SkyWatcher ED80

[h0ughy]

Recieved my Skywatcher ED80 from My Astroshop and this is straight out of the box, the finish is not the same as the Orion Express, but it looks ok to me! Cloudy and rain now but will try for some lunacy later and some photos to test it out.

[janoskiss]

Ah, ED80. I wish I had one. :P Looks great. Much nicer than boring black Saxon or the grey Orion. I still can't get over what a great deal that is for $549. And the rings even have piggyback camera adapters! But I'll wait a couple of months till they start throwing in a diagonal and finder with it too. Maybe by Christmas it will come with a goto mount and CCD for $499. :lol:

I still think you need two of them. :P

[Starkler]

Step one is to check the collimation. My Orion from Bintel had the focuser to ota mount holes elongated to allow the necessary adjustment.

Hope you enjoy your new Skywatcher/Orion/Baader/Saxon scope Houghy :)

[[1ponders]]

h0ughy, it the skywatcher a true 80 mm tube or is it the same as the orion, 100mm with an enlarged lense cell?

[h0ughy]

i will measure it and let you know

[acropolite]

Did it come with a 1.25 adapter Huffy??

[h0ughy]

certainly did
;)

but what would I need that for??? :wink2:

[beren]

Congrats on another scope { ;) }, like Geoff my Orion was adjusted by Bintel before shipping , looking at the pics you attached looks like the focuser hasnt been adjusted for collimation be worth it to check after first light :confuse3: BTW if your interested Scopestuff sell some camera adapters and a compression ring visual back to suit these refractors when you get that modified Canon 300d

[Striker]

Congrats Huffy.....you will see a huge difference in performance now you have a canon and a ED80.

How are you going to mount it and with what configuration...?????

[avandonk]

Looks very nice hOughy. Check out this thread

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=7023

I am in the process of making one as a unit and when it is finished will send it to you to try out with the ED80 and the Canon.
By unit I mean a Canon T-mount at one end and 2" nosepiece the other with FR mounted inside. Will also take 48mm filters.

Bert

[h0ughy]

let me see, it could be by itself, or on top of the C8, or side by side with the dual mount bar with either the c8 or the m500, or if I don't sell it the Orion Express, the orion on the c8 and the ed80 on the mount bar. The orion is a lovely scope but not for imaging through. It is however a far beter scope mechanically and functionally than the ED though, and looks nicer

[h0ughy]

the lens cell is 111mm diameter, the objective is 80mm spot on. Dang forgot to measure the tube diameter, I would guess slightly less than 100mm, look at photos

[westsky]

hOughy, you talked me into one as well I just placed my order, at that price it's a bargain.

David.

[h0ughy]

Hey Videoguy, do I get commission :lol: :wink2:

[atalas]

Congrats David !

[westsky]

tell him you want another one for free :-)))

[Rodstar]

I have just placed my order, too HOughy! Thanks for the heads-up!

[Thiink]

.. and then give it to me (back off Ving!)!

h0ughy: congratulations! You have now officially surpassed the required quantity limitation of scopes to sink a battleship. Between you and Tony you have enough equipment to make most grown men cry!

Looking forward to seeing some of the images you manage to get with that new toy. Looks like an awesome purchase for the price!

[acropolite]

Well huffy, I expect a full report by tomorrow. I was going to order a rail, camera adapter and rings at around $200Us, so rings with camera adapter included is good value.

[h0ughy]

:sad: :sad: :windy: :cloudy: :rain: :(

[anthony2302749]

The ED80 Optic are built into the same OTA that Synta (aka Saxon, Skywatcher etc) uses for its 4" (102mm) refractors, more a cost cutting exercise than anything else.
Before buy my Saxon ED80 I had a 4" f5 Sytna, when both scope were put side by side the OTA were of the same diameter, hence my comment about cost cutting.

[h0ughy]

amazing scope, unguided and non polar aligned shots. all images are not processed. I am resigned to the fact that the red stars are the Pentax camera (another thread reference) :) ;)

moon , saturn in the beehive and orion

[janoskiss]

Very nice quickie shots, Houghy! The ED80 is definitely the 80mm scope right now.

What's the object in the third piccie?

[atalas]

Glad you like your new ED 80 Houghy ! they really are a good scope and the reletive short
focal length makes them easier to image through .

[h0ughy]

Saturn and the beehive (M44) Saturn is the overexposed bright bit :lol:

[davidpretorius]

great scope houghy, well it only reinforces my wanting of one down the track for wide field.

i am having trouble keeping up with all of your buying and selling!

[westsky]

My 80ED arrived today, so did the clouds :-(((
it looks mighty good I can't wait till the clouds go
I have to give a plug to "My Astroshop" the service is first rate and I look forward to dealing with them again.

cheers
David.

[Dave47tuc]

Good luck with the new scope David. :)

[h0ughy]

peer pressure David, all the daves seem to be getting one :lol: ;)

[Dave47tuc]

Not on my shopping list. But i do have a mount on the way thanks to Westsky ;)

[ving]

i'll have one of those and some sort of tracking thanks... and large fries....

looks good david :)

[westsky]

well I got lucky the sky cleared, and here,s the first rough shot with the 80ED
what else but M42, it's about the only thing I can image with the sky pollution and bright moon tonight.
this was 90secs unguided with the 350D and EQ6
a little bit of processing to darken the background and a touch (maybe too much ) of contrast.
I actually did get to look throught he scope for about 20secs, I took a look at the moon, with a 12.5mm EP, I can say no trace of false colour at all, certainly a lot different view than my Acro's

cheers
David.

[[1ponders]]

I can see Mike having to start an ED80/80ED forum soon. :D

[Rodstar]

Mine is being delivered tomorrow (SWMBO has not been around during normal hours to take delivery all week!). I have decided to pick up an EQ2 or EQ3 mount from Andrews on Sat morning for when my kids want to play with the ED80.

[acropolite]

Tried to order one today, and was promised the last one, but I received a call at 5pm to tell me that they were sold out.... :tasdevil:

[h0ughy]

Sorry Phil, but it seems IIS users have cleaned them out

[Astroman]

Amazing how word of mouth works, IIS users take top spot in buying out Skywatcher telescopes.

[Rodstar]

Last time I checked, Andrews Communications also had them for $549, but not sure if you get the rings and dovetail plate as part of that price. You could haggle with Lee Andrews. :confuse2:

[acropolite]

Thanks Rod, I'll check with Lee tomorrow. :D

[johnno]

Hi All,

I got my ED80 from Andrews last year and it DID come with the mounting rings,only had the standard (useless) little mounting plate on the bottom though.

Regards.
John

[acropolite]

Andrews had an ED80 (complete with rings) so I've ordered, so if anyone else is after one they may be worth a try. :D

[Striker]

Congrats Phil....just sit that 20d on the back of it and you will be amazed.

[acropolite]

That's exactly what I want it for, and for HRH Liz to browse the heavens. She finds the LX ("that big ugly thing") a bit intimidating and I suspect that with the ED she will venture out and explore a little more. One night after viewing Saturn on the LX she slipped outside with the old bushnell refractor to find it herself for a private peek, so I know the interest is there. The Skywatcher has of course has the Royal seal of approval because it looks like a "Proper Telescope".

BTW Thanks to Rod for the tip on Andrews.

[RB]

:lol:
Wow that's what my wife says too Phil.

Well, congrats, you're gonna LOVE the 80ED

[Rodstar]

I picked up the mount for Noah's ED80 today - an EQ3-2. Lovely solid mount for the modest size of the scope, and perfect for my 4 year old! It is kinda interesting getting used to an equatorial set-up, having been a forkmount man up until now.

All I need to do now is pick up the Bintel mounting plate to hoist the ED80 onto my LX200 when Noah isn't looking!

[acropolite]

Rod, I'll be interested to hear how easy the eq is to handle. I have ministerial approval for a mount as well, but have some doubts as to the suitability.

[Rodstar]

We're all clouded up tonight, but when I get a clear night, I'll take it through its paces, and let you know.

I did some terrestrial viewing with it this afternoon, and it was very smooth and solid.:)