

Thanks for posting and showing what can be done with practice and skill with 'beginners' kit.

[Uranium235]

Rob, those are quite frankly spectacular!

It's great to see that the limiting factor in my imaging with my kit is still me - and by a long way!!!

Thanks for posting and showing what can be done with practice and skill with 'beginners' kit.

Cheers

Its definitely a case of practice makes perfect with AP, but in the case of the 80ED - popping a CCD on it (and using the 0.85x FF/FR) is what takes you a major step forward, especially as you progress past the obvious stuff like M31 and M42 and go looking for something a little more unusual or difficult.

[ollypenrice]

Good thread.

No need for lead if you get a longer dovetail and slide it forwards in the saddle plate.

The ED80/flattener/HEQ5 can deliver images very close to the best that are out there. Very close.

Olly

[MattJenko]

Resurrecting this thread a bit to add in some 414ex images I have taken with this scope now I have started doing some mono CCD work

M13. Under an hour total exposure. Some scraggy processing, but progress.

Simple RGB image, no Luminence. M67.

PinWheel. 9x10min L, 6x10min RGB.

[Christopher Davenport]

Nice I missed this thread.

Great images on here, and the CCD images shows what huge difference is possible.

These are some of my Humble pie DSLR attempts

<Click on the images to see them full screen.>

 

[toxic]

nothing humble about them images christopher

[MattJenko]

agreed, those are really good (and I like the captioning too )

[toxic]

updated horse and a couple of others

IC434 & NGC 2024 desktop crop

Messier 51 

messier's 81 & 82 with some faint friends 

Messier 44 

Messier 104 the Sombrero Galaxy

[MattJenko]

Nice galaxies! Got some great colour in there as well as a nicely muted flame/horsehead. Good haul.

[ArmyAirForce]

I got an 80ED in January this year, and so far have used it on 51 days out of the last 65. In addition to using it on my NEQ6 for deep space, I've found it works pretty well hand held for Solar and Lunar shots too with a x2 teleconverter, shooting two or three hundred images and stacking. It has given me a fantastic 5 minute grab and go capability, taking advantage of  5 or 10 minute gaps in the clouds without any set up time.

[toxic]

nice images there

i got mine not long after you stephen

from a mr Aiken

[Uranium235]

Nice solar shot there, im hoping to use the 80ED for the same thing this weekend if we get any clear skies. I finished my solar film holder last night so im itching to give it a whirl.

[GaryCH]

This is a great thread to see. I've just got my sw ed80 this week and a celestron avx mount last week. It's nice to see what it's capable of and I hope I can add something here at some point!

I've only managed to have one play with it so far due to the clouds so hopefully we'll have some clear nights soon!

[MattJenko]

Hi Gary. Congratulations on the new scope. Hope you enjoy it is much as I am.

The one thing which may need addressing (it has on the 3 ED80s I know of) and that is to make sure the focuser screws are nice and tight : http://www.astronomyshed.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=4932

I'm not suggesting taking the focuser out, but just to tighten the right screws.

I hear good things about that mount as well. Enjoy.

[frugal]

The one thing which may need addressing (it has on the 3 ED80s I know of) and that is to make sure the focuser screws are nice and tight : http://www.astronomyshed.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=4932

 .

I know that I hadto do that quick fettle, and it ensured that the DSLR did not make the focusser slip.

[Magnus_e]

As i started to read about this hobby and was eye shopping i frequently heard that refractors was good for planetary stuff and that you would do best with a fast newt for dso.

Reading this thread and looking at  the picrures, i might be going for a ED80 when i retire my ST80 to the role of guide scope

Absolutely stunning pictures!

[GaryCH]

Hi Gary. Congratulations on the new scope. Hope you enjoy it is much as I am.

The one thing which may need addressing (it has on the 3 ED80s I know of) and that is to make sure the focuser screws are nice and tight : http://www.astronomyshed.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=4932

I'm not suggesting taking the focuser out, but just to tighten the right screws.

I hear good things about that mount as well. Enjoy.

Thanks for the tip! I'll have a look into that when I get a chance.

Gary.

[MattJenko]

Few more for the album. Couple of open clusters and some galaxies, with a reprocessed DSLR nebula for good measure:

M50 RGB Atik 414ex, ED80. 3 hours total.

M48. RGB Atik 414ex, 2 hours total:

Leo Trio:

LRGB Atik 414ex. 4 hours total:

Canon 450d. Witches Head nebula. 4 hours total:

[MattJenko]

The last few in my last post were a bit dark and gloomy. Lets add some showbiz colour. The Wizard Nebula in Bi-Colour Narrowband. Ha and Oiii. 6.5 hours with the ED80 and the Atik 414ex:

[GaryCH]

Well, I can't boast such quality dso images yet, partly due to the fact that I'm not guiding properly still and I need to purchase a half decent LP filter but, I did borrow a basic 3x Barlow from a friend to test out planetary imaging on jupiter with results I was quite surprised by.

This is my first attempt using my quickcam pro 4000 and the 3x Barlow shot at 5 fps (totalling approximately 500 frames) using registax to stack and a very quick adjustment of the wavelets (I don't really know how to get the best out of wavelets settings by a long shot!) I might have a go at processing it again in registax and then use lightroom or photoshop at some point on a cloudy night to see if I can improve the results though.

[MattJenko]

That is a fantastic Jupiter shot, especially given it is with a short FL 3 inch refractor! Nicely done. I did a quick Jupiter once and didn't think this kind of image could be done with it.

[Sleepy Kiki]

Hi Matt, I missed this great thread the first time round. Here's a few of mine when I started with the ED80 / HEQ5 and modded Canon1100D.

When I did my homework It was threads like this that helped me decide what to get started out with and I have no regrets 

[RossWhiteford]

This is an excellent thread - thanks everyone for posting. I'm the proud owner of a Skywatcher 200p Dobsonian, which has been great for visual use, even under heavily light polluted skies. After nearly a year of visual astronomy I'm looking hopefully at the world of AP, and an ED80 + HEQ5 seems to be an excellent set up based on all the comments and photos here!!

[Koje]

Indeed a very encouraging thread. I have also been visual only and have been looking at a good beginner setup to start imaging with. With some backdated pay coming up at work this might just be the setup I go for. Thanks all who have shared.