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Old 08-09-2020, 11:42 PM
langman78 (Ben)
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Skywatcher EVOSTAR ED72 thoughts

Hi.

Been aware of the 72 for sometime but noticed Bintel have it marketed as a guide scope.
Initially I was going to save my dollars for Skywatcher's 80 to work with a HEQ5.
Seems like a responsible investment for a noob taking the more serious AP plunge.
I recently come across a YouTube channel AstroExploring where this gentleman (can't recall his name) seems relative newish to AP and is using the 72. Seems more than capable and probably the right way forward regarding my finances and my very limited experience in AP.
A majority I'm assuming will probably say save longer and go with the 80 or even a 120.
At this stage (and won't be for sometime if at all) I'm leaning t'ward the 72 for its size, price and what I've seen performance wise. And I think it could be a long term investment down the track, as this could eventually become used for its original marketed purpose (according to Bintel) of becoming a guide scope if I ever decide in yrs to come to plunge into a more serious piece of glass or just simply add to the 72 (small guide scope) as I gain experience.
Any advise who be greatly appreciated.

Ben
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Old 09-09-2020, 07:26 AM
jahnpahwa (JP)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by langman78 View Post
Hi.

Been aware of the 72 for sometime but noticed Bintel have it marketed as a guide scope.
Initially I was going to save my dollars for Skywatcher's 80 to work with a HEQ5.
Seems like a responsible investment for a noob taking the more serious AP plunge.
I recently come across a YouTube channel AstroExploring where this gentleman (can't recall his name) seems relative newish to AP and is using the 72. Seems more than capable and probably the right way forward regarding my finances and my very limited experience in AP.
A majority I'm assuming will probably say save longer and go with the 80 or even a 120.
At this stage (and won't be for sometime if at all) I'm leaning t'ward the 72 for its size, price and what I've seen performance wise. And I think it could be a long term investment down the track, as this could eventually become used for its original marketed purpose (according to Bintel) of becoming a guide scope if I ever decide in yrs to come to plunge into a more serious piece of glass or just simply add to the 72 (small guide scope) as I gain experience.
Any advise who be greatly appreciated.

Ben

Lots of good results coming out of those 72s, though the flattener is probably critical to those successes. That focal lengthis pretty handy for lots of targets too. Maybe also check out the william optics bundles on the zenithstar 73? I found that the 81mm version with flattener, guidescope and dual speed focusser was about the same price as the skywatcher ed80. Performance may end up similar, but the wo scopes are tanks and should hopefully last and last
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Old 09-09-2020, 08:16 AM
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The_bluester (Paul)
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I had an Evostar 72, I bought it as a toe in the water exercise in imaging at this sort of scale and did not expect miracles out of it. For the price I was happy with it.

They need a filter to cut the UV and IR ends of the spectrum as they really are not an apochromatic scope. There is detectable bloating at the blue end of the spectrum which was helped by the ZWO IR cut filter used with mine as it is really a luminnance type filter with sharp cuts at both near IR and UV. The blue issue was still there but vastly reduced (Along with a reflection issue) Some new one shot colour cameras have that type of filter incorporated into the sensor chamber window so for those a separate filter would presumably not be required. When I bought mine they did not have a dedicated adapter to fit the reducer/corrector (Which at least at that time was the one designed for the 80mm) so I had one made and then had it modified to accept the 2" filter internally when I worked out it was required.

As a toe in the water it was a good thing and I used it for the best part of a year before deciding to buy a much higher class short refractor, I sold it to someone else who was looking to do the same sort of toe in the water exercise. They definitely require the flattener/reducer though, field curvature was very obvious without it, even with a 4/3 sensor.
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Old 09-09-2020, 08:01 PM
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Nikolas (Nik)
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Got it, love it, perfect for widefield.
Here's an example with a field flattener
Used with the Optolong L-Enhance.
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  #5  
Old 11-09-2020, 08:38 PM
langman78 (Ben)
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Thanks for the opinions guys.
I did look at zenithstar 73 as a option but seems a little rich for my liking and I currently can't see bundles or know if the mentioned bundle includes a mount? Will continue to keep my eyes open as I'm in no hurry but good to have avenue or an idea of what I want eventually as all I'm sure a majority will agree that the choices and options in this craft can be very overwhelming. Especially for noobs.
Thanks again
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