Rig - Explore Scientific ED102 Essential Series (Dan Pritzl)

Rig - Explore Scientific ED102 Essential Series

Following this forum discussion I decided to upload what equipment pics I have in the hope that they might some day spare another aspiring photographer a little pain.

This has been my workhorse. The majority of my images have been acquired using this setup or some permutation of it. While the picture shows a William Optics Flat73 field flattener (which technically worked on this scope, but still left warped corners on any sensor bigger than 4/3) installed, I've overwhelmingly used the Hotech 2" SCA with it.

Non-optical Hardware
Mount: Sky Watcher EQ6r-pro
Control Unit: ZWO ASIAir-Pro
Dovetail: Vixen-style dovetail included with OTA

Optics Train
OTA: Explore Scientific ED102 Essential
Focuser: Stock
Auto-focuser: ZWO EAF (using included mount bracket)
Field flattener: William Optics Flat73 adjustable 1.0x field flattener
Guider: ZWO 30mm Mini guide scope + ZWO ASI290MM (not the mini. I used the planetary version of the camera first and replaced it with the mini later after I switched to OAG exclusively)
Filter wheel: ZWO 7x36mm
Main camera: ZWO ASI2600MM-Pro

Pros

Very nice, bright APO refractor at an approachable price point.
Highly versatile and an excellent all-arounder - 714mm focal length at f/7 has proven to be a sweet spot for me. I can get just about any object I want by varying the accessories I use with it, which has helped keep costs down.
Focuser draw tube is threaded on the back and the eyepiece holder can be easily removed to allow for direct threaded attachment of heavy imaging trains.
Extension tubes necessary for imaging backfocus are included with the scope kit!!
OTA is naturally front-heavy, which offsets a heavy imaging train very nicely around the dec axis.
Solid OTA mounting hardware. Rings are BEEFY and the top accessory mount rail is hefty and doubles as a carry handle.

Cons

Focuser draw tube requires significant torque on friction lock thumbscrews to eliminate lateral movement/slop. Draw tube rattles in focuser housing otherwise.
Rotating focuser (frame adjustment) housing requires similar adjustment to grub screws and thumb screws to eliminate mechanical slop.
Depending on how both of the above are resolved (read: how much "angry" torque did you put on those screws), sometimes adjustment introduces reflections in the image train.

	Distinct awarded users	Total awarded images
Image of the day
Top picks
Top pick nominations

	Image of the day	Top pick	Top pick nominations	Total submitted
Deep sky
Solar system
Extremely wide field
Star trails
Northern lights
Noctilucent clouds
Landscape

	Image of the day	Top pick	Top pick nominations	Total submitted
Backyard
Traveller
Own remote observatory
Amateur hosting facility
Public amaeteur data
Professional, scientific grade data
Mix of multiple sources
Other
Unknown

Submitted The date and time when you submitted this image for IOTD/TP consideration.	...
Views by Submitters (available since September 19th, 2023) Every image is assigned to 50% of available Submitters. In the event that at least 80% of them don't view the image before its time in the IOTD/TP process expires, it's assigned to the other 50% of Submitters and the process begins anew.
Promotions by Submitters When 3 distinct Submitters promote the image, it moves on to the next stage of the process: evaluation for Top Pick status. This requirement, in addition to anonymization of images and distribution to only a subset of them, prevents biases and ensures that the best images are selected.
Promotions by Reviewers When 3 distinct Reviewers promote the image, it moves on to the next stage of the process: evaluation for IOTD status.
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