ES pop up observatory tent opinions.

[Franklin]

Hope this is the right place for this, just a quick review of my findings having had a night under the stars in the Explore Scientific Pop-up observatory tent.

It is well made and is erected very quickly and does provide shelter from neighboring stray light and the night breezes. The material is opaque and when sat inside you are in complete shadow and have a view of the sky from the zenith down to about 35 degrees, this of course could be altered by raising the scope but then you would be sticking out of the top which defeats the purpose of it. It's approximately a 5ft cube with two pointed sides that go a bit higher, I don't see the point of these and it would have been better if it was a 6ft cube all round. As a light shroud/windbreak for a small grab and go set up it works well, I had my Vixen SD81s on the APZ mount and APP-TL130 tripod in it and with the Nadira chair I was able to move around and position myself at the eyepiece comfortably but this did mean I was moving the mount around as well. So I think setting up an EQ mount, which would have to stay put, wouldn't work very well as there is just not enough room. Of course if you had a certain target for observation in mind, such as sketching the Moon for example, you could position the whole set up to allow this. But for general scanning around I think a small scope on a small alt-az works best. Refractors and cats/maks would be preferable over a big Dob though a small 130 Newt would be usable. The tent comes with a second room which fastens to the main room via velcro strips and, although I haven't tried it yet, I think this is where the tent will prove most useful. For imaging the scope/camera could be set up in one side with the laptop in the other. I think this is what I will use it for eventually though I'm not an imager, I am currently putting together a set up for EAA as the skies here are just getting worse. My plan is to set up the SXD2 with SD115s and camera with the tripod at it's lowest in the middle of the second room. With a seat and table in the main room I would have the laptop running for observing EAA captures and be able to control the mount via the StarBook Ten goto controller from in there. Once focus has been achieved I think this could work well.

Overall I'm pleased with the ES pop up observatory tent and think it will come in useful but I wouldn't call it a tent, more of a pop up light shroud/windbreak really. It is supplied with a huge tarp/sail which can be pegged out over the whole two-room set up but it looks more faff than it's worth to me. If for example I were to use the tent on a campsite at an Astrocamp, I would just use my regular scope cover inside the tent.

Only room for a small grab and go set up in my opinion.

Using an Alt-az helps for getting position.Checking for dew.

Small compact set up.

Whether it's worth the cost is up to you as you could put together a similar thing with a tarpaulin sheet and some poles/spikes but the instant "pop up" feature is nice and taking the tent down and folding up is easy if you've had any experience with pop up tents before (toilet/shower tents come to mind). I don't know why the ES guy in the video makes a big deal about folding it up with just one hand because that is just silly, it's much easier using two hands.

In conclusion I would say that the ES pop up observatory tent will be useful for a) offering protection from light and wind during a visual session with a small rig and b) in the two-room configuration for remote imaging and EAA set ups. I wouldn't regard it as weatherproof, regardless of the huge tarp/sail that is included. ( I may just fold that and use it as a groundsheet to help prevent moisture rising from the grass and causing dew).

[laudropb]

Hello Franklin. A very nice write up. I have had one of these for a couple of years, but only used it 3 or 4 times. I agree entirely with your findings and mainly used it with an ED 72 scope on an AZ 5 mount. It certainly gives a good degree of light protection from nearby light sources and it is nice to be out of a cold wind. I also used it with a bigger set up. An ED 120 on a Berlebach wooden tripod with an AZ 100 mount.As you suggested this is really only possible if you are looking at a specific area of the sky. I did move it around a bit but it was a real flaff. As you pointed out it is very easy to assemble and take down after a session.

The reason I have only used it a few times is that I have I gave up observing for the past 18 months or so but if the skies ever clear here again I will give it more use.

 

 

 

Edited May 14, 2023 by laudropb
Missed mount size