Cancelled Quark Order

[Snaxmuppet]

2 weeks ago I ordered a Quark from The Widescreen Centre (WSC). Their web site said they were in stock and ready to ship. When I ordered online I shortly received a call from the WSC saying they were having to test them individually because of some faulty ones had been found in the batch. A few days later I got another call saying they had found that nearly all the batch was faulty and had to be returned to Daystar but never mind because a new batch was due Tuesday last week and I was at the top of the list to get one of that batch. Midway through last week another call from WSC... that batch was also faulty and has been returned to Daystar.

I cancelled my order

I am not suggesting that the WSC has been anything but helpful. But two batches of Quarks returned because of bad QA... that doesn't sound good to me when I am spending £850+

I just thought I ought to let people know in case you are thinking of getting one.

For now the solar project is on ice until I have the nerve to order a Lunt! Still building up to it!!!

[David Smith]

Interesting. For me the H alpha upgrade path is either Lunt 50 (which you can't get for love nor money) or Quark (which seems to be a bit of a lottery as to whether you will get one that works). Like you, my plans for H alpha are on hold until the market stabilises a bit and I can order with a bit of confidence.

I'm sure you will find another use for the £££

[Piero]

Sad to read about this. I would have done the same if I had been in your position. That is a lot of money and a similar situation is quite scary. 

Thankfully they contacted you before sending it! 

Wish you good luck with your Solar project. Fortunately, the Sun is still there for all our lives so a little wait should not be a big deal!   

[RLWP]

You are keeping a solar project on ice???

Richard

[Joseki]

Having briefly owned one (returned twice because of QC problems) I really wanted the Quark to be a success.  I don't really see how Daystar managed to mess up on this scale since they had a product that had (IMO) the potential to wipe the floor with the competition and the experience to pull it off.  I guess Lunt is the winner here.  

[johnno]

Whats the problem with them ? is it something easy to spot,

[Stu]

Whats the problem with them ? is it something easy to spot,

Not totally sure but I think either a lack of detail/contrast or unacceptably severe banding across the image.

[Grotemobile]

The SCT/long frac version .That what I
have been waiting for.Will I get one
that works though.  Bit of a lottery,

it seems at the moment.

Steve.

[Joseki]

I don't know what the problem was with WSC's stock but mine had it's problems on the surface of the red filter (that you see when you don't have an eyepiece inserted). Some minor marks and what seemed to be a fingerprint (which could not be removed even after I used baader wonderfluid - after checking with SCS astro it was okay to do so) - it also failed to warm up/get on band (I think it was just for settings to the right of 12 o'clock ).  When I was sent a replacement from Daystar that also had a problem with the surface filter (scratches I think) and I was not happy to be stuck with a lemon so I returned it.

[daystar]

Snaxmuppet,  

  This is Jen Winter, Owner of Daystar.   Your post was brought to my attention. 
We were naturally shocked to hear from Widescreen about thier issue and called for the Quarks in question to be returned to our lab to find the problem.

We sun tested and imaged through 9 Quarks that were returned to us from Widescreen and found none with defects. 
Having difficulty sending 9 raw images through email, I made a web page specifically about this issue.
http://www.daystarfilters.com/Quark/WidescreenTests.shtml

Some dealers have expressed grievances that all of our Quarks are not shipping with PE grade uniformity.

http://www.daystarfilters.com/QuantumPE.shtml
Sadly, as our costing structure is tied to uniformity through crystal scarcity and time consuming testing, we can't supply all PE grade etalons in the low-end Quark products.

Our END USER satisfaction numbers are 99.6% to date.

No, the Quark is not the top end, most uniform product on the market. 
Our Quantum PEs are.  

But the Quark pricetag is helping a lot of amateur astronomers have a heckuva lot of fun with a pretty darned good view at a price that is affordable.

Feel free to contact me directly for any further information might like to discuss. 

Clear skies!
jen
 

[admin]

We have removed two posts that contained potentially libellous comments! 

Concerns have been raised and the manufacturer has responded so the thread is now locked. 

Please address further questions direct to Daystar as requested.