27 replies to this topic

[Hyak]

I just received a Sky-Watcher Evolux 82ED from TS and figured I would post a few photos compared to my used and abused (but loved) Evostar 80ED. I have not used the Evolux yet, it showed up this morning. The weather is a little iffy right now, but if there's even a sliver of clear sky tonight I'll take a few images. 

 

Build quality seems very good. I swapped out the focuser on the Evostar years ago, the one on the Evolux is smooth and solid. 

 

There's a YouTube video review that shows a lot of slop in the rotator. If you loosen the thumbscrews too much the rotator just flops, loosening the screws a little works fine and there's no movement. It is by no means smooth, but it's serviceable and once tightened there's zero movement. 

 

I know being an early adopter can be a crap shoot, but I love refractors. The Evostar 80D was my first refractor, and a (possibly) improved version made it worth trying. 

 

With the last photo, does anyone know what "LO" (or OL) stands for in the "Exclusive Design by"? 

 

P.S. The photos were taken in my camper, just got back from Big Bend National Park. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Astrojensen]

 

With the last photo, does anyone know what "LO" (or OL) stands for in the "Exclusive Design by"?

Lichtenknecker Optics. They also designed the optics for the Esprit series, from what I know.

 

Sadly, they no longer have a working homepage, for some reason. 

 

 

Clear skies!

Thomas, Denmark

[Hyak]

Lichtenknecker Optics. They also designed the optics for the Esprit series, from what I know.

 

Sadly, they no longer have a working homepage, for some reason. 

 

 

Clear skies!

Thomas, Denmark

Thanks Thomas! 

[ris242]

Did you buy it for the speed difference?

 

It would be interesting to image with the 2 scopes .....- I don't know how much extra time is needed for the f/7.5 to show the same detail as the evolux - but doing it that way, I would have thought the 80ED would be the better looking result? ...being FPL53?

[therealdmt]

Congratulations on the new scope! I’ll be looking forward to your report and comparison to the 80ED

[Hyak]

Did you buy it for the speed difference?

 

It would be interesting to image with the 2 scopes .....- I don't know how much extra time is needed for the f/7.5 to show the same detail as the evolux - but doing it that way, I would have thought the 80ED would be the better looking result? ...being FPL53?

I haven't used 80ED for imaging in quite a while, I started using it for star parties once I got a new imaging telescope. I actually lent it to someone in our club a few months before the pandemic started, I just got it back two weeks ago. If I get a few clear nights I'll try imaging with both of them, I am curious as to how they compare. 

[Mihai]

Can you make a visual comparision between the two refractors at night?...I'm looking for an 80mm ED for grab & go,and the Evolux looks very tempting.

[Hyak]

Can you make a visual comparision between the two refractors at night?...I'm looking for an 80mm ED for grab & go,and the Evolux looks very tempting.

 

Absolutely, I'll do a comparison once I get a clear night, which might be a while. 

[HARRISON SCOPES]

Very interesting, as far as I know the ones we have in stock do not have the LO graphic here in the UK.

[HARRISON SCOPES]

We have checked and ours do have the LO logo

[25585]

Can you make a visual comparision between the two refractors at night?...I'm looking for an 80mm ED for grab & go,and the Evolux looks very tempting.

If you can find an 80mm Equinox, they have similar specifications.  

[ris242]

If you can find an 80mm Equinox, they have similar specifications.  

 

Equinox? Where I am............they still sell them as new. 

 

What size do you want?
 

Edited by ris242, 04 May 2022 - 03:32 PM.

[25585]

Equinox? Where I am............they still sell them as new. 

 

What size do you want?
 

Me? None, I have all 4; Gomez, Morticia, Pugsley & Wednesday.

[Mihai]

Absolutely, I'll do a comparison once I get a clear night, which might be a while.

I'm still interested in a visual comparision between the two refractors

[mblouis83]

Any update on this thread? I'm curious how you like your Evolux? I'm shopping for a refractor and like this one.

[Wolfwatcher]

New to CN, but have been lurking about for several years. I recently added the Evolux 82d to my small telescope fleet and very happy with it so far. Although it is designed for astrophotographers, I'm a visual, mostly backyard, user only. Cloudy nights indeed this summer in Colorado, so I've only had the chance to glimpse bright objects from my city setting so far. But I'm already impressed. I owned an Evolux 72 a few year back and liked it, especially the ink black skies resulting from the proprietary ed glass. Traded it in for the Skywatcher 80ed, 600mm, and, frankly, missed that special glass. So traded again, because the secret glass really improves the visual night polluted sky in my backyard by making it black. The farther reach of the 82d, 530 vs. 420 for the 72ed, plus a bit more gain in aperture makes this an ideal travel scope. Travel case is about the same size as the 72d, given the sliding dew shield on the 82d (smooth, but keep those screws tight or it will unexpectedly slide), so it is compact for a fairly sizable OTA. I also own a Skymax 102 mak, and can say the 82ed is a better performer at moderate powers, brighter and, of course, a wider field of view since the latter is much faster. Crisper images. The combination of the two is not bad though for traveling...planetary vs. wide field.

 

First target was the double double (which was directly overhead and even on my Twilight 1 mount, caused me to get down on my knees at my old age). Still, split the four stars cleanly, with slight color differences noticeable at fairly low power. The moon showed virtually no CA, with crisp, bright images. Saturn was also sharp and clear, almost 3d image-like near opposition a few nights ago. Nice colors and banding. Caught glimpses of Cassini's Division at 118 power using an old Nagler Type 1 9mm with a Celestron Ultima 2x Barlow. Jupiter was nothing compared to those recent James Web images, but I still enjoyed the view, although it was very bright. Stars are nice and pinpoint. So, all in all my first impression is this is a worthy instrument. I like it better so far than the others mentioned. I do hope to get to dark skies at some point, so promise to update when I get the chance to see some DSO stuff. I have a two inch mirror focuser for the Evolux and an old  2in 32mm that I'm anxious to try out.

Edited by Wolfwatcher, 23 August 2022 - 08:51 AM.

[KWB]

I owned an Evolux 72 a few year back and liked it, especially the ink black skies resulting from the proprietary ed glass. Traded it in for the Skywatcher 80ed, 600mm, and, frankly, missed that special glass. So traded again, because the secret glass really improves the visual night polluted sky in my backyard by making it black. The farther reach of the 82d, 530 vs. 420 for the 72ed, plus a bit more gain in aperture makes this an ideal travel scope. Travel case is about the same size as the 72d, given the sliding dew shield on the 82d (smooth, but keep those screws tight or it will unexpectedly slide), so it is compact for a fairly sizable OTA. I also own a Skymax 102 mak, and can say the 82ed is a better performer at moderate powers, brighter and, of course, a wider field of view since the latter is much faster. Crisper images. The combination of the two is not bad though for traveling...planetary vs. wide field.

 

 

Hello and welcome to CN

 

Can you elaborate on which specific refractor(s) that you are describing possess proprietary ED glass, special glass and secret glass. What glass type or types are these?

[honyi]

Lichtenknecker Optics. They also designed the optics for the Esprit series, from what I know.

 

Sadly, they no longer have a working homepage, for some reason. 

 

 

Clear skies!

Thomas, Denmark

Supposedly they did the Esprit 120 and 150. The Esprit 80 and 100 were done by Pal Gyulai (now with CFF Telescopes). (https://www.cloudyni...fpl-53-triplet/)

[Wolfwatcher]

Thank you,

I'm no tech expert on this, but the Evostar 72ed (looks like I wrote Evolux 72 in my post) had a special glass that Skywatcher would not reveal as to its type, specifications, etc. The Evolux is a new scope design (62ed and 82ed), and it uses this same glass I believe, or something very similar. There were some forum discussions on this unknown ed glass if I remember a few years ago, with members guessing what type of glass was used. All I can say is that, for me, it makes a difference in my viewing. The Evostar 80ed doublet refractor I bought evidently does not have this glass, although when I acquired it I assumed it would. Thus, background skies look brownish in my light-polluted backyard, although the overall performance of that scope was super. The new Evolux 82ed (and older Evostar 72ed) shows inky black skies, which for my viewing is better. Hope that helps a little!

[Binojunky]

They reviewed this scope in one of the astro mags, S&T ?, they had issues with the focuser slipping under load even the replacement wasn,t  100%, D.

[Wolfwatcher]

Thanks for the heads -up on the focuser. Haven’t had that problem, but will watch out for it.

[paulsky]

Maybe Evolux=FPL 51 Lens=Evostar 72 ED

And Evostar 80ED=FPL 53 Lens?

[Wolfwatcher]

Update to the focuser issue raised above. After testing the Evolux 82 this afternoon by pointing it straight up with a 2" diagonal (1lb) and a fairly heavy eyepiece, the focuser does indeed slip with the adjustment screw loosened to the point of no tension. Setting the tension, of course, eliminates the problem. It seems a reasonable fix because even with some tension, the focuser still operates smoothly.

Edited by Wolfwatcher, 24 August 2022 - 07:47 PM.

[Wolfwatcher]

More updates to the focuser issue mentioned above. I've set up the Evolux 82 for bird watching mostly. OK, actually for wolf watching in Yellowstone when I'm able to get to the Lamar Valley, though it will be next year at the earliest. But today I was out looking at hawks from my backyard in Denver when I noticed that the right knob of the focuser was turning smoothly, but nothing was happening with the focus. Left knob worked fine, but right would just spin. The right focuser knob also has the fine control knob as well. Both essentially quit working. 

 

So, took the focuser knob off on the right side, pulled the shaft for the worm drive out and, finally, discovered that an allen set screw was loose, no longer allowing the main focus knob to turn the shaft. The set screws are tiny, and there are several on the right side of the shaft because of the main focusing knob and the fine focusing one (2" Crayford style). Lucky, my old Allen wrench set from 40 years ago had some teeny ones!

 

Anyway, the focuser, as mentioned above, has proven to be a weak spot for this otherwise excellent scope. But, happily, it was easy to work on it (I have no special skills in fixing stuff). And the tension adjustment screws on the focuser, top and bottom, with their teflon tips really work and solve any problem with focus drift when the scope is pointed in a vertical position. 

 

I have yet to get this scope to dark skies to see how it really performs as a short tube on faint fuzzies, but promise one day to provide that update in the near future. But I must say, at this point, that it is a superb instrument for bright objects at night in my light polluted skies, and for terrestrial viewing, better in the latter case than several dedicated, good quality spotting scopes I've owned in the past.

[therealdmt]

More updates to the focuser issue mentioned above…
 

So, took the focuser knob off on the right side, pulled the shaft for the worm drive out and, finally, discovered that an allen set screw was loose, no longer allowing the main focus knob to turn the shaft. The set screws are tiny, and there are several on the right side of the shaft because of the main focusing knob and the fine focusing one (2" Crayford style). Lucky, my old Allen wrench set from 40 years ago had some teeny ones!

 

Anyway, the focuser, as mentioned above, has proven to be a weak spot for this otherwise excellent scope. But, happily, it was easy to work on it (I have no special skills in fixing stuff). And the tension adjustment screws on the focuser, top and bottom, with their teflon tips really work and solve any problem with focus drift when the scope is pointed in a vertical position. 

 

The focuser on the Evolux is, per SkyWatcher USA, a "2.4-inch 11:1 precision dual-speed rack-and-pinion". It’s not a Crayford — that’s arguably the biggest differentiating point between the EvoStar and Evolux lines.

 

Anyway, I’m glad you got your focuser issue fixed and are enjoying the hawks, wolves (wow!) and bright objects at night with your 80mm ED, and hope you can get it to those dark skies soon. Enjoy!