Skywatcher Esprit 120ED

[Tenor Viol]

My Esprit 100 Pro was ordered at the start of June, original delivery estimated at end of July / early August. That would tie in with the usual shipping times from China... but... demand has outstripped supply plus supply chain issues translates to delays. Current estimate for me is end of August + bench test, so early September is my guess at the moment

[billhinge]

Glad I found a nearly new EQ6-R that had been commercially tuned and bought it when I did, also bought my refractor second hand!

Having said that I've been waiting a month for other bits of new kit from two other well known dealers, why are astronomy sites so busy?

(Orders from Germany only took a week and that was dealer ordering from the factory - also in Germany)

Sounds like a good time to sell some unwanted stuff 😁

[gilesco]

51 minutes ago, billhinge said:

Glad I found a nearly new EQ6-R that had been commercially tuned and bought it when I did, also bought my refractor second hand!

Having said that I've been waiting a month for other bits of new kit from two other well known dealers, why are astronomy sites so busy?

(Orders from Germany only took a week and that was dealer ordering from the factory - also in Germany)

Sounds like a good time to sell some unwanted stuff 😁

I guess, that with more people working from home, and not having to commute in the morning, the idea of staying up late and getting some good viewing or imaging sessions in can be quite tantalising.

Having said that, weather's not looking too good here for a while, so I'm happy to wait, and perhaps put up with my inferior equipment if there is a break in the clouds and rain.

But certainly when the new equipment does arrive I think it will be time to put some of the second hand stuff onto the market again.

[dark knight]

I too was looking for an esprit 120ed, I actually managed to get one second hand fitted with a moonlite focuser from the SGL for sale section, keep your eyes peeled..

[Adam J]

I have a Esprit 100 but part of me thinks I should have held out for the 120. Guess it depends on what you want to image, the 120 is better for galaxies no doubt, the 100 for nebula. However, at the time it was between the 80 and 100...the usual always wanting a bigger scope than the one you have issue.

Adam

Edited August 27, 2020 by Adam J

[gilesco]

I'm in that zone where I wait for it, heavily anticipating its arrival. Hopefully not be dissapointed, come November... 😷

[Adam J]

5 minutes ago, gilesco said:

I'm in that zone where I wait for it, heavily anticipating its arrival. Hopefully not be dissapointed, come November... 😷

Wow and I was thinking I was unlucky to have to wait 40 days last Octobre.

Adam

[rofus]

I ordered mine from FLO back in early August..it was late September, then October, then November, and the only annoying part was that I was told when I ordered that I was going to receive regular updates and I kept asking instead after weeks of silence.

News of yesterday is that is not happening before January. Obviously is not FLO fault (apart from communication about this specific matter as they are great otherwise), but is seems SW is messing it up big time.

Honestly thinking about canceling (I come from an Esprit 100 and 120 was an upgrade so I know the quality of Esprit), looking around to see if I find something else. If all this is because of Covid, then in January or during this winter is not gonna be any better, it might be realistically speaking another year I think.

[gilesco]

7 hours ago, rofus said:

I ordered mine from FLO back in early August..it was late September, then October, then November, and the only annoying part was that I was told when I ordered that I was going to receive regular updates and I kept asking instead after weeks of silence.

News of yesterday is that is not happening before January. Obviously is not FLO fault (apart from communication about this specific matter as they are great otherwise), but is seems SW is messing it up big time.

Honestly thinking about canceling (I come from an Esprit 100 and 120 was an upgrade so I know the quality of Esprit), looking around to see if I find something else. If all this is because of Covid, then in January or during this winter is not gonna be any better, it might be realistically speaking another year I think.

I'll be in the same boat then...

[ollypenrice]

If I have this right, your camera in an Esprit 120 will be working at 0.87"PP. That's pretty much the same as my own TEC140/Atik 460 setup which gives decent results on galaxies. However, you'll need a guide RMS of 0.45 arcseconds to support that, (on nights when the seeing allows it anyway.) This is very close to the best an EQ6 can deliver under guiding. With everything working optimally on the mount I think you could get very close to required guiding precision but it will require careful setting up and tuning of the system.

I suspect, though, that you'd see no real benefit from the 150 Esprit, not because of its weight but because its longer FL would take you below the resolution you could realistically achieve given the limitations of guiding and seeing.

I think you'll get good results.

Olly

[rofus]

8 minutes ago, ollypenrice said:

If I have this right, your camera in an Esprit 120 will be working at 0.87"PP. That's pretty much the same as my own TEC140/Atik 460 setup which gives decent results on galaxies. However, you'll need a guide RMS of 0.45 arcseconds to support that, (on nights when the seeing allows it anyway.) This is very close to the best an EQ6 can deliver under guiding. With everything working optimally on the mount I think you could get very close to required guiding precision but it will require careful setting up and tuning of the system.

I suspect, though, that you'd see no real benefit from the 150 Esprit, not because of its weight but because its longer FL would take you below the resolution you could realistically achieve given the limitations of guiding and seeing.

I think you'll get good results.

Olly

Not sure you were referring to me, but I need to modify my signature. Actually I have a ASI1600, and a Canon 6D that I use only on portable (different small APO that is perfect with it).

As alternatives I found nearby, the FC-100 series is one that would give me longer FL and great performance at similar price point, with the additional benefit that I actually have a HEQ5 and I was wondering it would be over the limit with a 120 but would be perfect with an FC100..

[ollypenrice]

1 minute ago, rofus said:

Not sure you were referring to me, but I need to modify my signature. Actually I have a ASI1600, and a Canon 6D that I use only on portable (different small APO that is perfect with it).

As alternatives I found nearby, the FC-100 series is one that would give me longer FL and great performance at similar price point, with the additional benefit that I actually have a HEQ5 and I was wondering it would be over the limit with a 120 but would be perfect with an FC100..

Sorry, I wasn't clear. Anyway the rule of thumb is that your guide RMS in arcseconds needs to be no more than half your imaging resolution in arcseconds (per pixel.) If the error is more than half you won't achieve the scope-camera resolution (though this doesn't mean you won't get a decent result. It just won't be optimal for the scope-camera.)

Olly

[rofus]

Actually I received a further email from FLO, apparently there was a miscommunication. January they meant for new orders, there's an actual shipment coming in couple of weeks and my one is in that batch 🙂

[gilesco]

7 minutes ago, rofus said:

Actually I received a further email from FLO, apparently there was a miscommunication. January they meant for new orders, there's an actual shipment coming in couple of weeks and my one is in that batch 🙂

Yes, I see on other sites that orders taken now are expected to be fulfilled around 14th January 2021. Hopefully mine is in that batch too...

I'm not going to worry unless CO starts to show green somewhere.... which is very red with amber patches at the moment...

Edited October 14, 2020 by gilesco
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