Welcome, Introductions - Forums

Topic starter

Apr 1, 2021

Welcome! Use this space to introduce yourself. Let us know how long you've had the eVscope, primary usage, best outreach events you've held with it, Messier Marathon results, etc. Prior to the eVscope, were you an imager? If you're here, chances are likely that you were.

I got my eVscope in 2020, the year of quarantine, so it really let me explore the limits of the software and hardware a bit so that I can leverage it with regular astrophotography work that was already an interest of mine. Don't forget to join the user group globally on Facebook, so you've got exposure to techniques posted elsewhere as well as via Astrobin here. There are a few depending on region, biggest global group here:
Global: https://www.facebook.com/groups/267080151114732/

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Mitche

Apr 17, 2022

Hey psychwolf! Have seen and enjoyed some of your posts on Cloudy Nights.

I got my eVscope 2 this afternoon. Unfortunately it’s cloudy and rainy right now, so am very frustrated. Fortunately, forecasts are for clear skies and light winds tomorrow, so maybe by tomorrow evening I’ll have my First Light pic to post on here!

I got serious about astronomy after viewing the 2017 total solar eclipse just north of Kansas City, MO. I joined the OKCAC a couple of months later. I have gradually upgraded my telescopes from a Celestron 70mm refractor travel scope, to my current rigs of an Evolution 9.25” and a 115mm triplet refractor by Astronomics. I have tried to get into AP, but have failed miserably. I love the images my fellow club members take (we’ve got some really great imagers in the OKCAC!), but in 2 years or more, I’ve barely gotten past taking (poor) pics with my iPhone through my eyepiece.

I’ve also been frustrated with equipment and alignment problems with all my mounts. One of my two mounts is at Celestron for a new battery and tuneup, and it looks like I’ll probably be sending my iOptron AZ Pro in soon. It won’t correctly align, no matter what I’ve tried. The equipment setup time and complexity of getting a decent picture has taken a lot of the fun out of my astronomy experience.

I’m looking forward to the extreme portability, quick setup and ease of use of the eVscope 2. Plus being able to view DSOs without driving to our observatory 90 minutes away will mean I get a LOT more viewing time. I hope my pics will be near the same quality I’ve seen posted around the internet.

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psychwolf

Topic starter

Apr 17, 2022

Welcome! @Mitche eVscope presence on Astrobin is still very low and new, so you're one of a few on here. Usually I've been posting any images here that I do some sort of significant processing routing on, which would turn it in to more of an astrophoto vs Electronically Assisted Astronomy, so some of these photos in this group are not straight out of the box! Read some of the details in them though, I think I go into the processing detail - full moon for example, is stitched.

I tend to post EAA shots in their FB group, for family, or sometimes post an EAA log either in my club or Cloudy Nights. If you haven't already, definately join the Facebook group as it seems to be the most active community, followed by their Slack channel which is where I'll go to see if I can coordinate on an exoplanet hunt, or asteroid hunt. Aside from the eVscope being an incredibly fun tool to use for EAA and outreach, the science arm of using your eVscope is very fun so if you're a member of a club, that's also something your members will enjoy hearing about when you get your first live science result back or many other things.

But, keep in touch if you run in to any questions. Since your scope is new and amazing, don't hesitate to contact their support team on the first signs of tracking not working, or anything else and they tend to have a good track record of sending a replacement under warranty or fixing any issues. Be careful not to put too much pressure on those tripod legs when you're setting up as they've been known to need a tighten, and lear

If you message me your email either here or on CL, I can invite you to their Slack channel, which is very active on science observing chatter.

The Facebook groups are here. Note the video on how to install a filter, for example (c-mount to 1.25 adapter screw on the top threads over the camera):

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Mitche

Apr 17, 2022

Thanks for the welcome! The clouds disappeared around noon, so it looks like trying it out tonight is going to be a GO!

I’m not a fan of FB and haven’t been on in years. But looking around the internet, that appears to be the most active evscope user group I’ve found, so will probably rejoin this week just to get involved in that group. I noticed your post has been up for a year and I’m the first to respond. That really surprised me.

I do have one question already, that I haven’t seen anything on anywhere on the net; there’s a quick link for the Sun under ‘Planets’, but without the tracking working, which needs stars, how can that ever work? Any tips on solar viewing? (I have a solar filter that will fit) With the angular and total solar eclipses coming up, that’s going to be important to me.

I’ve only let a couple of club members know I got the eVscope 2. They’ve been very supportive (one is almost certainly going to get one after he joins me tonight to see how it works), but I’m almost dreading the feedback from some of the old timers in the club. The ones that advised me to not get a go to mount until I learned all the constellations and stars without one. But I’ll persevere, and am going to volunteer to give a presentation/demo at our club meeting sometime in the future. Once I get to know it better and get some (hopefully) great images! I’m sure it won’t be for everyone, but frankly, this is just what I’ve been looking for, and I suspect quite a few others will like it and want one too! (Based on everything I’’ve read and seen on YouTube about this).

I may be jumping the gun, but there’s an asteroid occultation coming up in about a week or so that is just a few miles south of me. If it’s clear, I’m going to try and capture it. One of our club members captures lots of occultations a year and got me interested in capturing those.

If I can figure out how to send you a private message on here I’ll send you my email. I’m looking forward to talking with others who have the eVscope!