Zakalwe

I'd trust the word of the guy who made the scope. Daystar specifically do not recommend using an oil spaced refractor without a ERF, but this may be ass-covering? http://www.daystarfilters.com/inout_article_base/index.php?page=view/article/4/UVIR-Cut-Filter-application-for-Refractors I suppose there's also a chance that the heat energy rejected by the ERF could come to focus inside the objective. That'd be through a freak of spacing where the internal ERF is located in precisely the wrong spot. All that energy has to go somewhere...sometimes the focal point is inside the OTA where it can heat the air causing currents. Mostly I would guess that the rejected energy comes to focus outside the OTA somewhere in front of the objective.

The TED is an oil-spaced scope, isn't it? If so, then I'd be very wary of using that for solar work unless it had a front ERF. I'm sure that Daystar used to specifically advise against using an oil-dpaced refractor or a Petzval design unless fitted with a front mounted ERF. A 12060mm Baader D-ERF is another £900 plus the cost of a mounting cell.

All of the above. The UV/IR filters pass a lot of heat through them, whereas the H-a filter blocks the vast majority of it. Quarks aren't the easiest to start with, though once you get used to them (and you get a good one) then they are capable of producing an outstanding image. However, if you have zero H-a experience then I would think that a Quark could make for a very frustrating time. You'll need good seeing to get the best out of them too. The other thing to consider s what do you want to image? Full discs are a complete PITA with a Quark as you are into multi-pane mosaics.

You will also have to "train" your vision system. I have a pet theory (probably garbage, but hey-ho) that viewing in such a narrowband of light is unknown to our ocular system. You definetley see more aftger viewing for a while, which helps with focus and tuning. After a bit of experience you will find that the details "snap" into vision.

Thank you. Gotta admit that my processing skills (such as they were) are pretty damn rusty. I kept staring at Photoshop like a dog that's just been shown a card trick* wondering which damn button to push! *Thank you Bill Hicks, you absolute legend!

Mosaics can be a PITA if the conditions are a bit changeable or the seeing is all over the place. Photoshop does a good job, but if it fails then Microsoft ICE can sometimes succeed. I stack the panes, merge into a mosaic and then sharpen. That seems to work for me. Thanks Dave. It just about fits on the sensor. I used a ROI of 2560 x 2048 and it just about squeaks in there. There's no room for any drifting though, so the mount needs to be solid and track well.

Thank you. I only had a chance to test it in the late afternoon between the clouds, so not ideal conditions. The camera seems to match the Lunt 60 well. Nice to be able to capture a full disc without having to mosaic!

Testing a new ASI 178 camera on the Lunt L60 Image details: Full disc fits nicely on the chip. Double-stacked Lunt L60 pressure tuned. ASI178 camera. Mesu 200 mount. Captured in Firecapture, stacked in AS!3. Sharpened in ImPPG. Final processing in Photoshop. 07_06_2020 Full Disc Normal Proms Inverted DiscGrad Bkgrnd by Stephen Jennette, on Flickr 07_06_2020 Full Disc Normal Proms Inverted Disc by Stephen Jennette, on Flickr 07_06_2020 Full Disc Inverted Proms Normal Disc Pseudo Colour by Stephen Jennette, on Flickr 07_06_2020 Full Disc Inverted Proms Normal Disc Mono by Stephen Jennette, on Flickr

An X3 Barlow is pushing it and will darken the image considerably. I find that an X3 is barely usable with my Lunt L60 in singlestack mode, never mind doublestacked. You will also need excellent seeing to use an X3 Slow down and take a step back. Make sure that your solar finder is set up correctly. Stick an eyepiece in and get used to tuning the Etalon. The pressure tuning is very precise and with practice you will be able to take the 'scope slightly off-tune into the red and blue wings to make different feature stand out. Get used to focusing as well. Precise focus is essential. Don't underestimate the effects of seeing (both local and atmospheric). On the recent really hot days the seeing is very turbulent and often makes it nearly impossible to get precise tuning and focusing. Even more so as the day progresses and the ground heats up. Try and set up away from concrete or patios and these will drastically worsen the local seeing. Getting camera spacing correct can be a pain as the focal plane is very narrow. Until you get really au fait with the 'scope it's easier to tune and focus with an eyepiece, then insert the camera. A shade for the laptop screen helps enormously as you can see what's happening as you manually move the camera in and out of the focuser. Most importantly, DONT PANIC. I've seen people getting really frustrated with the views until they realise that they are looking at a ghost refection! (Again, check your solar finder is properly set up). Take your time, unless you are very very unlucky the 'scope will be perfect. It takes a lot of experimentation to get the best out of the kit, but once you do the spectacular secrets of the Sun are there for you to see.

Why would you think that the manufacturer knows less than us? its a sealed bearing, so it will be pre-greased with the correct amount. Bear in mind that the bearing was made to run a lot faster than a mount axis too. 1 revolution per day is hardly going to stress a bearing meant for hundreds of RPM.

Sure, as long as credit is given. Please link to the Astrobin image.

30 minute animation of Hedge Prom 1 frame captured every minute for 30 minutes. Each frame was stacked from 10% of 800 frames.

2.4micron pixels versus the 5.86 of the 174. The 174 is great for a long focal length system such as a Quark.

I have a 174 and use it with a PowerMate 2.5 for this exact reason. At native focus you can see the individual pixels as you have to zoom in so much.

Hedge Prom 31 May 2020 by Stephen Jennette, on Flickr Quark Chromosphere on Esprit 120 triplet with ASI174mm The seeing was dreadful, so only stacked the best 10% of 800.

The pixel size on a ASI174 are too large for a Lunt 60. Once you zoom in you will see "blockiness" around the edges. You'll need to Barlow up to increase the image scale.

It was decked out with 4 seats.

If it's out of focus then no amount of processing will make it as good as an infocus image.

If you use Firecapture as your acquisition software then you will be able to create flays inside FC and have those applied to the movie stream. It will impact slightly on your FPS, but if your camera has a fast rate then the impact might not be too bad. http://www.urbanastro.co.uk/blog/using-firecapture-to-eliminate-newtons-rings

Make sure that the axis of tilt is along the long axis of the camera sensor. This minimises the distance from the focal plane across the sensor. Play around with the tilt as well.I have mine set so there is a hint of NRs (which keeps the tilt to a minimum). I usually correct for these faint NRs with a solar flat.

What scope are you using? You'll need to match the pixel size with the focal length. I use a ZWO174 with my Quark and it partners well with that. The 5.86 micron pixels match the long focal length that the Quark inbuilt Barlow produces. On my Lunt 60mm however, the pixels are too large. It's just about OK if I Barlow the Lunt to the point where I need to do a three-pane mosaic to get the full disc. Ideally the Lunt needs something with much smaller pixels. Another point to consider is the electronic shutter. Ideally a global shutter is needed. A rolling shutter can produce artefacts at high frame-speed, especially when fast moving objects are being imaged (solar flares or regions around active sunspots)

Directly in front of the camera. I use a ZWO camera that has T-Threads as standard.

Powermates are well known for generating Newton's Rings. Get a Rowan Astronomy (or similar) tilt adapter in there.

Any disk that relies on spinning iron will struggle with today's high speed USB3 cams. You will need SSD storage to keep up allied to USB3.

Don't mention it. I didn't do anything other than load it onto the astrometry engine and it did all the magic! It's amazing the quantity and quality of tools and resources out there on the Web