eVscope 2 in the test: This telescope is controlled by smartphone

The fascination for space and the stargazing has increased rapidly. But it is a lot to take photos of colorful nebulae and detailed spiral arms of galaxies Equipmentknowledge and an environment without light pollution are necessary.

This is often overwhelming, especially for beginners. To make stargazing easily accessible to people everywhere, the French company offers Unistellar with the eVscope 2 a compact, digital telescope. I have tested it.

I’ll anticipate it right away: the device costs the regular price 4.499 Euro (currently it is offered for 3,999 euros). That’s a lot of money. Whether the eVscope 2 is a good investment is a matter of opinion. But I think the telescope is a lot of fun.

Compact telescope

My test device came with the separately available backpack, in which I carried the telescope around a lot. It is safely stowed in it and despite its weight it can be removed from the 9 kg also transport well over long distances. So I could take it to the country and try it out in the city without it being a major obstacle.

Just because the telescope does a lot of the work doesn’t mean you’re completely uninvolved with your cell phone. The first step is to align the telescope. In the companion app Is there a Remote control with a virtual joystick, over which you can move it manually. It is best to keep your hands off the telescope itself once it has been set up properly.

boss wind

The telescope recognizes its own position based on a section of sky. After that, the integrated catalog can be used in which more than 5,000 objects are saved. One selects one of the visible objects and the telescope focuses on it. This is called in astronomy “Go To“, i.e. “Go to”, and is also offered for analog telescopes.

That’s cool up to 10 Smartphones and tablets can be connected to the telescope at the same time. One person controls, the others can watch the image on their device. You can also look through the small eyepiece. Behind it hides a Mini-OLED-Display von Nikonwhich displays the image that is also visible via the app.

The tripod must always nitpick after the integrated spirit level be aligned. If this is not the case, there are problems with the alignment and targets cannot be found. The telescope is very sensitive, which is especially noticeable in Vienna. Strong wind ensures that the most important function of the telescope, “Enhanced Vision”not working.

This is a principle that all astrophotographers use, namely the “Stacking“, i.e. superimposing images. If you activate the function, the telescope focuses on a target, such as the cigar galaxy or the flame mist, and absorbs more and more light over time. This makes more stars and more details visible that you would not see with the naked eye. As I have been assured by the manufacturers, the images are not enhanced with image material from the Internet, but reflect what is actually visible.

Light pollution is not a problem

The result is amazing even if you put the telescope in the light-polluted Vienna on the roof terrace of the futurezone office. In the app you set that you are in the city and how big it is field of view of the telescope is. The software then not only enhances the details of observed objects, but also calculates the light pollution. Where it is difficult to see even a few stars with the naked eye, let alone galaxies, the cosmos suddenly opens up. That amazed me.

In the app itself can then still Ideas in the brightness and the Contrast make. Will you planets or the Mond observe, you have to try a lot here so that the picture is not too bright. The recordings are then saved on the mobile phone or tablet. On the computer you can see that the quality with 7,7 MP could be a little bit better. However, for a good result you always have to make sure that the telescope perfectly in focus and sufficient to the ambient temperature is adjusted. Is it still too warm, can heat fragments (red spots) appear.

exit to the country

If you drive a little further out of town, more and more objects can be found in the catalogue. In Lower Austria in a field you suddenly see them Antennae-Galaxien and the Pinwheel-Galaxie. A little hint: flashlight take along. If you set up the telescope in the dark field without any light pollution, it helps to illuminate the spirit level with a flashlight.

During the excursion to the countryside, I realized that the magic here is limited. Especially in very dark places it makes little difference whether I see a galaxy now 5, 10 or 20 minutes watch. It often wears off 2 to 3 minutes achieve a good result. I never had any problems with the battery, although I sometimes over 5 hours have watched for a long time. According to the manufacturer, it should 9 hours hold.

If you end the “Enhanced Vision”, the recorded image is automatically saved on the smartphone or tablet if you have activated this option in the settings. Raw images are also stored on the telescope itself. This is for uploading them to the Unistellar server, if you wish. You can also citizen science programs participate. These have their own section in the app. There you will find current observation orders, for example there is a cooperation with SETI. By uploading your own images after each observation, you can contribute to these projects.

For the lazy or motivating?

It is particularly helpful that the catalog shows which objects are about to disappear from view and which objects are about to become visible. So I spent hours observing without noticing how time flies. I have one at the same time Star Map App used to know where the objects are actually located. Although they are displayed in the constellations in the catalogue, this presupposes that you know them all and can find them immediately.

This meant that I quickly got an overview of our night sky. Sure, astronomy enthusiasts, for whom operating analog telescopes by hand is half the fun, will turn up their noses. But for some people, that’s a hurdle. I haven’t experienced that you don’t learn anything or get a feel for the telescope. On the contrary: I was motivated to use every starry night for astronomy.

Oh dear, the price

That’s all fantastic, if it weren’t for the already mentioned price of 4,499 euros. You don’t spend that much money if you want to look at the stars from time to time. Such a purchase must be well thought out. The question of whether it’s worth it is difficult to answer – yes, if you really use it. No, if you only have a superficial interest.

Sure, there are good telescopes for under 500 euros, but you get “only” the telescope (here is the purchase advice). But if you don’t use one of these because you find it too time-consuming, you haven’t saved anything.

A few weeks ago, Unistellar launched a new telescope. With 2.499 Euro has the eQuinox 2 still a steep price, but is significantly cheaper than the eVscope 2. At least the technical data show little difference between the two telescopes (6.2 instead of 7.7 MP and no eyepiece), which is why the cheaper version is certainly an option for many interested parties is.

Conclusion

I really didn’t want to give the telescope away. Yes, it is absurdly expensive and therefore unaffordable for many. But you should also consider that the accessories such as “Go To”, motor and tracking, which are already integrated, also quickly cause the prices for analog telescopes to climb into the 4-digit range.

A world has opened up for me that, as a person living in the city without a car, I rarely get to experience. Instead of making a pilgrimage to a dark field somewhere with the telescope, I could simply observe the most beautiful celestial bodies from the balcony. Sometimes you only turn it on for an hour when the weather is good. So I can only recommend it for those who want to see a lot with little effort, because the best telescope is the one you actually use.