Evostar-72ED for a beginner?

[Jakelol]

Will the Evostar-72ED be good for a beginner to use only for visuals and a AZ-GTi mount to go with that (because im lazy and want goto)? Ofcourse i also need to buy a diagonal, eyepiece and a finder .

Im thinking that if i get this setup i can start doing photography after a year or so with that setup if i feel the need to?

[Louis D]

Probably would be okay for a start, but you'd be limited to about 125x max for planetary work, and that is pushing it.  This would be fine for typical UK nights.  You will see a lot of purple fringing at that power on planets based on my experience with an Astro-Tech 72ED with FPL-51 glass.  Resolution is a bit limited by the relatively small aperture.

It would be good for open clusters and nebula, especially large ones.  Bright planetary nebula and globular clusters really need more aperture, as they regularly need more than 100x (150x for GCs).  Smaller nebula will be limited by the small aperture if the power is increased to resolve them better.  Smaller OCs will remain satisfying.

This scope would be good for travel as well due to its compactness and light weight.  If a scope is too big and heavy to move to an observing site, it's not likely to be used.

You might also checkout the TS-Optics 70 mm F6 ED for comparison.  It might have nicer mechanicals (R&P focuser, etc.) and be a bit more compact for a similar price if imaging is in your future.  I believe it to be the same as the Altair Starwave ASCENT 70ED.  I know the non-R&P focuser on my AT72ED slips with 1kg loads near zenith while the R&P focuser on my 90mm TS-Optics APO does not.

[Jakelol]

Ok thanks for a lot of good info. Im atm mostly interested in looking at bigger stuff like the Moon, M31, Milky Way etc and i really like to have something that is super portable and easy to set up because Im a father with small children and dont have a lot of time on my hands. Im looking for to get out maybe 1-2 times a month and do some visuals and relax for maybe 2-4 hours maximum haha.

Sounds like the Evostar 72ED is for me then?

[Louis D]

It should work well for that as well as Jupiter's moons and some of its belts along with Saturn's rings.  Don't expect to pick out Saturn's moons very well, though.  They are tiny and dim and benefit from aperture.

If you spring for a 2" diagonal and 2" widest field eyepiece, you won't need any sort of finder scope for it.  That, and the views while sweeping the Milky Way can be breathtaking at those low and wide mags.

You'll also need an alt-az mount and tripod, so budget accordingly.

[Jakelol]

20 minutes ago, Louis D said:

It should work well for that as well as Jupiter's moons and some of its belts along with Saturn's rings.  Don't expect to pick out Saturn's moons very well, though.  They are tiny and dim and benefit from aperture.

If you spring for a 2" diagonal and 2" widest field eyepiece, you won't need any sort of finder scope for it.  That, and the views while sweeping the Milky Way can be breathtaking at those low and wide mags.

You'll also need an alt-az mount and tripod, so budget accordingly.

Great input, i will then get a 2” diagonal and like a 2” 20mm 100 degrees eyepiece then and i will get the AZ-GTi goto with tripod and later on a 2” 5mm 100 degrees eyepiece for greater magnification if i feel the need.

[mikeDnight]

I was admiring some glorious star fields a couple of nights ago using my newly acquired SW 72mm  Evostar ED and 17.5mm & 12.5mm Morpheus eyepieces The views were awesome, especially through the 12.5mm which give a darker sky background, and enhancing the visibility of the Orion nebula. Then turning the 72 on the Moon, and using nothing more exotic than a good quality super plossl, the views were as sharp as a tack. The 72 ED is a delightful scope to use. I'm not sure I'd bother with a goto. I'd rather invest in a nice sky atlas and a simple Altazimuth  like the AZ5 and just enjoy exploring the sky. 

[Concordia000]

I think the recommendations here are very sensible but I’d add a few things personally:

1. Get a red dot finder regardless of what people say. The Baader finder is like, £40. It’s very helpful if you are observing manually and while yes, you can get away without using the red dot finder, you will actually get confused under darker skies because there are too many stars — as funny as that sound. 
 

2. To Goto or not, it is a question only you can answer. A Goto mount will take *longer* to setup than a simple alt-az mount. The AZ5, scope tech zero, or like the Altair Astro Mini-AZ are all cheaper than the AZ-GTi and can carry more load.

I have both a RST-135 which I often use as a Goto Alt-Az mount, and it takes about 15 min to fully setup + align. My Mini-AZ takes about three minutes: level the tripod, puts in the scope, done. Of course, the RST-135’s Goto means you can just click a target on your phone and the scope will slew to it, which saves a lot of time, especially under light-polluted skies. It’s ultimately your choice.

3. The 72ED is a fine telescope but it is a bit of a small one. An 80mm or larger scope will be a significant improvement, but of course those are a lot bulkier.

4. Not sure whether you 100% need 100 degree eyepieces or the 2” diagonal. Those things are heavy, and given how wide the 72ED’s view already is you might not need it.

[Jakelol]

8 hours ago, Concordia000 said:

I think the recommendations here are very sensible but I’d add a few things personally:

1. Get a red dot finder regardless of what people say. The Baader finder is like, £40. It’s very helpful if you are observing manually and while yes, you can get away without using the red dot finder, you will actually get confused under darker skies because there are too many stars — as funny as that sound. 
 

2. To Goto or not, it is a question only you can answer. A Goto mount will take *longer* to setup than a simple alt-az mount. The AZ5, scope tech zero, or like the Altair Astro Mini-AZ are all cheaper than the AZ-GTi and can carry more load.

I have both a RST-135 which I often use as a Goto Alt-Az mount, and it takes about 15 min to fully setup + align. My Mini-AZ takes about three minutes: level the tripod, puts in the scope, done. Of course, the RST-135’s Goto means you can just click a target on your phone and the scope will slew to it, which saves a lot of time, especially under light-polluted skies. It’s ultimately your choice.

3. The 72ED is a fine telescope but it is a bit of a small one. An 80mm or larger scope will be a significant improvement, but of course those are a lot bulkier.

4. Not sure whether you 100% need 100 degree eyepieces or the 2” diagonal. Those things are heavy, and given how wide the 72ED’s view already is you might not need it.

Thanks for the help.

Yes i will get a small finder. I guess it wont hurt to have a finder especially if i some time need one haha.

My plan is to get a bigger telescope in the future to complement the 72ED if i get that hooked, so i think i wont mind the smaller size in the beginning and just learn all the stuff.

Is there a difference in a 100 degree eyepieces at 2" and a 100 degree eyepieces at 1.25" except the size and the smaller looks to be a bit cheaper in general?

[Jakelol]

9 hours ago, mikeDnight said:

I was admiring some glorious star fields a couple of nights ago using my newly acquired SW 72mm  Evostar ED and 17.5mm & 12.5mm Morpheus eyepieces The views were awesome, especially through the 12.5mm which give a darker sky background, and enhancing the visibility of the Orion nebula. Then turning the 72 on the Moon, and using nothing more exotic than a good quality super plossl, the views were as sharp as a tack. The 72 ED is a delightful scope to use. I'm not sure I'd bother with a goto. I'd rather invest in a nice sky atlas and a simple Altazimuth  like the AZ5 and just enjoy exploring the sky. 

What degree eyepieces and size do you use on yours? Should i get 1.25" or 2" and also how many degrees 82 or 100?

[John]

1 minute ago, Jakelol said:

What degree eyepieces and size do you use on yours? Should i get 1.25" or 2" and also how many degrees 82 or 100?

Mike was using the Baader Morpheus eyepieces of 17.5mm and 12.5mm in the above post which have a 76 degree apparent field of view. The Morpheus are 1.25 inch eyepieces. 

The only advantage in using 2 inch format eyepieces is that you can achieve a wider field of view. The downside is the expense and weight (in a small scope) plus you need to have a 2 inch diagonal to use them. Many folks end up with a set of 1.25 inch eyepieces and one or two 2 inch ones for the lowest power / widest views and a 2 inch diagonal which accepts both eyepiece sizes via an adapter (these usually come with the diagonal).

With a short focal length scope such as the ED72, you can get wide fields of view (showing nearly 4 degrees of sky, which is pretty huge) even with 1.25 inch eyepieces.

 

[Franklin]

SW72ED is a superb little telescope. Excellent optics, excellent focuser and comes in a nice hard case. I don't use any 2" eyepieces with mine, a 1.25" 24mm 68deg type is more than adequate for low power wide field views. The colour correction is very good but it's not really a planetary scope. At the end of the day it's not meant for super high power. A lightweight travelscope with a quality optic for general stargazing. I use a Baader zoom with it mostly. I didn't put a finder on it becauase with a 24mm or 32mm eyepiece it is a finder! The only slight niggle would be the screw on dust cap which is annoying and a push on one would have been a lot better, apart from that 10/10 to Skywatcher, especially as you can pick them up on the used market for under £250. Thoroughly recommended.👍

[Stu1smartcookie]

12 minutes ago, Franklin said:

The only slight niggle would be the screw on dust cap which is annoying and a push on one would have been a lot better,

The new ones do have the push fit cap

Agree with the comments about not being a planetary scope but i have had some of my clearest views of Jupiter with it at a decent mag .

And , yes the Cassini is visible around saturn ... all in all a great scope

 

Edited November 23, 2021 by Stu1smartcookie

[Jakelol]

Wow you guys are amazing. Thanks for all the help. Looks like i need to join my local astronomy club and look throu some telescopes with different eyepiece sizes and degrees. Other then that i think im set on the 72ED and the AZ-GTi mount.

[KP82]

SW 72ED is a lovely little scope. However it's a bit limited in terms of its aperture like everyone said. I don't know your budget, but if you can stretch to an 80 - 90mm ED doublet, that'll be an even better option. I currently have a 80 triplet and had a 72 and 90 ED doublets before. Honestly their sizes and weights are very similar. They will all happily ride on a modest alt-az mount (e.g. the AZ4/5 and scope tech zero mentioned earlier).

As for eyepieces I personally find 24mm 68deg wide enough on my 80EDT. The weight is a lot more manageable making balancing easier.

[Jakelol]

21 minutes ago, KP82 said:

SW 72ED is a lovely little scope. However it's a bit limited in terms of its aperture like everyone said. I don't know your budget, but if you can stretch to an 80 - 90mm ED doublet, that'll be an even better option. I currently have a 80 triplet and had a 72 and 90 ED doublets before. Honestly their sizes and weights are very similar. They will all happily ride on a modest alt-az mount (e.g. the AZ4/5 and scope tech zero mentioned earlier).

As for eyepieces I personally find 24mm 68deg wide enough on my 80EDT. The weight is a lot more manageable making balancing easier.

I want to use the AZ-GTi goto so bigger telescope is not an option if i want to take some random photos with a DSLR because im not sure the mount will handle that much weight. I was told by a retailer here in Sweden that the 72ED plus a small DSLR like the Canon 2000D would be almost maximum the AZ-GTi would handle.

[KP82]

46 minutes ago, Jakelol said:

I want to use the AZ-GTi goto so bigger telescope is not an option if i want to take some random photos with a DSLR because im not sure the mount will handle that much weight. I was told by a retailer here in Sweden that the 72ED plus a small DSLR like the Canon 2000D would be almost maximum the AZ-GTi would handle.

The usual advices here are to treat visual and imaging as two separate subjects. You said in your original post that you'd start with visual only first and then imaging after about a year. If I were you I wouldn't let something that I'd do later to limit my choice of visual instruments for now. Getting an 80/90mm scope along with a manual alt-az mount for now and then a proper EQ mount (e.g. EQ5 or even better HEQ5) a year later for imaging is the route I'd take. Honestly finding targets that are worth looking with a 80/90mm scope isn't difficult at all with a manual mount.

[SuburbanMak]

Sounds like a great plan. I have an ST80 and love it but the 72ED would be an upgrade from that optically. 
 + 1 for adding a basic RDF even if using widefield EPs. 
I am a big fan of the AZGTi, use it all the time - even if you don’t use it for GoTo it’s tracking is great and saves all the faff and vibration of constantly nudging.
 Links well to Sky Safari on the phone too which is great for when you want to zoom about looking at new objects. 

 

[Louis D]

Using a 24mm APM UFF in my AT72ED yields a 3.6° true field of view (TFOV).  While that's decently wide, it's only maybe a degree or so wider than what's achievable with 2" eyepieces in an 8" f/6 Dob.  Why limit a natively wide field instrument in such a manner?  Put a 2", 40mm Pentax XW in the 72ED and now you've got a 6.1° TFOV (nearly twice as wide linearly and almost three times more area), which puts it in binocular and low power finder scope territory.  Instead of barely framing Orion's belt (Collinder 70) or the Pleiades and looking straight through the Hyades, you can now see them in a wider context and actually perceive the Hyades as an open cluster.  Looking around the open clusters of Perseus and Cassiopeia becomes an entirely different experience because you can see how they group together in thick and thin patches, large and small.  Cruising the summer Milky Way across the sky is also a lot of fun.  You can see how various nebula group together with OCs in a single FOV.

[Jakelol]

22 minutes ago, Louis D said:

Using a 24mm APM UFF in my AT72ED yields a 3.6° true field of view (TFOV).  While that's decently wide, it's only maybe a degree or so wider than what's achievable with 2" eyepieces in an 8" f/6 Dob.  Why limit a natively wide field instrument in such a manner?  Put a 2", 40mm Pentax XW in the 72ED and now you've got a 6.1° TFOV (nearly twice as wide linearly and almost three times more area), which puts it in binocular and low power finder scope territory.  Instead of barely framing Orion's belt (Collinder 70) or the Pleiades and looking straight through the Hyades, you can now see them in a wider context and actually perceive the Hyades as an open cluster.  Looking around the open clusters of Perseus and Cassiopeia becomes an entirely different experience because you can see how they group together in thick and thin patches, large and small.  Cruising the summer Milky Way across the sky is also a lot of fun.  You can see how various nebula group together with OCs in a single FOV.

Awesome tips.

[mikeDnight]

7 hours ago, Jakelol said:

What degree eyepieces and size do you use on yours? Should i get 1.25" or 2" and also how many degrees 82 or 100?

I was using Baader Morpheus which are 1.25" and have a 76° apparent field. I've owned 100° Ethos but find I can't see the entire field without rolling my eye unnaturally,  so 70° apparent field eyepieces are more comfortable to use for me. Again, personally, I'd suggest 1.25" eyepieces and a good quality 1.25" diagonal.

When I first got the 72mm ED I used a 2" diagonal and 2" Hilux eyepiece, but today I replaced the 2" mirror diagonal with my Takahashi 1.25" prism diagonal. With a 35mm Celestron Ultima giving aprox 50° and 12X the view of the surrounding countryside and cottages is really quite breathtaking. On the night sky and from a dark site the star fields should be really pretty.

Edited November 23, 2021 by mikeDnight

[Jakelol]

2 hours ago, mikeDnight said:

I was using Baader Morpheus which are 1.25" and have a 76° apparent field. I've owned 100° Ethos but find I can't see the entire field without rolling my eye unnaturally,  so 70° apparent field eyepieces are more comfortable to use for me. Again, personally, I'd suggest 1.25" eyepieces and a good quality 1.25" diagonal.

When I first got the 72mm ED I used a 2" diagonal and 2" Hilux eyepiece, but today I replaced the 2" mirror diagonal with my Takahashi 1.25" prism diagonal. With a 35mm Celestron Ultima giving aprox 50° and 12X the view of the surrounding countryside and cottages is really quite breathtaking. On the night sky and from a dark site the star fields should be really pretty.

Awesome then i will drop the idea of 100 degrees and go for 70 degrees since its also a lot cheaper. All the 100 eyepieces are at the same price as the scope or even two times the price. It also sounds annoying to roll your eyes when you look inside the eyepiece, i guess you want your eyes as relaxed as possible if your looking for a long time? Thanks for the great advice about the eyepieces. Should i get a diagonal that is for 2” and 1.25” or only 1.25”?

[mikeDnight]

4 hours ago, Jakelol said:

 Should i get a diagonal that is for 2” and 1.25” or only 1.25”?

A 2" mirror diagonal may be useful if you buy a bigger scope in the future, but with the 72mm ED it could be overkill. Id probably go for a 1.25" diagonal. For example, the 35mm 1.25" eyepiece I have in my 72mm as its lowest power gives 12X magnification and a 4° true field. Any wider and I'd have to tie a plank to my backside to stop me falling in. Plus at such low power the sky background can be quite bright. It's often better to observe deep sky targets such as the Messier objects while using a medium range eyepiece.  I find the 17.5mm and 12.5mm Morpheus to be ideal, with the 12.5mm being my prefered eyepiece in the 72mm. 

[Jakelol]

7 hours ago, mikeDnight said:

A 2" mirror diagonal may be useful if you buy a bigger scope in the future, but with the 72mm ED it could be overkill. Id probably go for a 1.25" diagonal. For example, the 35mm 1.25" eyepiece I have in my 72mm as its lowest power gives 12X magnification and a 4° true field. Any wider and I'd have to tie a plank to my backside to stop me falling in. Plus at such low power the sky background can be quite bright. It's often better to observe deep sky targets such as the Messier objects while using a medium range eyepiece.  I find the 17.5mm and 12.5mm Morpheus to be ideal, with the 12.5mm being my prefered eyepiece in the 72mm. 

Great advice as usual. How many mm is good for looking at M31 with the 72ED? And in a diagonal what is best a mirror or prisen?

Edited November 24, 2021 by Jakelol

[johninderby]

A prism is good with scopes of over about f/7 and a mirror for shorter focal lengths. Actually a mirror is good with everything so a safe bet if you are not sure.

[RT65CB-SWL]

Hi @Jakelol and welcome to SGL. 

Just for size comparison, below image is my 20+ years young TeleVue Ranger, (obj: 70mm - f/l: 480mm), with a younger 13mm Nagler Type 6 in the supplied 1.25” star diagonal.

 

The maximum power I get from it is about 160x with the TeleVue 3-6mm Nagler zoom.

 

Jupiter and Saturn are amazing with this combo! 

Edited November 24, 2021 by Philip R