First Light Quark - 4 July

[Helen]

I did manage some sun today to start testing the Quark which arrived yesterday.  It was not ideal conditions though as the cloud kept coming and so gaps were small.  It did clear up a bit more later, but I'm still not sure whether I was still suffering from higher level cloud.  So I don't think I can make many definitive judgements about quality etc on the basis of just today.

I was using my Megrez 90 scope.  

First impressions, visually with a 30mm plossl, were unimpressive.  Nowhere near the level of clarity and surface detail of my solarscope 70.  It seemed flat in comparison.  Prominences were better, and spicules were more obvious that I usually see, so the extra resolution of the larger scope seems to be helping there.  Is I moved around the disk the level of detail did vary a little depending on where in the field of view a feature was, not as obvious as the sweet spot in the PST, but still there I think.  I think it will take a little bit of time to get used to the fact that changing tuning takes 10 minutes!  So I need to experiment to find the usual optimum and leave it there!

I got the Skyris on the scope (at native fl, no focal reducer).  Initially I was getting bad ringing on the lefthand half of the screen.  I slackened the screw off in the eyepiece holder which allowed the camera to tilt slightly and that seemed to solve the problem and in the time available between clouds managed to get some shots of the rather nice hedgerow prom.  On screen the resolution was pretty good, if not spectacular, and again spicules were more obvious.  It did improve in processing though to produce this

So, overall, my first impressions are a bit mixed/underwhelming (particularly now having seen Alexandra's superb disk shots!).  I think I need to do quite a bit more experimenting and testing of various settings to see what is the quality of my particular Quark.  Any tips on what to look for, how to test etc from those of you who have been through this would be very welcome!

Helen

[Mark at Beaufort]

Looks good to me Helen. I am still undecided which way to go - Quark or Lunt 50. I might visit Scope City in San Francisco to see what they have in stock and the likely cost. The Sun is still shining here.

[laudropb]

Very nice image. Especially for a first go. Thanks for sharing

[Stardust]

Nice first shot, It does take some getting used to visually with the lower contrast and to get the best it does need a clear blue sky day, even thin cloud knocks back the details. At least you've got it at a good time to play, I had mine at Christmas so was really struggling with the Sun so low down. Keep at it.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Very decent first light Helen. Curious the contrast seems a bit flat visually.

[Montana]

Helen, don't be despondent. Seeing yesterday was terrible and I must admit I never even looked through the Quark, Your image looks absolutely what I would expect from a Quark, very beautiful indeed :)  I was very lucky to get the one lucky shot in the seeing, you should see all the rejects You will never see the contrast on the disc like what you see with the Solarscope, it is all to do with the transmission curve, see here http://solarnutcase.livejournal.com/9896.html  so I went expecting a view which will be roughly around 0.7A which mine is and yours looks exactly the same. I also have a bright patch at the top right corner, so it is not quite flat but this is also normal for a Quark, it is not a high end PE. I used a cling film flat to correct this. Also take absolute care to get the Quark dead straight when putting it in the scope, the same with the camera end, any sag anywhere will change the bandwidth off band. It will take practice to get used to it but you will see that the Quark is very good in it's own niche but will never replace the Solarscope

Alexandra

[Luke]

For me that looks a decent first light, Helen, if conditions were like they were our way. Contrast was down a notch here with some thin high cloud and seeing was not the best, I think there is more to come.

With my 60mm scope, using the Quark straight through (UV/IR cut in front of the Quark still) improved the contrast quite a bit. In reasonable conditions, it is now more contrasty than my SolarMax 60 single stack The double stack SM60 might still have had the edge for contrast though I am not sure, we sold it a while ago, I think before I tried the Quark straight through.

With my 120mm scope, I now image straight though, I don't think it has made a huge difference with that one, I guess something was not quite square with the 60mm.

[Helen]

Thanks guys .  I bought it primarily for spicules - and I did get those yesterday   so that's the positive.  For full disks  my SF70 is still going to win hands down.  So I now need to do some proper testing to ensure that my Quark is OK quality wise and then learn to maximise its obvious potential 

I'm off to a Conference now (National Astronomy Meeting in Llandudno) until Thursday and then my in-laws arrive for the weekend, so it may be a couple of weeks before I can really put it through its paces.  But it will be fun discovering!!

Helen

[Pete Presland]

A good 1st light there with a very nice row of "treelike" proms.

[smerral]

Nice shot! Quark takes a bit of getting used to - finding ideal image scale, contrast etc etc. Looks like a good start to me though!

[Helen]

I had another go visually on Saturday between clouds and contrast was still very poor visually at native fl on a Megrez 90.  Adding a 0.5 FR did improve things, and I could then pick out proms.  I don't think it was seeing related as I had the SF70 set up alongside it on the Skytee and that looked great.  Didn't get chance to get the camera out.  Jury is still very much out for me on this.  At the moment there is no way I would just take the Quark on holiday as the visual is too poor, so still 2 scopes to France in a couple of weeks' time.  

The weather forecast is improving for the next couple of days, so will hopefully do more testing.

In the meantime I have to admit (I am amongst likeminded friends aren't I  )  that I succumbed to FLO's moving clearance sale and bought the FLT98 - well it would have been rude to pass up the opportunity to help FLO by reducing the amount of kit they have to move    I think it will be more manageable for me and my usual solar mount than a 120, and will be great for night-time visual and imaging too.  It's arriving today   and will be coming to France    Really looking forward to using it under dark skies

Helen

[spaceboy]

I think you need good seeing to really benefit from contrast when viewing Ha. From the short experience I have had looking through others quarks I think they can be a little fussy what scope you use them in preferring ED glass over achromats but other than that they seem to perform well visually and knock them out the park imaging wise.

[Davey-T]

Hi Helen, as said the detail is very dependant on seeing, when it's good it's very good but doesn't take much to degrade it.

Attached pic taken with 100mm Apo doublet , PG Bfly and .5X f/r in reasonable seeing.

I "have" a Skyris 274 but it's been away at Celestron for a couple of weeks getting fixed so haven't tried it in the Quark, not sure how suited it is.

Is there anyone near to you with a Quark that you could do a side by side comparison in case yours is faulty, some of them seem not to be able to achieve proper tuning, best make sure it works properly.

Also non of them appear to tune in at the centre position so a bit of experimenting in that department is essential.

Dave

[Helen]

Thanks for the useful insights     I do need a good few hours to properly test on different settings and perhaps with different scopes and cameras too.  I think a priority might be to take some flats to see how they look.  So... sounds like I need to draw up a testing plan tonight, run it past you lot, and then pray for good weather for implementation tomorrow!

Helen

PS 98FLT just arrived                 

[Davey-T]

Congrat's on the 98 FLT Helen, I've got a 110 FLT, been waiting for a nice all day blue sky to try the Quark on it, used to go on camping holidays in S Wales at this time of year when the kids were little, mostly memories of gale force winds and horizontal rain 

Dave