I promise not to say 'awesome'.....

[Stu]

.....but at least permit me a 'wow' ;-)

I picked up a very nice SW 120ED the other day which I will post about elsewhere. Main aim was to get maximum aperture with the Quark without needing a D-ERF. The Quark is due next week hopefully, so today I decided to have a go with the Herschel Wedge. The scope is horribly under mounted on a Giro-WR mount and the AT-413 but by sitting in the ground with it set very low it is manageable.

Wow is all I can say. The additional resolution from the aperture is quite amazing. Combined with the fact that the Sun seems insanely active today, the views are spectacular. So much detail, totally photographic and beyond!!

The sun is still dipping between trees at the moment, with a little light haze around so things should get better in a little while.

The granulation is very clear already however, along with the lovely areas of faculae.

Will report back later.

Beginning to wonder if two 120ED's for HW and Quark would be the dream setup for home!!

Stu

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[David Smith]

Nice one Stu, should be excellent with the quark. Are you using a 2" wedge?

[Stu]

Nice one Stu, should be excellent with the quark. Are you using a 2" wedge?

Thanks Dave. No, only 1.25".... I assume it is ok, getting hotter than with the TV85 obviously but seems ok. Do you think a 2" is needed with this scope?

Stu

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[baggywrinkle]

'Beginning to wonder if two 120ED's for HW and Quark would be the dream setup for home!!'

Mmm a mean set of psuedo bins......

[baggywrinkle]

I meant bins... Banana fingers and a Chinese internet connection

[Stu]

Sorted :-)

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[David Smith]

Don't really know Stu to be honest. I am considering a wedge to use with my Evostar 120 so interested to know what you were using with a scope of the same aperture. Conversation I had at IAS earlier in the year led me to believe the 1.25" would work Ok.

[Pig]

Sounds wonderful Stu, I have heard between 80 & 120mm is the best fit for the Quarks.

I am still a little undecided about the 4 x Barlow and may wait until the 2 x model hits the streets  mind you at this rate a couple of years may have passed by

[Moonshane]

I use a cheapie Celestron OMNI 102mm f10 frac at school with the wedge and the views have surprised me to be honest. while the seeing related stability of the image seems less reliable than the 80mm Vixen, the views are really very nice indeed. I still prefer the vixen as it is just a better image all round but suspect not quite up to the 120ED based on your comments.

one thing's for sure the sun is awesome spectacular today.

[Stu]

It really was cracking at times. Mind you, there was always some haze around and seeing was coming and going. I'm sure there will be days when the 80/85mm scopes will outperform the 100/120's due to the seeing. But nice to have options for those good days.

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[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

A 120 seems like a dream combo with either Herschel wedge or Quark. I think I will get a quark later this year. I have a good quality 85mm ERF which I want to use as an internal ERF with either a 120 or 150mm achro in combination with the Quark for detailed views. I will use either the ST80 or my APM80 for full disk.

[Stu]

A 120 seems like a dream combo with either Herschel wedge or Quark. I think I will get a quark later this year. I have a good quality 85mm ERF which I want to use as an internal ERF with either a 120 or 150mm achro in combination with the Quark for detailed views. I will use either the ST80 or my APM80 for full disk.

Michael, any reason that a 1.25" Lunt Wedge shouldn't be ok in the 120? It seemed fine the other day, got hot but then that's what you expect!

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[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

A 1.25" wedge (provided it can stand the heat) should be OK. The image of the sun at 1000mm focal length is roughly 10mm so a 31.7mm image circle should be large enough.