Skywatcher 100 ED Pro Esprit - Great Performance

[Selborne]

On 29/10/2018 at 08:35, SteveMunro said:

Hi Jamie, thanks for sharing your incredible Image. I have a quick question, if you don't mind, that is related to both scope and camera (i.e. I own A7rii and I'm wanting to buy the Skywatcher Esprit 100). What mounts are you using to attach the camera to the scope? I've been in touch with Bintel and, unfortunately this time, they are unable to give me the information I need so, as you are using both which I intend to use, can you please let me know how it all came together for you? All the best, Steve

Hi Steve,

I purchased mine from 365 Astronomy, Zoran there is very helpful, he calculated the tube length from the field flattener and put together a set of adapters which allow me to have a native sony mount adapter through to the M48 connection to the field flattener, it was not cheap the whole setup was about £60, but it is the right tool for the right job.

regards

Jamie

[RayD]

You really just need to know, or find out, what the exact distance is from the mating surface of the lens, to the sensor.  For example, on Canon cameras this is usually 44mm, which means T adaptors for them are usually 11mm thick, giving you 55mm, which is the distance required for the SW field flattener.

You don't need to spend fortunes on custom adaptors, you just need to drop a line to Sony tech support and ask them what this distance is and then making up adaptors etc. is easy as you know the distance you're aiming for.  I've had a look and can't find this information, which is why I suggest dropping Sony Tech a line.

[Big Jim Slade]

Not sure if this helps, but here's a stack from mine at the (almost) default 63mm distance. I've added a .3mm shim to account for the filter, but that's it.

Esprit 100D -> Flattener -> Flattener to M48 -> 0.3mm shim -> Moravian 55mm back focus M48 nosepiece -> FW with Astronomik Ha (1mm) -> Moravian G3 16200

This is just over 5 hours of Ha - 32 x 600. I've done a teensy bit of NR, a few gentle stretches plus some local contrast enhancement. Stars untouched - but they are a little elongated in RA, my guiding RMS needs some work.

Can also post the CCD Inspector maps if that's of interest to people.

 

Edited November 5, 2018 by Big Jim Slade

[Nikolas74]

Excellent......its a shame i still didn't try mine.... 

[Nikolas74]

I was wondering if the dew shield has to be extended all the way ?? does it really makes a difference ?what if i remove it ?

Edited February 17, 2019 by Nikolas74
word mistake

[Wasp]

I'm having to travel to dark sky sites so I will be breaking it down each outing. Has anyone figured how to pack this away without taking off the tube rings?

[souls33k3r]

50 minutes ago, Wasp said:

I'm having to travel to dark sky sites so I will be breaking it down each outing. Has anyone figured how to pack this away without taking off the tube rings?

Not in its original case. Bought myself one of these cases https://www.cases-and-enclosures.co.uk/aluminium-flight-case-850x295x270mm.html

I leave everything (camera, fw, flattener, scope and rings) attached and dew shield fully extended and its a perfect fit. You will need to size up according to your kit. 

[Costabrava Skies]

Hi Everybody,

This is the first time I have submited a question on this or any other astro forum. I plan to purchase a Skywatcher Esprit ED 100 with the aim to start getting into DSO imaging. Until now I have just done planetary and lunar imaging with my Skywatcher 12 " goto dob. I live in Spain and have pretty good seeing conditions. I know that I will need guide scope etc. but what I am not sure about is what equatorial mount to buy. I was planning to purchase a Skywatcher HEQ6 goto mount as by my calculations it should be more than enough to manage the payload but my local telescope shop are suggesting that it might not be enough and that I should go for the NEQ 6. This bumps up my budget which is already over the limit I had set myself. The ccd camara I will using will be my ZWO ASI 224 colour. I know it is not really designed for DSO imaging but will buy a better dedicated camara when I can afford it. Any advice regarding whether or not the Skywatcher HEQ6 mount is suffient would be very much appreciated.

Many thanks to to yoi all.

paul

[Selborne]

On 22/07/2019 at 22:19, Costabrava Skies said:

Hi Everybody,

This is the first time I have submited a question on this or any other astro forum. I plan to purchase a Skywatcher Esprit ED 100 with the aim to start getting into DSO imaging. Until now I have just done planetary and lunar imaging with my Skywatcher 12 " goto dob. I live in Spain and have pretty good seeing conditions. I know that I will need guide scope etc. but what I am not sure about is what equatorial mount to buy. I was planning to purchase a Skywatcher HEQ6 goto mount as by my calculations it should be more than enough to manage the payload but my local telescope shop are suggesting that it might not be enough and that I should go for the NEQ 6. This bumps up my budget which is already over the limit I had set myself. The ccd camara I will using will be my ZWO ASI 224 colour. I know it is not really designed for DSO imaging but will buy a better dedicated camara when I can afford it. Any advice regarding whether or not the Skywatcher HEQ6 mount is suffient would be very much appreciated.

Many thanks to to yoi all.

paul

Hi Paul, based on my experience with the HEQ6 I have the scope performs impeccably, I have modded the mount to belt drive, so to be honest if you are going to go the skywatcher route, I would recommend the NEQ6 Pro, as it has the belt drive as standard.  I find that I can keep tp less than 1" arc second using my HEQ^ modded drive using PHD guiding, so you should be able to achieve the same or better with the HEQ6 Pro (but of course you polar alighment has to be nearly perfect), I use QHY PoleMaster with teh HEQ6 adapter, it get me onto the pole star perfectly.  Hope this helps, thanks Jamie

 

[Selborne]

On 17/02/2019 at 10:35, Nikolas74 said:

I was wondering if the dew shield has to be extended all the way ?? does it really makes a difference ?what if i remove it ?

If it is a dew'y night then yes the dew shield needs to be all the way out, in fact I also have dew heaters to stay on top of the issue.

thanks

Jamie

 

[sloz1664]

On 22/07/2019 at 22:19, Costabrava Skies said:

Hi Everybody,

This is the first time I have submited a question on this or any other astro forum. I plan to purchase a Skywatcher Esprit ED 100 with the aim to start getting into DSO imaging. Until now I have just done planetary and lunar imaging with my Skywatcher 12 " goto dob. I live in Spain and have pretty good seeing conditions. I know that I will need guide scope etc. but what I am not sure about is what equatorial mount to buy. I was planning to purchase a Skywatcher HEQ6 goto mount as by my calculations it should be more than enough to manage the payload but my local telescope shop are suggesting that it might not be enough and that I should go for the NEQ 6. This bumps up my budget which is already over the limit I had set myself. The ccd camara I will using will be my ZWO ASI 224 colour. I know it is not really designed for DSO imaging but will buy a better dedicated camara when I can afford it. Any advice regarding whether or not the Skywatcher HEQ6 mount is suffient would be very much appreciated.

Many thanks to to yoi all.

paul

Hi Paul, and a warm welcome to the Lounge  The HEQ6 is more than capable of mounting the SW Esprit 100, even if you also added a reducer, filterwheel, OAG and guide camera and a AP sized imaging camera.

Steve

[Whistlin Bob]

Hi Paul,

Welcome to the lounge!

I'd just be a little careful around names- I don't think there's an HEQ6. I'm guessing you mean an HEQ5- and for my part I'm not sure with this scope, but it works well on my 200p for imaging which comes in at around 11kgs.

Also- I tried to use an asi224 for DSO imaging at first and found it really frustrating. It's a brilliant planetary and guide camera, but quite limited for DSO, except for very small objects. After getting frustrated I went down the 2nd hand astro modded DSLR route, which was a similar cost (Canon 600d) and was much much better for me. Your mileage may vary as they say!