OK, I think I may have sounded pretty skeptical and might have been part of what triggered some posts sort of defending the Unistellar unit.
Please do understand that I believe it is a very good thing that this is being done. It is important for astronomy in general that someone or someones do this. If the price point is acceptable to a whole lot of people it will expand both the base of amateur astronomers and their visibility. The popularity will expand more than will amateur astronomy itself. We all benefit even if this is not the unit for more dedicated astronomers.
So I really and truly hope they sell these things in huge quantities.
It would not stun me in the slightest if I got a later version of the eVscope (or something similar) for use at public outreach star parties. More likely to happen if there is an upgrade path, but maybe even if there is not.
I really and truly meant it when I said I hope they sell tens of millions of the things. Well, OK, maybe not because I'd probably really wish it was by the hundreds of millions if not a billion or more. Tens of millions, however, would still be an enormous benefit and hoping for even hundreds of thousands is probably being overly hopeful.
I'm truly a big fan of the Unistellar unit, but this first version is not for me and maybe none of the future ones will be either. But I think there will be a whole lot of people who will thoroughly enjoy the eVscope and I will understand why they do.
And don't forget that the Stellina is out there as well.
I think that the odds are good that we are entering a new era in which amateur astronomy will be moving more into highly automated NRTV cameras (and I consider the eVscope and Stellina to be cameras). People will be able to flip a switch and after a bit of thinking on the part of camera it will show people anything they want within the reach of that camera. Sort of like my LS-8 but with a sensor and digital display instead of an eyepiece.
I will be very happy but a little frustrated if 7-10 years from now the people who are in amateur astronomy greatly outnumber us old fogies who know how to put together a system, set up all the components, align the system for tracking, and make adjustments for better performance. It just may happen.
Edited by OleCuss, 28 February 2018 - 08:59 PM.