Unistellar eVscope

[saac]

That is cool; it would be a brilliant setup to use in a school or outreach setting where you are looking for a quick uncomplicated setup that simply works. Hope you have fun with it. 

Jim 

[Buzzard75]

2 hours ago, Theninjagecko said:

When you look through the EP you see all that colored noise? if so then it would REALLY put me off, especially considering the price.

That's only 32 seconds of exposure time with a handful of exposures so I wouldn't judge too harshly. It gets much better after a few minutes and several exposures as would any other typical astro photo with more integration time and number of exposures.

Edited April 23, 2020 by Buzzard75

[TSRobot]

10 hours ago, Buzzard75 said:

That's only 32 seconds of exposure time with a handful of exposures so I wouldn't judge too harshly. It gets much better after a few minutes and several exposures as would any other typical astro photo with more integration time and number of exposures.

Does increasing the exposure time reduce all the coloured pixels? I tried a longer exposure of several minutes to no avail. Might be my bortle number. 

[Buzzard75]

4 hours ago, TSRobot said:

Does increasing the exposure time reduce all the coloured pixels? I tried a longer exposure of several minutes to no avail. Might be my bortle number. 

Absolutely. The background will be much smoother and the detail of the object will be increased. You can't completely eliminate the noise so there will always be some discoloration in the background, but you can increase the signal to noise ratio (SNR) and reduce the effects of the noise by increasing the amount of integration time. A single exposure with the eVscope is about four seconds. The more of those four second images you have (total integration time is indicated on the UI of the saved image), the higher your SNR will be.

[RobertI]

22 hours ago, TSRobot said:

Does increasing the exposure time reduce all the coloured pixels? I tried a longer exposure of several minutes to no avail. Might be my bortle number. 

Does the app allow you to view the image in black and white? If so you might find the  coloured noise less noticeable - that has certainly been my experience with my EAA camera, although very different setup. For galaxies it you don’t lose much by viewing in black and white imo. 

[TSRobot]

I don't think black and white is an option. I could do black and white and negative on the pc though I haven't done image editing since a long time. I haven't had chance to use it since the last update. Hopefully going to have a go tonight after pizza. No greasy fingers mind you for optical kit. It's a little warmer today again. Stars and wine maybe. Scope is all charged up to try longer exposure. 👌

[TSRobot]

1 pic of comet atlas y4 c/2019 about 10 mins and 1 pic of hercules cluster about 10 mins. Still need to collimate better. Bortle 6. Time for bed. 

Edited April 25, 2020 by TSRobot

[HWStar]

Received shipment info that was put off until June, now stating mid-July. Again because of the Covid19 virus issue.  Import tax to US is 7.5%. plus shipping, so I'm thinking another $200 plus--yikes. I might just pass on this, getting too expensive.

[Kathie]

Hi, I just joined stargazer lounge. I got my eVscope last December. I paid for it about a year before that.  I've been following many of the chat groups and this one actually felt the least hostile about eVscopes. I have been waiting for a telescope like this since I was 6 years old. I have always loved deep sky objects, I'm not the least bit interested in astrophotography and I got tired of lugging a big telescope around to get just a slightly better smudge of a target.  Some of the pictures I've captured are immensely satisfying, no way could I see galaxys and nebulas with any other set up that I would be interested in or capable of. That being said I've had a few issues. Some of which I am still working on with Unistellar

My eVscope got stuck in update mode. Unistellar said they were aware of  the problem and sent me an updated SD card. Problem fixed. They also sent out a mass mailing of another SD card so I swapped that one too. I'm guessing it was for the same problem and even though they had dealt with me individually, my serial number was still part of a group.

The on off button sticks and is flimsy. Again Unistellar is aware and working on a fix that can be installed by the end user. I am careful to depress the on/off button gently and evenly until the telescope turns on but sometimes it sticks and I need to "pop" one end or the other of the oblong button to get it back out.

Park My eVscope. Great feature but mine goes over center and does not always correct to vertical as the final maneuver before shutting off.  At maximum deflection is fits a little tighter in the backpack. Unistellar's response. Yes, it does that.  Not a big deal, especially as they are working with me to solve some more important issues and I can park it myself.

Another area of confusion for me is the storage. It just fills up and starts over and I can't find anything out about it on their website which is a mix of glossy selling points, overly simple answers and precious little detailed instruction or troubleshooting information. When I asked they said not to worry about it. My guess is it has something to do with mass observation campaigns as your way to upload data. I don't think they were being flippant, They are busy, busier than they should be if they are dealing with every inquiry on an individual basis and there is a language barrier. They make every effort to be polite and kind in their communication and I understand they are working on a guide.

Now the big problems. 1. My telescope does not focus on anything close. I was shocked when I saw that people were imaging the moon, I just get a field of white. 2. My stars are almost doubles with a wider spread at the bottom of each star. The focus wheel works in the direction to unfocus a star in order to collimate but does not fine tune the focus with the Bahtinov mask. Unistellar has had me take the mirror out a number of times, make short videos of various aspects and send via email. Right now they are at a loss. There is nothing bound up or loose. we are still working to solve this problem.

The other major problem is 1.  a mislabeling of photos and 2.  targets being non centered after having been centered earlier in the evening. Unistellar is aware but we haven't worked up to that yet. My guess is software and/or an intermittent mirror issue.

I don't feel duped. I think this is the nature of crowdfunding they are not promising a shelf ready product.  Unistellar is very responsive and is working to determine the best course of action.

 

 

 

[HWStar]

My guess you are really into a beta-test of the scope, and that they have put off delivering until some of these problems are fixed. It's a general issue with all new products like this. Glad you are one of the ones finding all these issues before I get mine...;o). 

[Kathie]

That's a good assessment.  I hadn't thought about it like that, I guess it would make me a beta-beta tester. : )   I hope they get these things resolved before you get yours also.  I wonder if my focus issues are an anomaly or if there are others with similar results.  I've taken many screen shots while collimating and measured to be sure my cross is exactly centered. I'm tempted to collimate off center to see if it would change anything. Sorry about the colored dots, I had to learn about dark frames. The focus wheel will unfocus further but not bring more clarity.

 

[Buzzard75]

20 hours ago, Kathie said:

Hi, I just joined stargazer lounge. I got my eVscope last December. I paid for it about a year before that.  I've been following many of the chat groups and this one actually felt the least hostile about eVscopes. I have been waiting for a telescope like this since I was 6 years old. I have always loved deep sky objects, I'm not the least bit interested in astrophotography and I got tired of lugging a big telescope around to get just a slightly better smudge of a target.  Some of the pictures I've captured are immensely satisfying, no way could I see galaxys and nebulas with any other set up that I would be interested in or capable of. That being said I've had a few issues. Some of which I am still working on with Unistellar

My eVscope got stuck in update mode. Unistellar said they were aware of  the problem and sent me an updated SD card. Problem fixed. They also sent out a mass mailing of another SD card so I swapped that one too. I'm guessing it was for the same problem and even though they had dealt with me individually, my serial number was still part of a group.

The on off button sticks and is flimsy. Again Unistellar is aware and working on a fix that can be installed by the end user. I am careful to depress the on/off button gently and evenly until the telescope turns on but sometimes it sticks and I need to "pop" one end or the other of the oblong button to get it back out.

Park My eVscope. Great feature but mine goes over center and does not always correct to vertical as the final maneuver before shutting off.  At maximum deflection is fits a little tighter in the backpack. Unistellar's response. Yes, it does that.  Not a big deal, especially as they are working with me to solve some more important issues and I can park it myself.

Another area of confusion for me is the storage. It just fills up and starts over and I can't find anything out about it on their website which is a mix of glossy selling points, overly simple answers and precious little detailed instruction or troubleshooting information. When I asked they said not to worry about it. My guess is it has something to do with mass observation campaigns as your way to upload data. I don't think they were being flippant, They are busy, busier than they should be if they are dealing with every inquiry on an individual basis and there is a language barrier. They make every effort to be polite and kind in their communication and I understand they are working on a guide.

Now the big problems. 1. My telescope does not focus on anything close. I was shocked when I saw that people were imaging the moon, I just get a field of white. 2. My stars are almost doubles with a wider spread at the bottom of each star. The focus wheel works in the direction to unfocus a star in order to collimate but does not fine tune the focus with the Bahtinov mask. Unistellar has had me take the mirror out a number of times, make short videos of various aspects and send via email. Right now they are at a loss. There is nothing bound up or loose. we are still working to solve this problem.

The other major problem is 1.  a mislabeling of photos and 2.  targets being non centered after having been centered earlier in the evening. Unistellar is aware but we haven't worked up to that yet. My guess is software and/or an intermittent mirror issue.

I don't feel duped. I think this is the nature of crowdfunding they are not promising a shelf ready product.  Unistellar is very responsive and is working to determine the best course of action.

 

 

 

Glad they're helping you with your issues. I've always found them to be very responsive.

I was actually in the beta test group for several months before they started shipping to the rest of the Kickstarter backers. Being one of the first users, I was fortunate not to experience any serious hardware issues. I think they went over those beta units with a fine toothed comb before they sent them out. It was more of a software beta than anything it seemed. I think they addressed any hardware issues they found in the beta units. It may be that since the beta, they haven't been testing the individual units and the quality control and their assembly production facility may not be as good as it should be.

If you can focus on the stars, you should be able to focus on the moon. To get an image of it you'll probably have to reduce the exposure time and the gain in the live view otherwise it will just be overexposed. You also can't use enhanced vision on the moon as it will not have a star field to stack on. If you can't even focus on the stars, then it sounds like you don't have enough movement in the focuser. My focus is somewhere in the middle of the range on the dial. If yours isn't close to that and the dial is turned all the way to the right or the left, then there is something wrong with either the focusing mechanism and mirror or possibly the sensor positioning.

The mislabeling sounds like a software problem, but I don't know the details about your issue with it. I will also admit that the tracking is not perfect. It will slowly drift over time. It's definitely not as good as an astrophotography mount that costs even half as much as this telescope at retail. The tracking has certainly gotten better than the first time I used it though. I won't say they are constantly updating the software, but the updates they have made have done good things for the function of the telescope.

[Kathie]

On 16/05/2020 at 12:18, Buzzard75 said:

If you can focus on the stars, you should be able to focus on the moon. To get an image of it you'll probably have to reduce the exposure time and the gain in the live view otherwise it will just be overexposed. You also can't use enhanced vision on the moon as it will not have a star field to stack on. If you can't even focus on the stars, then it sounds like you don't have enough movement in the focuser. My focus is somewhere in the middle of the range on the dial. If yours isn't close to that and the dial is turned all the way to the right or the left, then there is something wrong with either the focusing mechanism and mirror or possibly the sensor positioning.

I agree with the problem being the focuser.  Maybe my mirror assembly starts out already too far in one direction. The focus wheel moves the mirror up and down just fine but maybe the mechanism sits already higher (or lower) than the correct place. 

One of the troubleshooting exercises Unistellar gave me was to point the telescope at an object at least 100 meters away in the daylight.  They said I should have been able to see a change from blurry to sharp. I tried a number of targets at varying distances and did not get any visual response,  just a uniform grey. 

One other interesting thing to me but did not seem to give them pause was the rotation of my focus wheel. From the neutral position I can rotate the wheel 90 degrees counterclockwise and 270 degrees clockwise.  Is this rotation the same as yours?

 Here are two pictures of M64. the first with my telescope the second picture I lifted off the internet from a group of pictures posted by an end user. I wish I could remember who, I apologize for not being able to give credit.  Maybe their Longitude and Latitude will be a signature. Their exposure was twice as long and their viewing conditions probably better than mine but I still should be able to dial in the focus much better than what I'm getting. My stars aren't even round. Once again, sorry about all the colored pixels - learning curve -sigh!

 

 

[david_taurus83]

On 16/05/2020 at 18:17, Kathie said:

That's a good assessment.  I hadn't thought about it like that, I guess it would make me a beta-beta tester. : )   I hope they get these things resolved before you get yours also.  I wonder if my focus issues are an anomaly or if there are others with similar results.  I've taken many screen shots while collimating and measured to be sure my cross is exactly centered. I'm tempted to collimate off center to see if it would change anything. Sorry about the colored dots, I had to learn about dark frames. The focus wheel will unfocus further but not bring more clarity.

 

I'd be sending it back for a replacement.

[Buzzard75]

On 18/05/2020 at 22:30, Kathie said:

I agree with the problem being the focuser.  Maybe my mirror assembly starts out already too far in one direction. The focus wheel moves the mirror up and down just fine but maybe the mechanism sits already higher (or lower) than the correct place. 

One of the troubleshooting exercises Unistellar gave me was to point the telescope at an object at least 100 meters away in the daylight.  They said I should have been able to see a change from blurry to sharp. I tried a number of targets at varying distances and did not get any visual response,  just a uniform grey. 

One other interesting thing to me but did not seem to give them pause was the rotation of my focus wheel. From the neutral position I can rotate the wheel 90 degrees counterclockwise and 270 degrees clockwise.  Is this rotation the same as yours?

 Here are two pictures of M64. the first with my telescope the second picture I lifted off the internet from a group of pictures posted by an end user. I wish I could remember who, I apologize for not being able to give credit.  Maybe their Longitude and Latitude will be a signature. Their exposure was twice as long and their viewing conditions probably better than mine but I still should be able to dial in the focus much better than what I'm getting. My stars aren't even round. Once again, sorry about all the colored pixels - learning curve -sigh!

My guess is that your focusing mechanism didn't get installed correctly. First indicator is that focus should be somewhere within a few degrees of the dial pointing in the upwards direction towards the vertical collimation screw. Second indication is that you don't have equal amount of rotation in the clockwise and counterclockwise direction. Mine is in storage at the moment so I can't get it out, but you can see where my focus point is in the pictures of the original post of this thread and it is a few degrees to the right of pointing up. If memory serves, my focuser rotates fairly close to 180 degrees clockwise and counterclockwise from the vertical collimation screw.

It wouldn't surprise me if they have you send it back.

[Kathie]

On 20/05/2020 at 03:28, david_taurus83 said:

I'd be sending it back for a replacement.

 

On 20/05/2020 at 05:23, Buzzard75 said:

It wouldn't surprise me if they have you send it back.

Hi, sorry for the lengthy cliffhanger. It sometimes takes Unistellar a while to respond and I live in a very cloudy area so it takes a little while to implement. I was most definitely leaning in the direction of replacement so I appreciate the comments.  Then a very interesting thing happened.  They wanted me to take yet another video of the mirror as it went up and down. Then one of using the Bahtinov Mask. I had the mirror assembly out of the telescope 4 times prior,  making various videos for them & running the assembly to full travel and back dozens of times.  After replacing the mirror assembly each time I would again try and focus always to no avail, the center line on the Bahtinov Mask never moved. This last time after replacing the mirror assembly - guess what - yup, the Bahtinov mask worked exactly as it should and I now have focused pictures and round stars. Go figure. They are equally mystified. So big problem fixed, for good I hope.

The focus wheel does turn only 90 degrees counterclockwise and 270 degrees clockwise from the 12:00 position. They explained the 90 degrees is for seeing deep sky at night and the 270 degrees is for seeing "near" objects during the day.

Some software issues to be figured out:

 1.The mislabeling continues but is infrequent, every dozen or so times and always an image I am saving captioned with the label of a different object I had been looking at earlier in the same viewing session whether or not I had saved that earlier object. Unistellar is not sure what I mean even though I have sent pictures.

 2. The goto option for the planets is always greyed out even when they are clearly visible. No one is sure why.

I am going to delete and reinstall the app before the next session to see if that changes anything.

So here are a few images. the Eagle Nebula through the basic telescope then again with the enhanced viewing turned on.

 

 

 

[RobertI]

17 hours ago, Kathie said:

Hi, sorry for the lengthy cliffhanger. It sometimes takes Unistellar a while to respond and I live in a very cloudy area so it takes a little while to implement. I was most definitely leaning in the direction of replacement so I appreciate the comments.  Then a very interesting thing happened.  They wanted me to take yet another video of the mirror as it went up and down. Then one of using the Bahtinov Mask. I had the mirror assembly out of the telescope 4 times prior,  making various videos for them & running the assembly to full travel and back dozens of times.  After replacing the mirror assembly each time I would again try and focus always to no avail, the center line on the Bahtinov Mask never moved. This last time after replacing the mirror assembly - guess what - yup, the Bahtinov mask worked exactly as it should and I now have focused pictures and round stars. Go figure. They are equally mystified. So big problem fixed, for good I hope.

The focus wheel does turn only 90 degrees counterclockwise and 270 degrees clockwise from the 12:00 position. They explained the 90 degrees is for seeing deep sky at night and the 270 degrees is for seeing "near" objects during the day.

Some software issues to be figured out:

 1.The mislabeling continues but is infrequent, every dozen or so times and always an image I am saving captioned with the label of a different object I had been looking at earlier in the same viewing session whether or not I had saved that earlier object. Unistellar is not sure what I mean even though I have sent pictures.

 2. The goto option for the planets is always greyed out even when they are clearly visible. No one is sure why.

I am going to delete and reinstall the app before the next session to see if that changes anything.

So here are a few images. the Eagle Nebula through the basic telescope then again with the enhanced viewing turned on.

Glad you got the main problem fixed. Very nice image of the Eagle, focus and tracking look very good.

[HWStar]

Just found out mine will be sent by boat on July 15th. They had a Covid19 parts issue causing a delay.  After arriving in the US, going through customs and shipping payment. I should see it sometime in mid-August, 2020. 

[saac]

Nice write review of  the evscope in this month's issue of BBC Sky at Night magazine.

Jim 

[Peter Drew]

One for sale on A,B & S today.     🙂

[John]

2 hours ago, Peter Drew said:

One for sale on A,B & S today.     🙂

And here.

[TSRobot]

Sold just via facebook. 🙂

[RobertI]

Well done! What are you getting next? 

[HWStar]

Mine is coming mid-august. Cost over $200 for import tax and shipping. Yikes this is close to costing me $2k...it better live up to my over-the-top-expectations...like all the astronomy stuff I buy, lol. I've always been underwhelmed it seems.

[mikeprimm]

Just joined the forums today, so 'Hi!' everyone!

I'm another Unistellar kickstarter customer - received my scope a few weeks back, and have been having a good time messing with it, for the most part.  I think the software needs some work - it works nicely in as much as you use it to do exactly what they want you to do, but it can be a bit fussy when you are trying to do anything else.  Some examples:

1) As of the writing for this, you can turn off the 'auto' on the live view - exposure time and gain - and you can do the same in the 'Enhanced' mode (where it does the stacking and filtering and such), but each time you leave 'Enhanced mode' and re-enter, it loses the manual settings and returns to auto mode.  This is a huge pain if you are trying to mosaic an object (like Neowise or Andromeda) that extends beyond the field of view.  You wind up needing to re-enter the values each time, and the interface is slider-only (no number entry field).  Software should allow the manual settings for enhanced to 'stick' between enter/exiting the mode.

2) It would be REALLY nice to have the image capture be able to be set around a specific amount of time in 'Enhanced Mode' - once again, when doing mosaics or the like, it makes getting consistent results more of an art than a science.

3) The 'live' mode - which is really the only thing usable for bright objects like planets - mysteriously doesn't support picture saving!  You can screen grab the whole app, sure, but this is just a silly and rather odd oversight.

4) Perhaps it is my scope, but when in 'Live' mode, the Auto will often Gain up to max or near max - which would be fine if the amount of gain noise was less.  I tend to find myself going to manual and setting the gain to about 3/4 of the max in order to avoid lots of grain.

On the whole, I've been very happy though - I live in the Austin suburbs, which has about as bad light pollution as anywhere, and I'm successfully observing things I've never been able to see properly with my old 8" Newtonian - so definitely enjoying the scope, and looking forward to ongoing improvements with the software!

While I'm at it - let me share my latest milestone: my observation of Pluto over the last two nights