We recently received a shipment of ESATTO 2″ and ESATTO 3″ focusers from Primalucelab. These had been pre-ordered by customers who wanted to get in early and receive an ESATTO from Primalucelab’s first production run.
I asked one of our customers to send some images of his telescope with the ESATTO 2″ installed. Along with the images he provided some excellent feedback which he has allowed me to publish here. He preferred to be anonymous so we will refer to our customer as DS from South East Queensland.
DS owns a Takahashi Mewlon 210
There are a number of Adapter options for connecting the ESATTO 2″ to Takahashi telescopes.
Thanks to its low profile, the ESATTO 2″ is the perfect motorized focuser for Takahashi telescopes with M72 thread. By adding the PL3600244 M72 adapter, you can thread the ESATTO 2″ focuser directly onto the back of these telescopes.
But the Mewlon 210 telescope uses a M71 thread!
Primalucelab suggest adding the Baader BAA2558231 M71/M72 adapter to connect to the Takahashi Mewlon telescopes.
Mewlon 210 + BAA2558231 M71/M72 + PL3600244 M72 + ESATTO 2"
DS decided to use his existing SC thread adapter
DS already had a SC thread adapter attached to his Mewlon 210 so he decided to leave this in place and directly connect the ESSATO 2″ focuser using the PL3600209 SC Adapter. His existing camera and filter wheel was attached to a Mewlon x0.8 Reducer / Flattener that provided a 2″ nose piece on the telescope focuser side. To accomodate this DS also purchased the PL8410001 2″ Visual Back.
Mewlon 210 + Tak SC thread Adpater + PL3600209 SC Adapter + ESATTO 2" + PL8410001 Visual Back
Our Customers Comments and Feedback
Initially DS sent an email to thank Sidereal Trading for delivering his new focuser. He was obviously very happy with the design and build quality.
Thank you for the ESATTO 2” Robotic Focuser and adapters, received today.
I am conflicted; I’m not sure if I should fit the ESATTO to my telescope, or frame it as a work of art in an Art Gallery.
As usual, the arrival on new astro gear coincides with the arrival of local cloud an storm conditions, so I will not be able to test it in the field for a couple of days.
Cheers DS
As promised, please find attached a couple of photos of the ESATTO motorised focuser attached to my Takahashi Mewlon 210 and a couple of annotated images showing the components of my imaging train that I have used to obtain a 56mm distance between the Metal Back of the Tak x0.8 Reducer/Flattener and the CMOS Chip in the ZWO ASI1600MM.
I also managed to locate a drawing, source unknown, but it looks like a Tak internal drawing that indicates the Optimum Focus is set at 105mm from the rear of the mirror assembly, but this can be allowed to extend an ADDITIONAL 118mm giving a maximum of 223mm. My optical train comes in around 170mm so I am somewhere between these two points.
Cheers DS
First Impressions
When I first operated the ESATTO, I freaked out as the motor noise was very similar to my Tak EM200 Mount when slewing, and I temporarily thought my mount had made an uncommanded slew, until I reconciled the disconnect between my auditory and visual input sensors (ears and eyes).
As it operates, the ESATTO sound like a Maserati purring along, no doubt a testimony to Filippo’s heritage.
The ESATTO is performing extremely well and the Windows 10 Application was very intuitive to operate
I managed to record Nereid, a mag 18.7 satellite of Neptune last night (Bortle 6 skies) with this set up, but my spacing was only 51mm so I have now inserted a 5mm Extension Tube to give me 56mm and will try this next time I get a clear night. I found mag 19.9 stars in the image which is quite impressive from the light polluted suburbs of Brisbane. I have attached a cropped copy of the Nereid image, which does show some comatic stars at the edge and I am hoping this is due to the incorrect 51mm distance.
I continue to be impressed with the ESATTO which I “manually” focus using The Sky X Pro HFD Graphing Method by stepping the ESATTO in/out using the Win 10 App.
Just bear in mind that all the various measurements I have made and the sources from where I obtained various details are not Tak approved or controlled, so I cannot vouch for their accuracy.
Cheers DS
