Sky-Watcher BKP 150750EQ3-2 - telescope review
3. Design and build quality
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Optical tube
As I was one of the first people in Poland who start using that cheap and handy tube for astrophotography I was really curious what changes have been made by the Sky-Watcher company. There are many changes indeed - all of them are very positive. We can start with the appearance. The previous version was blue with black finishing touches. The producer took care of the esthetics more – now the telescope is dark brown and the paint has some specks sparkling with gold inside. Other elements such as the focuser, the finder scope’s foot, mounts and the primary mirror cell are white; overall it makes a very positive impression.
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As I wrote previously the rack-and-pinion 1.25" focuser was changed into a Crayford one with the diameter of 2". The focuser is identical as those in bigger brothers of this device – Newtonians 8", 10", 12". Additionally it gives you collimation possibilities which is very helpful. A focusing knob is made of aluminum with strips of ribbed rubber. Everything looks stylish and practical, making it possible to focus even in sub-zero temperatures outside, when you have to wear thick gloves. The focuser comes with two adapters: 1.25" and 2". The first one can be easily undone and the part which you fix the focuser to has a T2 thread allowing you to attach a digital reflex camera with another adapter. The producer offers also a very simple but efficient focuser motor drive. It is a little engine with a control unit which enables you to set focus very precisely without even touching the telescope itself.
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A secondary mirror housing is similar to those in bigger Newtonian telescopes produced by Sky-Watcher. The “spider” has four arms and an ultra-thin (0.5 mm), black metal sheet, as a support. Using thinner metal decreases the influence of diffraction and improves the achievements a bit. The secondary mirror is glued to an anodized case, made of aluminum and painted black, which from the side of the tube intake, has collimation screws (the necessary keys are a part of the accessory kit).
The ‘spider’ is fixed to the tube using easily-adjustable knobs which allow you to set the secondary mirror centrically to the primary mirror. From the tube front there is an aluminum ring, painted white, which improves the rigidity of the telescope. The tube itself is made of aluminum sheet and, although I didn’t measure its thickness, I think the producer used a bit sturdier material than in the previous version. The outer side is painted with high gloss paint but inside the tube is blackened by special matt paint.
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The parabolic primary mirror with its regulation is set in an open frame holder. Here I also noticed several practical changes. In the earlier versions the tube had a metal circle screwed to the bottom. It protected the mirror and the collimation screws. Now everything is exposed which shortens the cooling time of the telescope and the screws stick outside the frame of the primary mirror. They are ribbed so you won’t need any additional tools for collimation; additionally, to make them more weather-resistant, they were chromium-plated.
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The primary mirror is held by three plastic „holders” with rubber padding. The grip is secure but it doesn’t squeeze the mirror which could have influenced the image quality in a negative way.
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The 6x30 finder scope, giving an inverted image with cross hairs, although with a relative small objective diameter (30 mm) will be completely sufficient for the beginners. At the same time I can state with full responsibility that the work of this finder scope’s regulation system, used by the Sky-Watcher company, suits me the best.
Currently I use a very good 7x50 finder scope, produced by Takahashi but there, like in the case of most of other solutions (much more expensive than the Sky-Watcher device) the frame features three regulation screws with locknuts and three additional screws as well. As I conduct observations in many locations practically after every session the finder scope is set differently and finding the right position outside in sub-zero temperatures and in the dark is neither pleasant nor quick. In the Sky-Watcher finder scope you have one clamp element (with a spring inside) and two regulation screws. The regulation itself is very quick and intuitive. The viewfinder demands daylight collimation but even at night its correction is easy and user-friendly.
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The telescope’s clamping rings are aluminum casts powder-coated with white paint. A the top of the rings we have a screw with a tripod thread and a counter nut. In that place we can attach a camera without any problems and if you have a motor drive, you can take long-exposure photos. The telescope is delivered with a short dovetail in the vixen standard (a plate for fixing the telescope to its mount)
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The whole tube makes a good impression and is finished in a stylish way. There are no plastic elements, apart from these clamps holding the primary mirror and the tube weighs only 5.6 kg. It should be also mentioned that the telescope arrived very well collimated and, apart from some slight regulation, it didn’t take much efforts to get it started.
Mount
An equatorial mount is the second, very important part of this set. The axis of such a mount is set parallel to the celestial axis pointing at the area near the North Star. The parallactic mount, turning round that axis, makes it possible to follow or photograph a chosen object. Like in the case of the tube, there have been several changes in this version of EQ3-2 mount. Like its bigger brothers (HEQ5 and EQ6) this mount is now painted white. Contrary to its older versions it features a thicker counter balance bar (identical in diameter like those of the EQ5, the HEQ5 and the EQ6). A nut fixing the rod to the mount changed slightly as well – now the whole instrument presents itself much better when it comes to its appearance.
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The EQ3-2 mount, as I mentioned before, is the first of its kind which comes with great extension possibilities It has a special hole for a polar finder scope, an optional piece of equipment which might be indispensable if you are planning to take photos. On both axes there are aluminum rings with a scale which make finding different celestial objects easier. The mount can be also equipped with an additional motor drive. There are three options available: a one axis motor, a two axes motor and a GoTo set, allowing you to search and follow different objects automatically. In the case of the latter we can chose from about 14,000 objects: nebulae, galaxies, stars, comets and others. The GoTo set makes it possible to control the mount from your computer level and as it also boast an “Auto-guide” port, it extends astrophotography possibilities in a significant way.
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The body of the mount is made of a powder-coated aluminum cast. On its base there is a small bubble level which makes it easier to position the whole set. Both axes feature worm gears – the worm wheels are made of aluminum alloy, the screws – of brass. Only polar finder scope’s hood, a meridian offset scale and knobs in controls used to set the mount in the azimuth are made of plastics. The whole instrument makes a very solid impression and, used sensibly, the mount will serve you for a very long time.
The main usage of this mount are visual observing and simple astrophotography. Even after adding a motor drive to one of the axes you can use the whole set for taking photos “piggyback”. You fix a camera on a screw situated on one of the clamping rings of the telescope. It can be a reflex camera or a simple compact camera with quite long exposure times. The mount will suit such type of astrophotography perfectly. When you want to take photos in the main focus of the telescope there are more problems because the quality of guiding will make it possible to use exposure times only under one minute. Taking into account the price of the whole set and the fact we deal here with the equipment for beginners, such a result seems not so bad.
You get an aluminum tripod to the mount, with a regulated height in the range from 70 to 120 cm which makes it possible to adjust the set no matter how tall its user is. The tripod, although not as stable as metal versions offered with bigger Sky-Watcher mounts, is quite enough for this optical tube. Additionally, it features a very handy metal accessory tray on which you can put glasses or other parts useful during the observation. Two counter weights, weighing 3.5 kg and a 1.9 kg , are indispensable as well. They will allow to balance the telescope with eyepieces or heavier accessories attached to it– a camera or a wide angle 2” eyepiece.
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