New Products from Sky-Watcher

[FLO]

The new Sky-Watcher 2020 catalogue is out and contains details of some interesting new products 🙂 

 

RA Motor Drive for Starquest & AZ-EQ Avant (20952) 
This will please owners of Sky-Watcher Avant telescopes. (ETA 3-4 months). 

 

Rotational Adapter for Evostar 72ED (20500)
The Sky-Watcher Evostar 72ED is a bestseller so it is good to see a rotator is in the pipeline. (ETA 2-3 months). 

 

Sky-Watcher CQ350 Pro Mount (20309/20293)
A centre-balanced equatorial mount from Sky-Watcher. We weren't expecting that. (Still in development so we don't have details or an ETA). 

 

Sky-Watcher Synscan Starwand (20990)
This one looks fun... (ETA not available)

[JamesF]

Interesting design difference between the CQ350 and the CEM60 (which I assume is in pretty much the same target market), with the former having a gap in the RA axis.  I wonder why they chose that design?

James

[cotak]

That CQ350 looks interesting. Got any detailed specs? Looks like it's a spring loaded worm now?

I think the gap will prove to provide a way to do through the mount cabling easier.

The mount market is heating up it seems.

[AbsolutelyN]

I wish they'd bring out a reducer for the Esprit range. I know there are other options but they look tricky to get right. 

[FLO]

11 minutes ago, cotak said:

That CQ350 looks interesting. Got any detailed specs? Looks like it's a spring loaded worm now?

We haven't been able to obtain info other than what is printed in their catalogue. To be fair to Synta/Sky-Watcher, if the mount is still in development then their reluctance to release info is understandable. 

11 minutes ago, cotak said:

The mount market is heating up it seems.

It certainly does feel that way 🙂 

Steve 

[Alien 13]

How do Skywatcher manage to keep producing these drool worthy gems, I am hard pressed to think of any product that has been a Lemon...

Alan

[souls33k3r]

CQ350, very very interesting. I'm guessing it will sit somewhere in between the CEM60 and EQ8 price range considering it's capacity.

[FLO]

38 minutes ago, Alien 13 said:

How do Skywatcher manage to keep producing these drool worthy gems, I am hard pressed to think of any product that has been a Lemon...

I think most interesting is the way Chinese brands (not only Synta/Sky-Watcher) are moving upmarket. Their manufacturing ability and QC has been improving year on year and they now produce some genuinely innovative products. The quality gap between them and other brands from Japan and the West is narrowing. In the astronomy products market the continental plates are shifting. I think that's as much as I can say on a forum that doesn't allow politics... 😇

Steve 

[souls33k3r]

1 minute ago, FLO said:

I think most interesting is the way Chinese brands (not only Synta/Sky-Watcher) are moving upmarket. Their manufacturing ability and QC has been improving year on year and they now produce some genuinely innovative products. The quality gap between them and other brands from Japan and the West is narrowing. In the astronomy products market the continental plates are shifting. I think that's as much as I can say on a forum that doesn't allow politics... 😇

Steve 

Oh you just opened a can of worms Steve

[FLO]

8 minutes ago, souls33k3r said:

Oh you just opened a can of worms Steve

Not intentionally 😁

[cotak]

11 hours ago, FLO said:

I think most interesting is the way Chinese brands (not only Synta/Sky-Watcher) are moving upmarket. Their manufacturing ability and QC has been improving year on year and they now produce some genuinely innovative products. The quality gap between them and other brands from Japan and the West is narrowing. In the astronomy products market the continental plates are shifting. I think that's as much as I can say on a forum that doesn't allow politics... 😇

Steve 

I for one am glad there's little nationalistic politics here. I found that stuff on the other forum unpalatable.

It is a good thing that more manufacturers are at a state where quality can be produced at reasonable price. IMHO the quality gap was always more about perception than performance...

[Sunshine]

I can’t get “Starwand” out of my head, finally I’ll be able to point my scope at other objects!! 

[cotak]

1 hour ago, Sunshine said:

I can’t get “Starwand” out of my head, finally I’ll be able to point my scope at other objects!! 

I can see someone waving it around in their backyards, saying the names of the constellation, star or nebula and making their neighbor think they are some sort of Harry Potter enthusiasts... 

[Marvin Jenkins]

It’s one of those items that you see and think I have to get one of those. After a day or two I will calm down and go back to saving for a laser collimator, more important I think.

[bottletopburly]

 So star wand ,Shining a laser into the sky 🤔 ✈️ Or am I missing something 

[souls33k3r]

Me with a "Starwand" 

[tonyowens_uk]

12 hours ago, cotak said:

I for one am glad there's little nationalistic politics here. I found that stuff on the other forum unpalatable.

It is a good thing that more manufacturers are at a state where quality can be produced at reasonable price. IMHO the quality gap was always more about perception than performance...

The Skywatcher brand is about cost leadership not innovation. But the engineering is pretty solid. They aren’t the most popular brand for nothing.

That said there is plenty of scope to improve many of their products and performance improvements are sometimes embarrassingly easy to effect.

[alan potts]

The new mount would appeal to me at 35kg it is the sort of mount that would handle my LX200 12inch, without fork of course. I can't see myself trying to ever mount the 18 inch Dob. There are some what appears to be decently made mounts in the affordable area now, even though I could dig into the pockets  far enough to buy a top level mount with weather like I have had dished up in May I can't see that I would ever want to. Not managed more than 70mins without being stopped often by a storm. Feel this one could be worth keeping an eye on.

Alan   

[Skyline]

A dedicated reducer for the ED72 would have been nice !

When do you expect the rotator for the reducer to be in stock FLO ?

Edited May 27, 2019 by Skyline

[FLO]

12 minutes ago, Skyline said:

When do you expect the rotator for the reducer to be in stock FLO ?

They say 2-3 months. 

HTH

[John]

Some interesting things to look forward to

How does the market divide up between imagers and visual observers these days ?

It does sometimes seem to me that imaging is getting more attention from the manufacturers than visual observing but perhaps the market is divided up that way ?

[bigbaldyal]

I think for the CQ350 to be a success (if it does reach the retail stage) then they need to get the assembly people to care what they are doing. I've had numerous problems with my Stargate 500p. Almost all of which have been poor assembly. I'm on my second base unit and given up trying to get OVL to sort it so I've got used to dismantling it and reassembling it properly.

I would say though that I own 3 iOptron mounts (CEM25p, CEM60EC and now a CEM120EC) and they are beautifully designed and assembled and iOptron customer support is way beyond what I've experienced from Skywatcher.

It is good for the market that another manufacturer is possibly going to make a similar mount.

One quick add. I would prefer if the manufacturers would call the mounts "Compact English Mount" as that is what they are.

[FLO]

On 27/05/2019 at 12:27, John said:

How does the market divide up between imagers and visual observers these days ?

It does sometimes seem to me that imaging is getting more attention from the manufacturers than visual observing but perhaps the market is divided up that way ?

It is hard to determine how the market is divided because many astronomers do both but I think it fair to say astrophotography is growing as the cost of entry falls. 

Steve 

[wookie1965]

On 24/05/2019 at 03:25, Sunshine said:

I can’t get “Starwand” out of my head, finally I’ll be able to point my scope at other objects!! 

Just seen it for 120 euros so not a bad price either.

[Nigella Bryant]

Found this on another website that said it will be available in the spring of 2020.

 

The needs of today's astrophotographers run at the speed of light; it is essential to satisfy the increasingly specific requests and to study solutions to improve the photography and observation sessions of us lovers of the stars and the Universe. At Sky-Watcher we are pleased to announce the release of a new frame, the Sky-Watcher CQ 350 PRO . The arrival in Italy is scheduled for the spring of 2020.

Some technical features: 35 Kg load capacity, belt drive, SynScan GoTo computerization, Autoguide input, 1 USB-B 3.0 port, 1 USB-B 2.0, 4 USB 3.0, 6 AUX ports en ° 4 power outputs.

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