Will the foot of the Skywatcher Esprit fit straight onto the Skywatcher AZ-EQ6 mount?

[bluesilver]

Hi,  Just after a bit of information on the Skywatcher Esprit 80

I have a new Skywatcher AZ-EQ6 mount,  ( the one that has the green dials, USB post and came supplied with dual heads )

I was just interested to know if i purchased a new Esprit 80,  would the foot fit straight onto my mount or would i need to purchase a separate foot to get it to mount correctly?

I have been trying to do a bit of a search for this but so far unable to find out.

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

 

 

[StuartT]

4 hours ago, bluesilver said:

Hi,  Just after a bit of information on the Skywatcher Esprit 80

I have a new Skywatcher AZ-EQ6 mount,  ( the one that has the green dials, USB post and came supplied with dual heads )

I was just interested to know if i purchased a new Esprit 80,  would the foot fit straight onto my mount or would i need to purchase a separate foot to get it to mount correctly?

I have been trying to do a bit of a search for this but so far unable to find out.

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

 

 

Yes. The Esprit 80 comes with a dovetail shoe and the EQ6 AZ has a dual saddle which will accept either Losmandy or Vixen dovetail bars. So you're good to go

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/esprit-professional-refractors/skywatcher-esprit-ed-80-pro-triplet.html

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/equatorial-astronomy-mounts/skywatcher-az-eq6-mount.html

Edited May 7, 2021 by StuartT

[Stu]

Whilst it will fit, will it not leave you very limited in forwards/backwards adjustment to get it properly balanced?

[StuartT]

17 minutes ago, Stu said:

Whilst it will fit, will it not leave you very limited in forwards/backwards adjustment to get it properly balanced?

Good point. A longer bar would probably be a better idea

[Padraic M]

Yes, the Esprit 80 'foot' is a Vixen-style dovetail fitting, but it doesn't allow much forward-backward adjustment.  With a camera mounted on the back, it's hard to balance. That's a strange design for a scope that is specifically meant for AP.

There are two sockets in the under-side of the foot which iirc take 1/4 20-UNC bolts, which can be used to attach a longer Vixen or Losmandy plate. I got an ADM Losmandy ~9" bar which gave a much better grip. However, I have since removed that foot altogether and fitted Primalucelab scope rings. This allows the guide scope to be fitted above the Esprit, rather than at an angle in the finder scope shoe. It's a reasonably straightforward job if you're not squeamish but should probably be left until you're out of warranty!

[bluesilver]

Thanks for the replies,  appreciated.

Good to know it will fit the AZ-EQ6 mount,  

Yes i was thinking about that balance and was wondering if that small foot would allow enough room to get a correct balance.

Also a good pick up on the guide scope being off to one side,  i didn't even notice that in the images until it has just been mentioned.

I like the idea now of going with scope rings to at least get the guise scope to sit directly about the mount.

Any chance that you might have a photo of the setup with the it fitted with the fitted Primalucelab scope rings?

Very interested in this setup as i think that is the way i would go.

It would be very much appreciated.

Thanks.

 

 

 

 

[bluesilver]

I should of also asked it it is an issue to have the guide scope mounted off to one side rather than having it directly mounted above the shoe of the scope?

Just looking at some options as there was a few things mentioned that i didn't first pick up which is greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[StuartT]

6 hours ago, bluesilver said:

I should of also asked it it is an issue to have the guide scope mounted off to one side rather than having it directly mounted above the shoe of the scope?

Just looking at some options as there was a few things mentioned that i didn't first pick up which is greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

 

having the guide scope off to one side means you can't get a perfect balance on your mount (as the guide scope's centre of gravity is not lined up vertically with that of the scope). Using rings allows you to 'roll' the scope about its longitudinal axis and line them up. See this video

[Padraic M]

I hope you can make out the arrangement in the photos below. As @StuartT has already explained, having the guidescope at an angle pulls the scope off to the left and makes it difficult/impossible to balance properly. It works ok but it's definitely better this way. My PHD2 guiding figures have improved significantly.

For this arrangement:
- you need to remove the Esprit foot. There are videos/articles here somewhere showing how to do that
- you will need a new dovetail bar. I've used the ADM 7" metric Losmandy. A Losmandy bar really gives much better 'peace of mind' because the grip on the mount feels so much more secure. than a Vixen. The scope, fully loaded, is actually quite heavy.
- the Primalucelab 100mm scope rings are just slightly too small, but they do fit. If you can get 101mm rings anywhere they would be perfect but I'm not sure they're available any more. The Skywatcher rings are out of stock everywhere.
- You will need the PLL 20mm spacers between the dovetail bar and the scope rings, to provide the necessary clearance
- finally you'll also need a dovetail bar on top to hold the scope rings.
- The usable tube space on the Esprit 80 is quite narrow, so the rings will end up close together.

I'm still not happy with the arrangement. Finding the right combination of bolt holes on the ADM bar that matches up with the PLL kit is difficult - actually not fully possible. Everything is held securely at the bottom, although the rings are a tight fit on the scope (you might notice in the photos that the joint hinge bolt on the front scope ring sticks out quite a bit and forces the ring back by ~2mm. You can't reverse the bolt fitting). However, with the short PLL vixen bar on top, I've only been able to attach to the back ring, as the holes at the front can't align with the front ring. I'm considering getting a longer PLL Losmandy bar for the bottom, and a longer vixen bar for the top so that I can mount everything more securely. Of course, to do that I will also have to get spacers for the top (10mm should do I think), so that the top bar can clear the capstan ring to the rear, and the dew shield to the front. The long Losmandy bar will also help with front/back balance as the whole rig is quite back-heavy.

This PLL stuff is good but not cheap!

The Esprit really is a super scope for AP or visual but really it's a pity Skywatcher didn't put more thought into usability.

[bluesilver]

Thanks heaps for those photos.

Helps explain the setup a lot.

I will definitely look into this setup as it looks to be spot on for what i am after.

I have a bit of gear here that i can use to tweak the setup a bit,  but overall very impressed with that setup.

Greatly appreciated.