uhc nebula filter

[alro]

Explore Scientific 1.25" UHC Nebula Filter Ref: 0310215

hello all and thanks again for any advice and recommends you throw my way. I am now looking at buying a nebula uhc filter and i like the look of this one by ES . I live in a relatively dark skies area so this is about the price i want to pay to see if this will make much of a difference, ive heard its an all rounder in this field!.

Has anyone used these filters or if you have any advice on this, i really appreciate your time and help.

i know a decision should not be made on packaging, but the box does looks good!

al

[bingevader]

Hello, I'm using the 2" version, but I'm still waiting for a chance to give it a good running in.

I've nothing to compare it too, but so far on what I've seen, I've no complaints.

[alan potts]

I do not believe that ExSc have been making filters very long so it may well be unlikely that anyone in the UK has got one yet, also I do not think that their equipment is that easy to lay hands on, much of it seems to come from the USA.

Oh and your absolutely correct never buy pretty boxes, sometime they contain rubbish.

Alan.

[alro]

Thanks Ben,

i also have nothing to compare it to, but it does seem a fairly decent price , and i suppose once i get one (nebula filter) that will be my linein the sand for comparing.

Alan, i like your advice on pretty boxes... i will take it onboard. I think Telescope House stock these ones at 1.25 size

Al

[alan potts]

Al,

Yes I am sure TH do stock them or are getting them, I read the TH site a lot and it is only the last two weeks I have seen this added. They are a very good outlet, you can't go wrong with them and FLO.

Alan

[ronl]

You can get them from here http://www.telescopehouse.com/acatalog/Explore-Scientific-1.25--UHC-Nebula-Filter.html they are fairly

new, and I don't think there has been much said about them yet, but apparently they

all get tested, so that's a plus for an inexpensive filter, hope someone has used one.

[alro]

Again, thanks for the good advice alan, its good to be steered in the right direction.

ron, thanks for the link, i also hope others have used. May have to put in my basket now!

with me being new to this i didnt realise that ES filters were new. I kind of just liked what i read, the way it was all worded and put down, and i may have even understood a bit of it! They didnt seem to over egg the omelette and complicate with the description., if that makes any sense.

Al

[ronl]

It must be worth trying,

"Explore Scientific take pride in the individual serial numbering and testing of all their filters. When buying an Explore Scientific 1.25" UHC Nebula Filter, you will receive a unique test report, giving a wavelength graph of your individual filter", this explanation is worth £40, if you are not satisfied send it back and ask for a refund.

[bingevader]

Yep, mine came with a test report, and also (sorry Alan  ) a very pretty box with a star chart printed on it and a magnetic lid!

I'm assuming that you know not to expect any miracles with a UHC filter.

Like any filter really, it won't show you anything that isn't already there, it'll just filter out some of the extra unwanted wavelengths of light from the surroundings.

So the faint fuzzy blobs are still faint fuzzy blobs, just more obvious.

[Northern Soul man]

Hi YA Al - Nice 1 mate - the UHC filters are a nice addition - you say you have relatively dark skies - this on its own is a real bonus and will probably give you an enhancement on most of the emission nebulae whether you have the filter in place or not.  

I use the Baader and Castell (from 365 Astronomy) filters - there seems to be little in it from my light polluted skies in the Midlands - the difference is in the filter housing - the Castell is quite large, but find this a help when changing filters in the dark.  They do work, probably a little better for you under better skies - the UHC darkens the background sky enough to allow the higher contrast of the Nebulae to "shine" through, making the view very nice, only real problem is that the background sky darkens more and the fainter stars are "hidden" but not too bad  - the O III filter more so - but this just "adds" to the contrast - so where i live, I can just make out the Owl Nebula in Ursa Major with the UHC filter in place, but not a sign of it without the filter - more so with the O III, but with a much darker background sky - almost black, making the object stand out much more.

The cheaper Castell filter has a very small "smear" on the coating - but very small and not making any difference overall - so I decided not to return it.

You say with te EX SCI you get a report with it so this should keep the Quality Control very high - the Castell filter I have would not have made it through QC if each one was checked - so really worth the money.

Let us know what you decide to do and keep us informed.

Regards.

Paul.

[John]

It will be very interesting to see how the Explore Scientific filters perform

One of the interesting thing about UHC and O-III filters from different brands is that there is more variation than you might think, brand to brand, in their band pass profiles. The diagram below shows band pass widths for various brands of UHC filter compared. Quite a variation !

[alro]

Ben

I think the box has sold it for me!! Only joking. With not really knowing what to expecti think its worth a punt at the 40 mark, i know there are others that are more expensive, but at this stage in my astronomy journey, i think i am going to go for this one.

John , Paul, thanks very much for your feedback, i have , to the best of my limited ability in this field, to understand it. Everyday is a school day.

I think your castell smudge and your qc remark steers me toward the ES. Just a shade darker and hopefully more will be revealed, if im pointing towards the right objects.

Quite a bit of variation between the different brands on your graph.

Again, thanks for help.

al

[alro]

On another note, my copy of TLAO has just arrived, been waiting a few weeks for this. Looking forward to confusing myself even more.

[ronl]

TLAO won't confuse you, it will help you immensely, a great book

you will keep for a long time, you will be reading it over and over. 

It's also a great reference you will go back to as well. 

[alro]

I think you might be right ron,

just confirming a few things that i have seen, so far so good!

al

[bomberbaz]

It will be very interesting to see how the Explore Scientific filters perform

One of the interesting thing about UHC and O-III filters from different brands is that there is more variation than you might think, brand to brand, in their band pass profiles. The diagram below shows band pass widths for various brands of UHC filter compared. Quite a variation !

Having a look at that the Orion and Meade seem the best two offering, good band pass where needed. 

This page has a little more information regarding filter curves http://www.astrosurf.com/buil/filters/curves.htm

And this you may also find useful "air" as it helps give you an idea of what to expect http://www.cloudynights.com/page/articles/cat/user-reviews/accessories/astronomical-filters/filter-performance-comparisons-r1471#top

Hope this helps, 

Steve

[Gasmac]

I got a 2" of these back may/june time from the ExSc website and have used it a fair bit. I too have nothing to compare it to.

I have have loved using it and found it excellent when i took it exmoor in the summer with my new maxvision. The views of summer nebula were great and the view of the veil will live me for a long time.

I just to borrow a high end filter to compare it with but i have no regrets.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bingevader]

Box Pics.

[bingevader]

Oh, and Test sheet.

[John]

Interesting Ben

Below is the test report from the ES UK website. They only seem to have made 2 more between that one and yours !

[bingevader]

Oh yes, Eason Zhao's not a terribly busy chap then?

Interestingly, it does actually look like a slightly different report.

I'm not sure what that says about the consistency of the coatings, although it is marginal.

[John]

I guess all filters will vary very slightly, batch to batch. They should meet the overall tolerances set for the brand and model though. From the reading I've done on filters, with narrowband and line filters it seems that the sharpness of the cut-off is important to influencing the actual performance, the sharper the better. 

Looking through them and deciding what you think seems the best way to me

I'll look forward to hearing how these ES filters perform. Their specifications seem very good.

[alro]

Thanks eveyone for help and feedback, i think the packaging wins it for me - only joking..

i think that will be what i go for, i consider it a good price for a line in the sand marker

There seems to be a lot of good stuff available.

al

[bingevader]

I was saving these 'til I did a bit of a write up, but with the weather we've been having, it may take some time. 

The 2 (greenish hue and magenta hue) are a pretty good example of how the UHC filters work at transmitting and rejecting various wavelengths of light at different angles.

[alro]

They do look good, and the box looks great. Looking forward to getting one. I had no idea what to expect the lens would look like, if that makes any sense.

al