A Sky-Watcher Evostar ED150 DS Pro lands in Yorkshire

[JeremyS]

8 minutes ago, Owmuchonomy said:

Another instalment for you. I managed an hour or so on Friday night. The sky had a thin veil of cloud in places but the seeing was very steady in fact almost scarily steady. The cloud became too thick about 11:30.

Great report Chris. Glad to hear it's performing well for you.

Are there any other SGL members that have got one of the scopes (apart from John, of course)?

[Owmuchonomy]

21 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

Great report Chris. Glad to hear it's performing well for you.

Are there any other SGL members that have got one of the scopes (apart from John, of course)?

I haven’t seen any other posts except for me and @John.

[Greymouser]

Can I ask you just how good the case it come supplied with is? I don't think you mentioned it, other than it arrived undamaged. It is just that I have come across some flight cases that were not too good to be honest, which is not good when transporting scopes etc.

Thanks.?

[Sunshine]

Gods what a monster! i am itching to hear what your impression will be on planetary and lunar, it certainly is a beautiful looking scope, a 6" frac is some serious bit of kit.

[Owmuchonomy]

20 hours ago, Greymouser said:

Can I ask you just how good the case it come supplied with is? I don't think you mentioned it, other than it arrived undamaged. It is just that I have come across some flight cases that were not too good to be honest, which is not good when transporting scopes etc.

Thanks.?

I described it in the first post. The case is very substantial and was in perfect condition.

[Owmuchonomy]

19 hours ago, Sunshine said:

Gods what a monster! i am itching to hear what your impression will be on planetary and lunar, it certainly is a beautiful looking scope, a 6" frac is some serious bit of kit.

There are no gas giant  planetary chances for years. Next tempter for Mars is in 2020. I can try Venus and the Ice Giants though in the next few weeks. Lunar I think will be spectacular and I will try that at the next opportunity.

[John]

4 minutes ago, Owmuchonomy said:

There are no gas giant  planetary chances for years. Next tempter for Mars is in 2020. I can try Venus and the Ice Giants though in the next few weeks. Lunar I think will be spectacular and I will try that at the next opportunity.

Neptune and Uranus are around. You should be able to get Triton at Neptune with the ED150 and maybe even a couple of Uranian moons.

Lunar views will be superb I'm sure

[Greymouser]

Thank you for your reply.

Can I ask bot you and John about what you would advise as the minimum mount for this telescope? FLO are selling it with an EQ6-R, which I suspect will not be remotely portable? ?

[John]

1 hour ago, Greymouser said:

Thank you for your reply.

Can I ask bot you and John about what you would advise as the minimum mount for this telescope? FLO are selling it with an EQ6-R, which I suspect will not be remotely portable? ?

Is that for imaging or visual ?

I don't image but I found the Giro Ercole and Skytee II alt-azimuth mounts held the ED150 well enough for visual use. I was also using a very good hardwood tripod (Berlebach Uni 28).

For imaging something equatorial and a lot more robust would be needed.

A 6 inch refractor is never going to be a readily portable scope in my view. "Moveable" might be a more realistic prospect !

 

[Greymouser]

Thank you and interesting. ?

It would be visual, initially. I did look at the option of a Skytee II and the Uni28, ( seeing it mentioned by you I think...) Telescope House sell it with a metal tripod too. FLO claim a load of 10 KG, TH one of 15KG, I presume slightly different mounts? Even though they look very similar from the pics. 

Considering the light pollution at home, I need portability though I think.  If you consider the ED150 to be not really worth considering as portable, what would consider a good scope for portability?  Sorry if it is a stupid question, but I just do not know enough, but do know Dobs are not as good as some say, more " moveable ". ?

[John]

27 minutes ago, Greymouser said:

Thank you and interesting. ?

It would be visual, initially. I did look at the option of a Skytee II and the Uni28, ( seeing it mentioned by you I think...) Telescope House sell it with a metal tripod too. FLO claim a load of 10 KG, TH one of 15KG, I presume slightly different mounts? Even though they look very similar from the pics. 

Considering the light pollution at home, I need portability though I think.  If you consider the ED150 to be not really worth considering as portable, what would consider a good scope for portability?  Sorry if it is a stupid question, but I just do not know enough, but do know Dobs are not as good as some say, more " moveable ". ?

FLO are applying practical experience and feedback from this forum to their figure. They are the same mount.

One of the most portable scopes with reasonable light grasp and resolution would be an 8 inch schmidt-cassegrain I think. They have some other compromises but, for the aperture, they are very compact and relatively easy to mount up as well. 

 

 

 

 

[John]

As this thread is about Chris's ED150, it's best to use another thread, or start a new one, to discuss other scope options for you

[Owmuchonomy]

In case you are following this thread please note I have posted another test on the focuser here: 

 

[Owmuchonomy]

...and the first image through the scope is here:

 

[Owmuchonomy]

Just checking in to say that the ED150 experience is still fresh and enjoyable.  Last night was very steady and clear here. I spent a little while trying my new Xmas present, a SW wireless dongle.  It worked flawlessly with the AZ EQ 6 GT. Using Sky Safari I tapped on comet 46P. The brightness has deteriorated on this object over the last week as it passes through Auriga. So tapping on M37 one of my favourite objects I enjoyed the experience of observing the cluster with its occasional  red occupants. What the ED150 does though is bring out the dense star background of this view. It’s an absorbing experience viewing so many stars, almost no black to be seen and it cements the sense that I was viewing through the galactic plane. I am so pleased with this scope and my new wireless capability. The high cloud quickly appeared from the west so I managed about an hour checking other favourites such as Almach, Meissa, the Crab Nebula and Alberio before retreating indoors. I have visitors to the obsy next Thursday and hopefully the sky will play ball.

[John]

I'm pleased that there are positive SW ED150 experiences being had Chris - the scope deserves some good news given the rather uncertain start it had (not yours, which was fine from the off of course).

I'm hoping to have another one to try out for the forum sometime next year

[Chris]

16 minutes ago, John said:

I'm pleased that there are positive SW ED150 experiences being had Chris - the scope deserves some good news given the rather uncertain start it had (not yours, which was fine from the off of course).

I'm hoping to have another one to try out for the forum sometime next year

I've not been hanging out on the forum much recently, John. I take it you got hold of one to review and it didn't go well?  

[Chris]

Congratulations Chris, looks like it will make a mighty obsy scope  

[Owmuchonomy]

2 hours ago, John said:

I'm pleased that there are positive SW ED150 experiences being had Chris - the scope deserves some good news given the rather uncertain start it had (not yours, which was fine from the off of course).

I'm hoping to have another one to try out for the forum sometime next year

Pin prick stars abound. The collimation is still spot on. The only small mishap was a Senior moment. After looking at near zenith objects through the 150 we moved to the tandem ED80 as it was more comfortable. On coming back to the 150 I realised when trying to find the EP that the whole OTA  had gently and quietly slipped in the rings so the EP was almost on the floor! Quickly remedied by tightening things up.

[Telescope40]

Hello Chris. @Owmuchonomy
This has been a very informative read. I’m getting a trigger finger issue about this scope. Saw one as IAS last year and some plans are afoot. Presume it’s still living up to expectations. 
can I ask if you got around to fitting a Moonlite focuser. 
My current big frac, a 127, has a Moonlite and I would be looking to switch it to this scope if I become an owner. 
Thx in advance.  John 
 

Edited January 30, 2020 by Telescope40

[John]

14 minutes ago, Telescope40 said:

Hello Chris. 
This has been a very informative read. I’m getting a trigger finger issue about this scope. Saw one as IAS last year and some plans are afoot. Presume it’s still living up to expectations. 
can I ask if you got around to fitting a Moonlite focuser. 
My current big frac, a 127, has a Moonlite and I would be looking to switch it to this scope if I become an owner. 
Thx in advance.  John 
 

I'd be interested to hear what Chris says on the scope now as well.

On the focuser upgrade, I'm not sure that Moonlite have developed a flange for the Evostar ED150 as yet. You might have to have one specially made up ?

 

[Telescope40]

32 minutes ago, John said:

I'd be interested to hear what Chris says on the scope now as well.

On the focuser upgrade, I'm not sure that Moonlite have developed a flange for the Evostar ED150 as yet. You might have to have one specially made up ?

 

Hello John. 
I’ve read the threads you posted about the Illfated tests you did with the 2 scopes you tried. 
You never got to try out a third time, I presume 

John 

[Owmuchonomy]

Hi both @John @Telescope40; sorry I didn't catch your post earlier.  I think I mentioned in this thread or in the other one where I tested the click-lock that the flange is not compatible with my Moonlite.  It is larger than both the ED80 (I still use) and the ED120 (I sold on).  I'm not aware that Moonlite have produced a compatible unit.  The stock focuser on the ED150 is actually very good; it holds my kit steady in better fashion than the stock ED80 unit.  I don't put loads of weight on it because I don't image much with it except the Moon with my ASI290MM.   Regarding the scope then I am very happy with it.  It produces extremely good views and unlike @JohnI seem to have a well collimated example.  The Rosette for example is a magnificent view using a 24mm 82' ES EP, something I've not achieved with any other scope (of larger aperture) I have owned.  I also let some folk observe M42 and they commented that the view was "like it's in 3D".  If you are thinking of buying one then just be aware of the weight and balance. The scope is very front heavy and so has to sit a fair way back to achieve balance.  It would be an easy fix because a lot of the weight is in the dew shield.  If that was constructed of a lighter material it would help a lot.  So a tripod extension is a must.  It works well with my ED80 in tandem on my AZ EQ6 GT mount.  I saw the one on offer at IAS so I was wondering if someone snapped it up!  In the Spring I will do some bowl of Virgo testing and report back.

[Neil_104]

Bump....I've just read this thread with interest as I'm currently planning on a big refractor purchase in the near future. Just wondered if you still have the scope Chris and if you could describe your experience of the planets compared to the C9.25. I used to own a C9.25 so it will be a useful frame of reference. My C9.25 gave some very memorable views of Jupiter, and it was the first time I saw the colour blue on the disc for definite. Cheers!

Edited November 2, 2022 by Neil_104