Quark with binoviewers

[Stu]

I had a relatively quiet day today so decided to have an experiment with a few different bits of kit. I had to improvise a little to hold the battery pack and Sol finder on the scope by using elastic bands (!), not a neat look but effective none the less.

The forecast was quite good for later in the morning and I also had to wait until after 11 until the sun cleared the trees at my parents. However it's amazing how poor conditions can make you think your kit is suddenly rubbish! I was using the Quark in both the Tak 60 and 76 and the contrast was poor and the detail just not up to much, regardless of the tuning position I used. I wondered what was going on, and worried whether I had been wearing 'shiny new kit' rose tinted glasses when I first tried the Quark.

After lunch, I gave the TV85 a run out, and wanted to see if binoviewing with the Quark was something I could get in with. Peter Drew had kindly posted that, because of the Barlow element in the Quark, binoviewing was no problem at all in terms of back focus so I popped the Denks in, without the x2 element on the front. Balance was a little challenging, and this setup was probably around the limit for my tripod to be reasonably stable but I got it sorted to a degree which was workable, keeping the tripod short and sitting to observe.

The Quark came to focus very easily. I had a few moments trouble merging the images but soon got the hang of it and was very impressed with the results. I have picked up a couple of 25mm Orthos which have diopter adjustment and work very well in my binoviewers which don't have this facility. This allowed perfect focus on each eye and made image merging that little bit easier.

The conditions in the afternoon were much better. I'm sure the 85 is not that much better than the 76, there must have been poor seeing and high haze in the morning as in the afternoon contrast was lovely and detail very clear. The granulation was extensive, along with a number of filaments plus a number of very large prominences visible at various points around the limb. (Refer to Shaun's lovely description which is far better than anything I could manage!)

Having struggled with binoviewing before, I am now convinced by its merits. I found the image had more depth to it, and above all the experience was much more relaxing. I felt slightly foolish sitting there with a jumper over my head, but this made a huge difference to the visible contrast and detail, particularly on the faint prominences.

The added benefit of the Denks is the PowerSwitch. Mine have the single switch which is either straight through or puts a reducer element in the light path. I hadn't appreciated that this would give me full disk views in the 85, something of a bonus. It was tight, but there none the less and gave very sharp views.

Later on, probably around mid afternoon, I saw a bright feature mid disk but down towards the 4 o'clock position. I assume that this was a flare, and I was able to see lovely detail in it, and could follow the changes in it over a relatively short period of time.

A good afternoon's observing all in all. Am getting to grips with the Quark very well and remain very happy with it. The binoviewers add another dimension to the experience and, to my mind, deliver a better image in a more relaxed fashion.

Stu

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[Luke]

Very nice write-up, Stu, inspires me to haul out the binoviewer. I have a pair of 25mm Tele Vue Plossls which luckily I already had before the Quark and they are so sweet on the moon, I find them quite easy to merge. Should try them on Sol! Good point from Peter re: the barlow.

Elastic bands?!! Is that allowed on a Tele Vue 85?   I use velcro for my battery pack (on my HEQ5 and Manfrotto tripod), seems to be very solid

[Stu]

Very nice write-up, Stu, inspires me to haul out the binoviewer. I have a pair of 25mm Tele Vue Plossls which luckily I already had before the Quark and they are so sweet on the moon, I find them quite easy to merge. Should try them on Sol! Good point from Peter re: the barlow.

Elastic bands?!! Is that allowed on a Tele Vue 85? I use velcro for my battery pack, seems to be very solid

Definitely give it a go Luke. I'm not saying I will always use BV's from now on, but they are certainly a nice alternative and something I will use regularly.

It was funny, my dad doesn't often (ever) comment on my kit, but he seemed to be deeply offended by my use of elastic bands :-). I'll find a better, and better looking solution next time!

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[Luke]

Mind you, if it works, it works :laugh: My lappy shade is not as refined as Mr Ward's (!!) but it certainly has served me well 

:embarrassed:

PS it's waterproof!

ish...

I don't know why I haven't tried the bino's yet with the Quark and Sun. My idea of lunar bliss is bino's...

[Pig]

Great write up Stu, you do have some wonderful kit, is there no end to it ?

I have had a few sessions with binoviewers and was quite impressed with them ( Lunar only) nice 3D effect

Luke, that piece of Toblerone you have must have come from one monster size bar, Christmas is definitely on the way

[Stu]

Great write up Stu, you do have some wonderful kit, is there no end to it ?

I have had a few sessions with binoviewers and was quite impressed with them ( Lunar only) nice 3D effect

Luke, that piece of Toblerone you have must have come from one monster size bar, Christmas is definitely on the way

Thanks Shaun :-)

There definitely is an end to it, in fact I am nearly done. Just a couple more bits arriving this week and then I'm sorted with everything as I want it.

If things go pear shaped, I can always sell it!!

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[Pig]

Totally agree Stu,

There is always a market place for good kit  I must admit I am almost done, just a quark to go for Christmas and maybe in time a DOB, and then another refractor with some binoviewers. Obviously if I get a Dob I will need some larger FOV TV eyepieces and a nice strong case to keep them in

[Davey-T]

Had a quick try with the Revelation bino viewer and 25mm Revelation EP's but couldn't get on with them, are the Denk' or Baaders that much better or is it just me ?

Dave

[Stu]

Had a quick try with the Revelation bino viewer and 25mm Revelation EP's but couldn't get on with them, are the Denk' or Baaders that much better or is it just me ?

Dave

The Denks are the first pair that I've got on with. I had WO and Baader Maxbrights before and couldn't get on with them. I don't know why particularly, but I find the collimation on the Debks is spot on, and merging the images at high power is no problem.

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[spaceboy]

What do you find as a consistent useable magnification in the quark ?

[SteveB72]

Forgive my ignorance, please could you tell me what the Quark is/does?

[Davey-T]

Forgive my ignorance, please could you tell me what the Quark is/does?

There you go.

Dave

[Stu]

Nick, it depends very much on the scope as normal. I've not had many sessions in consistent conditions, but the 32mm Plossl is normally the safest bet regardless of scope, and I'm getting a 40mm too to give lower mag.

That's x48 on the Tak 60 and x81 on the TV85 with the 32mm Plossl

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[spaceboy]

Thanks Stu. I was reading on cloudy nights that due to something only being 21mm inside the quark that if you can't fit the full disk in using a 25mm 5° plossl that using longer fl eyepieces is only going to allow for a lower magnification to suit seeing and not actually allow for more of the solar disk to fit in the FOV. Have you experienced this between swapping the 25mm and 32mm ??

[Stu]

Thanks Stu. I was reading on cloudy nights that due to something only being 21mm inside the quark that if you can't fit the full disk in using a 25mm 5° plossl that using longer fl eyepieces is only going to allow for a lower magnification to suit seeing and not actually allow for more of the solar disk to fit in the FOV. Have you experienced this between swapping the 25mm and 32mm ??

That's correct, the reason for going to a 32 or 40mm is for lower mag/better contrast, not fov. I believe both of these will vignette in the Quark. I've not had a chance to properly evaluate the effect side by side with the 25mm though.

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[Helen]

Nice report Stu - sounds like fun    I've not managed to get my solar stuff out for months for one reason or another

I found an odd thing when trying to get my WO binoviewers to work for me.  I'd failed on a number of occasions to get the images to merge and was about to give up and sell them.  Matt said that they were superb on the moon with the mak though so I thought it was worth one more go.  I did finally get them to work, but by using them the other way up ie instead of them with the pivot by my chin rather than by my forehead (ie shaped like a V not a ^)  It might just be my interpupilary distance (which I know is small) or the colimation of my pair, but I'm just happy it worked 

Helen

[Davey-T]

Nice report Stu - sounds like fun    I've not managed to get my solar stuff out for months for one reason or another

I found an odd thing when trying to get my WO binoviewers to work for me.  I'd failed on a number of occasions to get the images to merge and was about to give up and sell them.  Matt said that they were superb on the moon with the mak though so I thought it was worth one more go.  I did finally get them to work, but by using them the other way up ie instead of them with the pivot by my chin rather than by my forehead (ie shaped like a V not a ^)  It might just be my interpupilary distance (which I know is small) or the colimation of my pair, but I'm just happy it worked 

Helen

Couldn't get on with mine, so will give it a go, the adjustment is very stiff and only one side moves unless I hold them really firmly theyre hard to adjust and impossible when looking through them at the same time.

Dave

[Stu]

Nice report Stu - sounds like fun I've not managed to get my solar stuff out for months for one reason or another

I found an odd thing when trying to get my WO binoviewers to work for me. I'd failed on a number of occasions to get the images to merge and was about to give up and sell them. Matt said that they were superb on the moon with the mak though so I thought it was worth one more go. I did finally get them to work, but by using them the other way up ie instead of them with the pivot by my chin rather than by my forehead (ie shaped like a V not a ^) It might just be my interpupilary distance (which I know is small) or the colimation of my pair, but I'm just happy it worked

Helen

That's an interesting approach :-), I guess it must just put the alignment in a position which works for you.

I found with both of my previous sets I just couldn't get the images merged. My eyes are very different so I don't know if that has something to do with it.

They also seemed to have loads of adjustment on the collimation so always seemed to fiddly to me, trying to get them aligned each time.

The Denks have no adjustment as far as I know, they have self centring eyepiece holders and just seem to work with no fuss so I'm quite happy. The orthos I have got have diopter adjustment and this helps get fine focus on each channel.

Plenty of people seem to get on with the other brands though so I think it is more likely to be my eyes being particularly fussy.

It was certainly fun, looking forward to the next time.

Stu

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[SteveB72]

Thanks