Setting up my new Sky-Watcher Evostar 72ED for imaging
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- čas přidán 6. 09. 2024
- I’m Ian and I live in Surrey in the UK. In this video I’ve aimed to show my new Sky-Watcher Evostar 72ED DS-Pro telescope, from what’s included in the case when you open it, to additional accessories you might need to be able to attach imaging equipment to the telescope. I also show my set up for my initial session with this telescope and finally the M31 - Andromeda Galaxy image I took on the first night.
I will show you the equipment you will need to connect both a DSLR camera and a CMOS cooled colour camera to the telescope. I will also demonstrate how to attach the Sky-Watcher 0.85x Reducer/Flatterer and my personal set up for imaging.
The telescope is excellent value for money (I bought it from First Light Optics of Exeter, which provided excellent service) though you do need to spend extra on additions like the 0.85x Reducer/Flattener, or the Camera Rotator to best frame your image, and I bought a longer dovetail plate to better balance the set up on my Sky-Watcher EQ6 R-Pro mount.
I’m extremely impressed with the Evostar 72ED from my first session using it. It was easy to get focus even though my ‘backfocus’ was not the required 55mm but just a little longer at 57mm (I’m getting new spacers to correct this).
The field of view was of course much larger than using my Celestron Nexstar 6SE as the focal length of 377mm (the telescope is at 420mm but with the 0.85x Reducer/Flattener this comes down to 357mm, though my ASIAir Pro plate solved at 377mm) is much smaller than the 1044mm I was getting with imaging the 1500mm Nexstar 6SE with it’s F/0.63x reducer. In addition, with the 0.85x Reducer/Flattener the f-stop moves from f/5.8 to f/4.9 which is very helpful to imaging as well.
The first image I captured was M31 and I processed this through Deep Sky Stacker, Pixinsight and Photoshop. I’ve learned a lot from Shawn Nielsen at VisibleDark on processing this type of image through Pixinsight. It’s a great channel.
I have included details on the equipment and processing software I used and the settings for the image capture.
This channel also reflects the element of time we are looking at when we see these images, hence the Channel name. I find it amazing we are seeing light from thousands and millions of years ago, and to me it is interesting to think what was happening here on Earth as this light we are only now seeing left its origin.
I will be doing further videos during this year as I develop my skills so please subscribe if you wish to see this progression. My next video will be on using the ASIAir Pro, which I think is fantastic. You merely need to aim towards Polaris, plate solve, and then it helps you Polar Align and set up guiding and imaging. It makes this whole process so easy.
Main Equipment:
• Sky-Watcher Evostar 72ED DS-Pro (Doublet Refractor)
• Sky-Watcher 0.85x Reducer/Flattener for the EVostar-72ED Pro
• Sky-Watcher EvoFrame Camera Rotator for Evostar-72ED DS-Pro
• Astro Essentials M48 Camera Adapter (to attach DSLR Cannon)
• Astro Essentials Dovetail Bars (Short 18cm)
• Astro Essential M6 Bolts (x2) suitable for Sky-Watcher 72ED Tube Rings
All above acquired from FLO
• Sky-watcher EQ6-R-PRO equatorial mount
• ZWO ASI 294MC-Pro single shot colour camera
• ZWO 60mm Finder/Guidescope
• ZWO ASI 120MM Mini
• ASIAir Pro
• Optolong L-eNhance Filter
Music:
Isolated by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (creativecommon...)
Source: incompetech.com....
Artist: incompetech.com/
I just got this scope to increase the aperture (as small of an increase as it is) of my portable widefield rig. This video was SUPER helpful! Appreciate it and clear skies!
Excellent video! There are a lot of interesting components and I have never seen them assembled they way you ably demonstrated! The whole set up makes much more sense to me now (I am an experienced photographer, but have not dipped my toes in astrophotography yet). Thanks!
Thanks for the video - I learnt a lot. Great image you captured too.
Very nice presentation.I saved your video to be able to find it quicker when I want to buy the stuff that you have presented here.I also have a 72ED .You said that the connector that attaches the reducer to the telescope comes with the telescope...but I didn't get that,and nobody that I know who owns a 72ED got that adaptor.It's not in the specifications of the package.The connector comes with the focal reducer-when you buy it- from what I saw on the online shops.If your telescope came with that connector then you were lucky or maybe the marketing guys changed their mind 🙂Clear skies.
You're probably very right. Once everything is out of it's box it's hard to remember what came with what, so apologies if I got that wrong. Clear skies too kind regards Ian
Nice Video,And The More I Watch,The More Im Thinking..Yeah..Im Calling High Point In The Next Day or 2,lol..I Think This Would Pair Very Well With My Evoguide50ed,And On My SW Eqm35Pro Mount,And I Have The Longer Dovetail Plate With The Evoguide,But Will Switch Them For Better Balance,Great Video,Thank You,and Clear Skies🙏🏻❤️🔭🌏✨
Thanks for sharing your knowledge. I'm thinking about buying a 72ED but it does look a bit intimidating with all the add-ons but I'll take it one step at a time and subscribe to your channel to keep upto date with things. Thanks again 😁👍
Keep in mind, it’s designed to have a diagonal reflector connected before the eyepiece/camera, so if you’re trying to look head on through the tube, you’ll need to buy a tube extender
@@waninggibbous5702 Thanks for the tip 😁👍🔭
Nice looking setup Ian and great looking capture.
Many thanks, Ian
Thanks for this great video!
Nice setup! Actually, i want to copy it completely. Great choice of mount, telescope and cameras. I already own the Star Adventurer and the SW 50ED guidescope. I am looking to get the EQ6R-Pro mount, the 72ED telescope and all the ASI goodies. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks, they are all great products and go well together, most of my images in my videos are from this combination, good luck, hope it goes well, Kr Ian
@@astrotimetraveller4622 that's what got my attention, the quality of the images and the results you get with this setup. Thank you!
I got the same telescope! good one :)
I love the video. It's really helpful! I bought mine 72 ED one month ago - decent piece of scope!
Many thanks, I love the ED72, hope you are enjoying and getting good results too, Ian
I’m surprised that’s balanced. I have a similar set up and have put on a longer sled that is just short of the focus tube locking screw and I have to clamp it almost at that end near the focus lock screw.
Thanks for watching Al. Yeah it seems to work, not ideal and I may amend when I go back to this scope, using the 120ED all this year. Clear skies Ian
Great video. I've had the EVO 72 for 4 years but have just now bought the .8 reducer flattener. What is the length of the extension tubes you used to achieve back focus? I have the ZWO 533MC Pro and the ZWO 071MC Pro. Thanks!
Very interesting video! Greetings from Spain!
Greetings from the UK, glad you enjoyed it.
i have this scope arriving this week
Shaun, it’s a great scope for the money, I’m sure you love it, keep me posted on how It goes. Did you get the reducer/flattener? kr Ian
Great picture!! Do you think i will get similar images with this scope on an altaz gti mount goto and ASI178mc camera with live stacking?
Hi thanks for watching. Suggest check with astronomy.tools and Telescopius if this fits the files of view. I think the gti mount is a goto mount so that should work, but the 178 has a small field of view, so M31 may well not fit in the one picture. Good luck, clear skies Ian
Great video and fantastic pic 👍I have just got the got the 80ed and I hope my pics come out half as nice as yours lol ⭐️💫🪐
Sam, many thanks, good luck with the ED80, I think they are really good value for money telescopes, Kr Ian
I'm just about to purchase an OSC camera. I noticed at 7:37 you removed the t ring and added a different attachment but I cannot see it listed in the equipment description. Can you please give me the link to where you purchased this attachment as I will be buying the same OSC camera.
Nice video: I have the same scope but I cannot remove the accessory holder as you do at 4:00 in your video: it is very hard and cannot unscrew: have you had the same problem the first time? How do you suggest me to proceed in order to successfully (and safely) remove it? Thank you
Alessandro, thanks for watching. It just came off as far as I can remember, certainly in the video you can see I just unscrew it. It might be easier to try in the warm so the metal is not ice cold, but all I can suggest is keep trying and it should turn. Kind regards, clear skies, Ian
interesting i have the same scope and got a field flattener and with my altair 183 pro tec i could not achieve focus, even with the focuser all the way out i had an out of focus image, and nothing if i focused in, i have had to order a 50mm t2 adapter to get to be able to focus!!
Lovely video, how do you mount your guidescope onto the Evostar 72ed? I have a zwo miniguide (120mm) and can’t mount it into the finder show because I have a finders scope mounted there… Do you know if I will I be able to mount my guidescope with the dovetail you used in this video or will I need another finder shoe on top of the dovetail ?
Hi, I used to have a dual finder shoe on my Celestron 6SE, but it caused a lot of instability in guiding as it wasn't locked down securely. If you are using a go-to mount, you don't need the finder scope, so could remove it put your guide scope on it, though not perfect for balancing. I put my ASIair Pro on the finder shoe and use an Astra Essentials 18cm dovetail to fit to the top of the tube rings. Hope that helps, kind regards Ian
Hey you didn't include what you used to mount the gs, what did you get? Ty
thanks for the video, does this type of telescope need collimation from time to time? I'm a beginner and was thinking of buying this telescope
Hi thanks for watching,. As this is a reflector doublet (two lenses) it does not need collimation so is very good for a beginner and this telescope is excellent and not too expensive though I would recommend getting the reducer/flattener to get good round stars out to the edge of the field of view if you are going to do astrophotography. Kind regards Ian
@@astrotimetraveller4622 thanks for the response Ian, that's very reassuring and helpful. I also bought an EvoGuide50ED but I'm confused about how to use this together with my finder scope when using the red dot finder to point my scope at certain parts of the sky. Will I need to swap my finder scope once I have completed polar alignment alignment and then attach the guider? Or can both be attached at the same time?
Or more simply, how do I used my finder scope if my guider is already attached?
What mount are you using and what capture software. I use the ASIair pro, connected to my Sky-Watcher 6EQ Pro mount, so I polar align through my main telescope using the Air Pro and once aligned and I move to a target I only start guiding then using the guidescope and it’s attached camera. I have a ‘go to’ mount which enables this either through the ASIair Pro or other laptop/desktop software. You shouldn’t need to use the finder scope, I don’t have mine attached. Hope that helps. Kr Ian
@@astrotimetraveller4622 I am also going to be using the 6EQ mount and I am probably going to start with the PHD2 software for auto guiding. Will I need to use one of the GoTo star align methods with polar alignment and if not using a finder scope how do you manage to get the stars needed for the GoTo alignment procedure within the FOV of the scope? I remember that before any object became visible through the eyepiece I would always firstly have to locate it within the finder scope. I'm sorry to bombard you with so many questions. I had started with a nexstar 4se for basic star gazing but I'm finding my foray into astrophotography quite overwhelming and intimidating 😐
Nice video! The Andromeda Galaxy looks nice. I have not seen any disturbing chromatic aberrations. Did you tested also on nebulas with your dslr? I have the Skywatcher Ed80/600, and a Ritchey Chretien 6 inch but i am considering a 70 ed doublet or triplet for my next telescope
Thanks for the comment. No I've not used my DSLR yet, very poor weather here for the last few weeks, so very few days available, have been practicing with my Optolong filter and ZWO camera, will get to the DSLR in galaxy season.
hi Ian thanks for putting up the videos its a big help to people like myself starting out with this hobby
i have the same 72ed scope and flattener and just purchased a zwo 294 camera please could i have details of the back focuser spacer you used and where you purchased it from regards allan from rochester kent
Hi Allan, I’m currently using the ZWO 2 inch filter, which connects direct to the flattener on one side with a 48mm female and to standard 42mm on the camera side. I got the filter from First Light Optics, I got a series of 48mm spacers and a 48mm to 42mm adapter and some 0.3mm to 1mm spacers from Rother Valley Optics to get the right back focus and also useful was a 48mm female to female, which I got from Grandado for £13, but now seems to be nearly £50. Finally I might get the ZWO EOS adaptor with filter draw, as this would connect to the flattener with a T ring. So a few options to consider. Good luck, I think it’s a good scope/camera combination. Kr Ian
hi Ian thanks for the reply i just received my camera and it came with 3 extensions all coupled together looks like i get 55mm
it will be clear tonight so will give it a try keep putting out your videos they are much appreciated especially as new to the hobby we all need as much help as we can get@@astrotimetraveller4622
Hello. I am a total beginner and I have a question. I have seen in the video (min 9:40) that you put the filter between the focuser and the rotator. If the filter is two inches, it is M48 thread, right? How can it be that it fits there if the focuser and the rotator are M56 thread? Or am I wrong with some measure? I am very interested because I have a set up equal to yours, I am going to buy a filter and I am not sure where it goes. Thanks for your attention!
Hi Pepe, The 2" filter does fit inside the front of the rotator, I think because the thread into the telescope is larger. The thread on the other side of the rotator to connect the 0.85x Flattener/Reducer is also 56mm, but on the other side of the Reducer is 48mm. So as I already had 2" filters this worked well for me. I suspect you could add a 1.25" filter in the train behind the flattener but watch out for enough back-focus space. In the UK, First Light Optics give a lot of this detail under the Evostar 72ED scope. Hope you get set up and find the scope useful, I really like it. rgds Ian
@@astrotimetraveller4622 Thank you!!!
Hi I have the same scope and asiair pro, hopefully my zwoasi249mc pro will be delivered in the next week. I see you connect the guidescam to your 294mc pro then , i was thinking with my setup to connect my zwo asi120mcs guidecam straight to the asiair pro as i do with my dslr, then connect the usb 3 cable from the 294 to the asiair pro. Is my way of thinking still feasible or is there a benefit of connecting the guidecam to the 294?
Hi, thanks for watching, yes what you describe works well also, that’s how I used to set up my ASIair pro, so it should work fine, which you may have discovered by now, clear skies, kind regards Ian
@@astrotimetraveller4622 hi. Just an update I have my 294MC pro and connected the guidecam to the asiair pro and works perfectly, dojo need to connect via the 294mc pro but may try it one day to see what it does reith my guiding
Bonjour quel est le type de vis pour mettre une queue d’aronde au dessus
Great video. Thank you for step by step setup guide with skywatcher 72ED and flattener/Reducer. I purchased the same scope and got everything needed. I was able to shoot couple nights but having back focus issue. I have everything same as your setup running with ASI294MC camera. I noticed there is adaptor connected to your 16.5mm spacer adaptor. That connects directly to flattener/reducer. May I know what kind of adaptor is that?
Hi Jaspreet, thanks for the comments. I was using the Baader Varilock T-2 29 to 46mm extension, though now I use a mixture of 48mm and 42mm extenders and fine tune adjustment rings to get good back focus. Hope you get this sorted and get good back focus, the scope and camera are such a good combination, Kr Ian
@@astrotimetraveller4622 thanks. I bought couple extenders. And trying going low and high every mm I can. No success achieving back focus. Ordered myself a variable extender. It’s on the way. Did you use that extender in the entire air gap and nothing else? I have filter drawer 21mm in the optical path. So once the variable adaptor arrives I will only drop my 16.5mm spacer and put the variable adaptor. Will go from there. I spent hours and hours using .1mm to 1mm spacer rings and no luck. Went down to 15mm extender from
16.5 still the same. But thanks for sharing. I keep zooming into your setup to make sure I have everything same.
Jaspreet, sorry to hear you are having difficulty. Don’t forget there is 6.5mm from the edge of the camera to the actual sensor, so you should have 48.5mm between the end of the flattener/reducer and the edge of the camera and then it will be 55mm in total. If you have a filter you should add a third of the filter depth, so if 2mm add about 0.7mm. I’m currently at 51mm to the edge of the camera and 57.5mm in total and still getting pretty good stars in most of the field of view. It’s a bit of trial and error and I keep changing mine to improve all the stars. Next time I will be using 50mm plus 6.5mm to get 56.5mm as I have a filter in the optical train. Still slightly longer than perhaps it should be but I will see if this improves the stars on one of the corners. Also check your optical chain is very straight. Kr Ian
Is it a 1.25" or a 2" Optolong L-eNhance filler..?
Hi Suraj, it’s a 2 inch, thanks for watching, kind regards Ian
@@astrotimetraveller4622 Thank you Ian
I have 72ed too. Now i decide to buy asi294mc pro to be my main camera. Do i need Coma corrector ?
I’ve only ever imaged with the reducer/flattener/corrector attached and I don’t get that much coma impact. I read that this was required to get the best out of the telescope even though expensive compared to the telescope cost itself. Maybe best to try it without, see what you think and go from there. Kr Ian
@@astrotimetraveller4622 Thank you
13:30 I have 2 words for you: zip ties. ;) joking. Very nice, beautiful scope and sturdy mount.
I know it's a crazy problem, but with the Evostar focal length I get little issues, unlike my Celestron SE6! Many thanks, Ian
Really really appreciate so many talented people sharing their knowledge and recommendations. But it is SO hard to spend time listening to such crappy sound quality. I encourage anyone on CZcams to please get a proper microphone if you will be speaking on camera. Do not use the built in mike on your camera/computer. Could not hear you at all.