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The Skywatcher Evostar ED150 DS Pro Is Here !


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I can imagine how deflated you must be... On the positive side, as the first scope was damaged instead of getting a glowing review, it's helpful for prospective buyers to see that the second scope suggested quality control has issues. Maybe this is revealing why the price is so eye opening!

Although I'll never own anything like this, thanks for your inspiring reviews ?

Cheers

Martin

 

Edited by iammart
Clarification
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I feel your disappointment, John - after such high expectations this must come as quite a blow. What is so sad is that Sky-Watcher CAN produce excellent telescopes but frankly, they only have themselves to blame if this one flops in the short term, there really is no excuse for such poor QC!

Your honesty in revealing the full 'warts' version of the review is to be admired, John.

Get out there and enjoy that 120, mate!

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Oh dear, that is really disappointing.  Looks like I have been very lucky with mine and everything points to excellent collimation and condition.  I have a few cloudy nights forecast so I can't do some more testing for a while but I am impressed with the contrast gleaned on some targets.  If you were closer then I would gladly lend you mine.

Edited by Owmuchonomy
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15 minutes ago, Owmuchonomy said:

Oh dear, that is really disappointing.  Looks like I have been very lucky with mine and everything points to excellent collimation and condition.  I have a few cloudy nights forecast so I can't do some more testing for a while but I am impressed with the contrast gleaned on some targets.  If you were closer then I would gladly lend you mine.

It is very good to hear yours is performing well ?

We will endeavour to put a good example in John’s hands but I think we should consult with Sky-Watcher’s UK distributor before deciding the next move. Not least because this is a new model so we are not sure what the current stock situation is like. 

HTH, 

Steve

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I feel it's a real shame that this much anticipated scope has come up so short in the two scopes John received, all be it for two very different reasons.  Now everyone will be waiting to see how many of them have QC problems.  Hopefully it will be only a few, but any more than this and SW's reputation make take some time to recover, at least as far as this telescope goes.  ?

Edited by paulastro
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Wonder if the retainer ring has been cross threaded into the OTA fitting resulting in the outer lens cell not seated correctly?

Has it got three foil spacers between the cells? if so are they intact and correctly spaced? 

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Good honest report John ?

Skywatcher are certainty doing themselves no favours here i am afraid , by allowing a 150ed of this nature to leave the factory.

With all the good work Skywatcher have done in the past with the likes  80ed , 100ed and 120ed putting quality scopes in the hands of many amateur astronomer at affordable prices ,they should really be at the top of their game with the new 150ed. Obviously some serious QC issues that Skywatcher need to sort out quickly.

Hope you get a good un John and then we can see if the 150ed in its correct state is going to be a worthy addition to the Skywatcher ED stable.

 

 

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20 minutes ago, jock1958 said:

Wonder if the retainer ring has been cross threaded into the OTA fitting resulting in the outer lens cell not seated correctly?

Has it got three foil spacers between the cells? if so are they intact and correctly spaced? 

The retainer ring might well be cross threaded. I'd be surprised if it was not given the angle it's tilted at. It is cemented so I've no way to check. The objective does not rattle in it's cell. Beyond that your guess is as good as mine !

The design does not use foil spacers as far as I can see (in both the scopes I've had). I'm assuming that the air gap is maintained with a thin gasket type ring. I have wondered if a twist or other uneveness in such a ring might be causing tilting on one of the lens elements - the outer one most likely. No way to find out without taking the cell apart and removing the objective though.

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Just now, iPeace said:

I truly appreciate FLO's role in all this. It's great to have a supplier of such straightforward integrity. :thumbright:

Indeed. They have gone to a lot of effort to get a scope to me and then to get a replacement supplied within 24 hours. Thanks very much Steve and FLO :icon_salut:

 

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On 03/08/2018 at 20:35, dweller25 said:

Daniel Mounsey - an American astronomer (and US vendor) has compared the SW 150ED to a TEC 140 triplet and found very little visual difference.

https://www.focusastro.org/equipment-reviews

I expect the SW150ED would outsell TEC140's by a considerable margin?

Thankfully, the review here was not conducted by James, Steve, or Grant from FLO, and carries all the more authority for it. ?

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58 minutes ago, FLO said:

We will endeavour to put a good example in John’s hands......

Steve

Musing > It would be nice one day to have a reputable top UK supplier with an optical bench and staff trained by a certain Mr Reid, perhaps before said Mr Reid hangs up his gloves for good.

My fear is that a lot of the skills our hobby depend on are at risk of dying out with nobody rising to take up the mantle... mirror makers, optical gurus, mirror aluminisers, lens polishers.......

I do hope SW can iron out the wrinkles with the first batch of 150EDs, they have always been pretty good at improving QC when necessary.  

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3 minutes ago, Tim said:

Musing > It would be nice one day to have a reputable top UK supplier with an optical bench and staff trained by a certain Mr Reid, perhaps before said Mr Reid hangs up his gloves for good.

My fear is that a lot of the skills our hobby depend on are at risk of dying out with nobody rising to take up the mantle... mirror makers, optical gurus, mirror aluminisers, lens polishers.......

I do hope SW can iron out the wrinkles with the first batch of 150EDs, they have always been pretty good at improving QC when necessary.  

Yes, an Es Reid test to go with this scope seems a logical step.

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That's a real shame John - I too feel your disappointment. When I saw your post pop-up on my phone, I wasn't able to read it but was hoping for so much better this time around :(.

From my own personal experiences, and regardless of brand or cost, almost everything nowadays seems fraught with potential QA pitfalls... Whenever I buy anything new a quote from Naked Gun always creeps into my head -

Hapsberg:   Do you gamble Lieutenant?

Dreben:       Every time I order out.

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17 minutes ago, wimvb said:

Yes, an Es Reid test to go with this scope seems a logical step.

That does make sense. I will discuss the idea with my colleagues and, of course, Es.

Will also look into sourcing an outer box so the telescope can be double-boxed. That should ensure Es’ good work isn’t undone by the courier! 

Steve 

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John, a pat on the back for full honesty, such a shame, but we have to remember these skywatcher scopes are mass produced, not lovingly crafted, but its bad on the factory worker for assembling it like this, as it can only be one of 2 things, crossed threaded or the thread has been machined at an angle

also a big pat on the back to FLO for sending these out for test

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Oh dear , just caught up with this.

The śpacer ring was used in the Phénix 127. I can only assume it was easier than getting the correct thickness and placed spacers. It was twisted and awful.

At the price point of the 150ed I would have expected a bit of care and attention. Very much hoping for some good reports.

Never ever seen anything like the illustrations that John posted, nearly fell off the sofa. I use Epsilon Lyrae as an easy tester, knowing what to expect helps.

There is little competition for long refractors out there and I'm sure a demand from the observer. Let's hope SW has come up with something good,

old Nick.

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41 minutes ago, cotterless45 said:

Let's hope SW has come up with something good,

I'm fairly certain that the engineering department of Skywatcher has come up with a good design, but that the production department needs to get its act together. This is an all too familiar rerun of production development, that other countries went through decades ago.

In the mean time, an Es Reid test can provide the quality control that should be SOP in China. The scope just became £ 75 (which I believe is the price FLO  usually adds for a test) more expensive than its list price. If FLO will offer the test, that is.

Maybe Skywatcher should hire Es as a consultant for quality control, just as they hired Pal Gyulai for the optical design of Esprit.

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From reports elsewhere, it appears that Synta (who of course make the scope) had a problem with the 1st batch of glass used for the objective and had to scrap the lot and start again. The release of the scope was delayed but this could well have put pressure on other parts of the manufacturing chain perhaps ?

We must also remember that Skywatcher are far from alone in experiencing problems of this nature with a new design. Many brands including some very prestigious names, have experienced such issues. Lets hope that the very substantial organisation behind the ED150 can quickly iron out the problems and allow the design to shine, as it deserves to :smiley:

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11 hours ago, FLO said:

That does make sense. I will discuss the idea with my colleagues and, of course, Es.

Will also look into sourcing an outer box so the telescope can be double-boxed. That should ensure Es’ good work isn’t undone by the courier! 

Steve 

I know Es and I can't think of a better person to test anyone's scope.  However, I can't help but think that offering a service to get any telescope tested by ES (or anyone else for that matter) is akin to sticking a notice on the listing saying   ' this telescope is subject to poor quality control and we can't guarantee you'll get a good one unless it is tested'.

Now, (before the hatchets come out! :smile:) please don't misunderstand this.  Certainly it is a good thing to offer this service by FLO, and I would certainly want Es to check my telescope if I was in the market for one.  The trouble is this then creates an environment where any untested 150EDs will be mistrusted, their owners will probably feel they may have an inferior one (particularly if they don't feel confident to give it a good check themselves) and anyone selling a used 150ED will probably see its' price devalued and possibly difficult to sell on at all.  

The better outcome would be if SW can prove they have sorted any QC issues with this telescope and third party testing,  by anyone, is unnecessary.

Edited by paulastro
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