[RobC (Rob)]

My Esprit 150 turned up last week after ordering it three months ago. Its big , bold and beautiful. From my preliminary testing it lives up to the aberration free review claims that I have read.

I still have to test it with a full frame camera but I am getting round stars to the image edge with an APS-C sized DSLR sensor . I can not detect any colour , spherical or coma aberration in the images and I am blown away with the image resolution I am seeing.

I was a bit concerned that the AZ-EQ6 may not handle the all up weight of 20 kg plus but I encountered no problems with test image guides of 1 minute to 60 minutes. These guiding tests were performed during the full moon last Friday night.

The three inch focuser is very smooth and I was easily able to achieve focus with a bahtinov mask. Over a 2 hour time period it did not require refocusing. My next step is to motorize the focuser.

On Tuesday night I was able to get a few hours of imaging before the moon rose. The attached M8 image was captured then. Most of my imaging has been done at F10 and the different ISO and exposure times required for F7 quite surprised me. Need to experiment a bit.

I will post further information on the Esprit 150 after I have completed more imaging and gained more experience with its use.

Overall I am very excited with the scope and its performance and consider the Esprit 150 exceptional value.

I have attached four images :

1. The Esorit 150 travel case. Note the wheels on the case.
2. The Esprit 150 rigged up for imaging on the AZ-EQ6 mount.
3. The Esprit 150 and its little sister an Esprit 100.
4. M8 - First Light for the Esprit 150 . 10 * 2 minute 1600 iso lights and 10 * 2 minute 1600 iso darks stacked an enhanced in PixInSight

Cheers

Rob