BGazing

1 hour ago, steveex2003 said:

May i ask, once the Quark is on-band at its first setting, what is the wait time when altering dial position? Do you also need to refocus?

Thanks.

Around 5-10 minutes. No need to refocus. Frankly, you are better off doing center first, then going one way for about 3 positions, e.g. 9 o clock. If it is better, then you figure out whether it gets even beter going to -5 or dialing it down. If it was worse to start with, you go the other way...

1 hour ago, Davey-T said:

No two Quarks appear to be the same in my experience, interesting post here from a while back but I've never succeeded in getting one, tried a few ( 6 at the last count ) to do this.

Dave

 

Yes, I remember reading that before I purchased my Quark. To really really nail the subtle difference between the shortlisted positions one has to do imaging, I guess. You tried six times or you tried this with six Quarks?

2 hours ago, astro_al said:

The adapter is this one: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/adapters/astro-essentials-adapter-for-daystar-quark-to-t2.html

I believe the field stop of the 30mm LE is 27mm which is larger than both the Quark and the binoviewer's clear aperture (25mm). Currently I am using TV 25mm Plossls which have a 21mm field stop so no vignetting.

Thank you!

Yes, no point in going wider than 21mm, I use Vixen 25mm and Baader 32mm plossl (which is a bit narrower than others but still not vignetting...I think).

Re settings, have you found 'the one' or use different settings for different views? I find the latter impracticable, the 'best' setting for me is -4 or -5 (CCW), but I never have the chance to properly compare which one is clearly better as the seeing changes for the worse (sun going up) and turning it to the right just makes everything go bland on the disk and the proms disappear. Both in Borg with FTF focuser and in the Tak so the focusers are also out of the question...

Someone wrote (somewhere) that 'the best' setting may vary due to pressure and location but I have not found that to be the case (going up a mountain and the pressure is still the same).

10 hours ago, steveex2003 said:

Hand on heart, do you have any reservations on that purchase? At all?
I've been sitting on the fence for 18 months now, with always a backroom want for a solar scope. There is a current offer on a Lunt50/600 which is within the realms of affordability to me (although i really should probably sell a scope or two that rarely get used 🙂 ) 
I have been fortunate that thus far no scope, EP, mount etc has been a disappointment. Ultimately, i just prefer A over B etc. Along with an Equinox 120 this would equate, almost pound for pound  to be my most expensive single scope purchase. I haven't regretted a single penny of the Equinox. I just would hate to invest that money for a sense of MEH.
I have no access to such a scope to try in the flesh. I have invested 18 months into reading about solar observation, and am very attracted to the idea of owning such a thing.

 

Thanks

Steven

If you already have a refractor, you may consider getting a Quark. @FLO is stocking them now. The views are certainly not MEH and the detail you might get on your Equinox would surpass your expectations. At 120mm you might still use only internal ERF.

On 28/04/2020 at 20:39, astro_al said:

My Quark arrived today. I reconfigured a Baader prism diagonal to use the 2” clicklock from the Baader Herschel wedge. This holds the Quark nicely. A 5mm extension was required to allow the diagonal’s nosepiece to clear the width of the clicklock. I also swapped the Quark’s eyepiece holder for an adapter to use the Baader quick changer for my binoviewer.

All in all it’s about another 135mm of additional back focus. My 76 and 100mm refractors have about 35mm available when using the 2.6x glasspath corrector with the binoviewer so that still leaves 100mm to find from switching to the Quark’s inbuilt 4.3x barlow which seems like a push. I guess we will see. 
 

 

Which adapter did you use? I see only Baader quick changer up there, obscuring whatever is beneath...

Not sure why there was talk of vignetting, 21mm at the top is mighty small to vignette.

Had a great view past Sunday both in WL with binos (first try, did not disappoint despite unsuitable EPs, at around 85x) and in Ha - emerging flux region looked really nice, next day it was already gone. Those black spiders looked just like they are supposed to look like.

One year on. Unfortunately this time no pretty pics to post from rolling Italian hills, as we are under some sort of quarantine for almost two months.

One year is a fair bit of time to asses performance of an astro purchase. In sum, Quark has delivered. I reckon it is my most used bit of kit overall, during warmer months I am clocking easily 10 hours per month of Ha, mostly with my Tak, but occasionally also with Borg (those days when you know seeing will be torrid but there are big proms on NSO).

It took some time to figure out the kinks, find the best setting (-5 and -4 CCW look the best), establish the 'protocol' (start with 32mm plossl and go up or down if the seeing permits). There was a smudge on the Etalon bit when it was delivered, cleaned with Baader fluid and suddenly there was no mushiness in part of the view. 

I usually observe in the mornings from the balcony and the time it takes Quark to warm up is perfect for getting my tea.

There is some contrast non-uniformity. When panning over you can see 'bars' of mica (darker and brighter) over the surface, but it disappears when you stop. Other than that, there are no visible 'sweet spots' once that greasy smudge was cleaned (looked like someone's fingerprint to be honest. I cannot see Doppler effect by going CW.

Neodymium worked the whole time as my UV IR cut filter, Quark never drifted off band during observation.

In sum, warmly recommended to those who want to get into Ha-alpha and do not have storage space or money for a dedicated scope, but do have a refractor already.

Next stop, trying it with the binoviewers.

A recent shot made (again) with my phone (April 16).

Ordered MB without HW, it can honestly wait until I get to grips with the workings of the MBII. And I will try Quark with the binoviewers definitely, that is the next step.

Just trying to get a hang of it, does polarization of the binoviewers impair solar observation? Should magnification/focal length of the EPs be adjusted down just like for night-time?

Case in point, I normally use 32mm plossl with my Quark, 40mm for bad seeing. Should I get the second 40mm or 32mm, is light fall-off in Ha-alpha significant? Likewise for white light, is the image much dimmer or should I stick to my usual mag as the sun is pretty bright to start with?

2 hours ago, Highburymark said:

Apparently this was a late Cycle 24 active region. Its polarity is different to the few early Cycle 25 features we’ve had over the past few months. Would be a nice farewell gesture if it were the last - but think we’ve got a bit more waiting until the new cycle kicks in

Apparently there were a few cyc 25 spots already...the two cycles are now producing intermittent spots, sort of overlapping, if I understand correctly.

The moment I saw the weekly weather forecast I knew there would be a new sunspot to match the first quarter moon in the quarantine... Cloudy...

On 21/04/2020 at 18:35, Rocket Stars said:

Hi! 

I only own 1 eyepiece... the original Celestron 40mm plisse, that came with the edge 8. I works, but.. 

I have recently bought a Daystar Solarscope 60mm. And want to do some work with my real eyes too.  

Im thinking of the Baader as a good option? The kit with the Barlow is tempting. Seems you can use both Barlow and eyepiece for AP too. 

My observing will be planets and ofcoarse solar. 

There are "cheaper" variants out there. But do they compare to Baader? Price difference is quite big! (compared without Barlow) 

Or, should I get something else? 

I had it and still have it, but use it nowadays mostly for white solar. Baader Zoom and Hyperion barlow are a very versatile combination and will serve you in a range of scopes, mostly those with long focal ratio.

Zooms (and other complex design EPs) are NOT for Ha-alpha. I use plossls with my Quark and they are markedly better than some much more expensive EPs (25mm Vixen plossl is much much better than Panoptic 24).

So for Edge 8 Zoom will be fine and will also help you figure out your most used magnifications if you want to nail a particular magnification. Frankly, I rarely if ever went below 8mm in my C8.

For Ha-alpha just simple plosssl, that is what Daystar recommends, too.

25 minutes ago, Xplode said:

Failed satellites will deorbit automatically.

It's not pointless, it will give people who either don't have internet or who has crappy internet service like from geostationary satellites the possibility to get fast internet with low ping times.
Internet from geostationary satellites usually has a ping of 500-1500ms, browsing on it is a bad experience because of the slow response, the slowness is caused by their large distance from the earth.
Starlink will have a low ping time of around 10-20ms from what i've read, this will of course rise with distance like with regular internet.

And at the same time it will turn the planet into some kind of Coruscant. Insane project.

There's an online petition going on

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/community_petitions/SpaceX_and_companies_planning_to_launch_constellations_of_satellites_Losing_the_night_sky_due_to_tens_of_thousands_of_satellites/

Vixen dovetail is pretty ubiquitous, but to handle that OTA properly you need a much beefier mount than for 114. OTA is longer and thus much more demanding, plus most of its weight is at the bottom (mirror).

I would avoid getting a newt on EQ mount because I find it, ergonomics-wise, a nightmare for visual use. Either go for a dob or, if you want a tracking mount, a SCT reflector.

2 inch visual back and 2 inch dialectric diagonal add something between 200-300mm of focal length to C8, depending on the diagonal and whether you use 2 in or 1.25 in EP. Short fl EPs will almost invariably be towards the lower side, so your scope will operate at f/11 or close. 

8mm will land around 0.7mm exit pupil which, I believe, is the right spot to land for SCT highest power. The nights where more will be usable will not be that frequent.

edit: I see you use 1.25 visual back and diagonal, hopefully not stock diagonal.  In any event, you are at f/10, so perhaps a 9-7mm combo would be the right choice.

The highest I used was once 265x (8mm Baader Zoom in 1.25 BBHS). Seeing was perfect. C8 was cooled with Lymax and there were no internal thermals. Collimation was spot on.  Back then I did not have 7mm T6 yet, would have been interesting to try. The Moon was relatively low but the seeing was great for what we usually have here. 

On 09/12/2019 at 17:27, John said:

Personally I'd be interested to know how the 40mm XW-R compares with my Aero ED 40mm which cost me £50 used.

+1

And then there's APM UFF 30mm for half the price of Pentax XW 30mm.

What's not to like about refractors?

As you can see from my sig, I have two of them. 70mm is ultraportable and can be taken anywhere on a whim, used for white solar and Ha and will travel by airplane. 100mm can be out in a whisker and is also awesome for solar. Also a good travel scope when travelling by car.

Aperture rules but refractors up to 100mm are really convenient. It is unfair to compare apples and oranges but the views from my Tak are sometimes breathtaking. Just try Double Cluster in a 100mm refractor...aperture does not always rule, there are exceptions.

It also depends on your viewing habits and circumstances. But refractors can do double duty (solar included) the best and that has greatly expanded my targets and enjoyment of the hobby. I think I have spent more time doing H-alpha with the Quark in my refractors than hunting faint DSOs. Literally every clear morning pre-work is an opportunity, waiting for the tea to brew...

Refractors are great for backyard guerrilla astronomy, looking for the holes in the clouds and short opportunities to to observe the Moon, the planets, whatever. From what I remember UK skies are just like that, most of the time.

Bump!

Do you guys think it would be feasible to make an adapter for EQ 5 Berlebach Uni plate so that AZ Pro could be installed on top? 

Well, try rotating it and observe the effect...I know the answer.😉

9 hours ago, CraigT82 said:

So how do you use the bubble level when using with a newt and the horizon is at an angle? 

Never used it in a Newt. There's instruction on how to level it but I never attempted to do that, I've only recently acquired my dob.

On 26/02/2020 at 18:44, CraigT82 said:

Hi John,  I dont really know what the bubble level is for... it's pretty useless!

You have to level it with the bubble to use it properly and the nylon screws have to be equally separated from the null point to achieve proper correction.

On equatorial or on altaz if you are viewing sideways you have to ocassionally adjust the zero level. That is what the bubble is for.

I originally bought ZWO ADC without the bubble, since then mounted bubble on it.

I used it in 70mm refractor, 100 mm refractor and 8 inch SCT.

It's the biz when the planets are low, and they are lower in the UK than here.

The effect is the mildest in 70mm, you might skip it. In 100mm it is evident and using ADC is better than without it hands down. In C8 the effect is wow-like, my C8 easily outperformed 12 inch dob due to tons of dispersion it exhibited.  The amount of correction is relatively modest (one notch or one and a half) but the effect is dramatic.

I use 2.5 PM with it in my refractors, so you have to bump up the focal length of your EPs used for planetary. At f/11 in SCT it does not matter.

Is it perfect? No? But I'd say that it greatly improves planets at low altitude at 8 inches and that at 4 inches and planets this low it is excellent.

Here's the update. The pin is fixed (pic attached), with the help of my friends. Michael went out of the way and sent all the tools necessary (although we had them) and, to repeat, he offered to repair everything himself first.

I moved red dot 5mm to the side, as advised by Michael, now it does not interfere with the attachment of the secondary ring. 5mm is really the maximum, one mm more and it would not go in when packing. 

I'd like to think that I am getting better at collimating, but honestly I do not know. What I do know is that it will take quite some time to figure out a quick way to collimate secondary.