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The Quarkenscope!!


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Have fun with that. I'm sure the Quark vs dedicated scope debate will continue for a long time. It's up there with 'frac vs Newt I think! [emoji6]

Stu, quite right that the debate will go on for ages, but I would appreciate any feedback about my situation both from you and other members:

I don't like lugging a big scope out for solar observing - my sessions are limited to 30 minutes tops.

I use a 50mm f6.6 refractor and I have a 60mm f5.5 refractor on the way.

Currently using a 1.25" Lunt Hershel wedge and having a blast. I am all set for eyepieces that will also accommodate a Quark and give a full solar disk view.

I am considering either the Quark or the 50mm Lunt. Both are "similarly" priced so price is not an issue. Which one based on your experience (and on any other person with similar experience in this thread)?

I have a mount which can accommodate two scopes side by side and I am thinking of doubling the fun...

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Stu, quite right that the debate will go on for ages, but I would appreciate any feedback about my situation both from you and other members:

I don't like lugging a big scope out for solar observing - my sessions are limited to 30 minutes tops.

I use a 50mm f6.6 refractor and I have a 60mm f5.5 refractor on the way.

Currently using a 1.25" Lunt Hershel wedge and having a blast. I am all set for eyepieces that will also accommodate a Quark and give a full solar disk view.

I am considering either the Quark or the 50mm Lunt. Both are "similarly" priced so price is not an issue. Which one based on your experience (and on any other person with similar experience in this thread)?

I have a mount which can accommodate two scopes side by side and I am thinking of doubling the fun...

Tricky one to answer. I used to have a PST, and a good one at that. I was never able to do a true side by side, but from memory the views with the Quark in my Tak FS-60C are significantly better than the PST. In the TV85 there is no comparison.

I would imagine that the Lunt 50 is probably just a small incremental step better than a good PST, in which case I would say go for a Quark.

The negative point for you with short observing sessions is the 10mins or so warm up time. I find tuning to be less of an issue because firstly I normally use a very similar setting each time, and also once the Quark is warmed up, you can continue observing whilst the change takes effect.

If you can have a battery pack connected before you start your session, the Quark can be already warmed up anyway so the delay is a non issue.

Personally, there is something which I love about the Lunts, their design, engineering and solid feel. I guess it's a form of reliability and certainty of view. I would love to own one.

For me though, the Quark, whilst definitely quirkier (the Quirky Quark?), made absolute sense given my refractors and the flexibility of having a range of options from an aircraft carry on option with the 60mm, right up to the crazy experiment which is my Quarkenscope 150mm.

That's probably not any clearer, is it [emoji6]

Stu

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I had a PST as well which while a decent entry to Ha viewing, did not impress me with the small blocking filter which necessitated keeping my eyeball firmly in a specific place to avoid blackouts.

The bad news is that there is no Lunt 50 or Quark available here in Cyprus to test and arrive at a conclusion, so any decision will be blindly taken.

I think I will wait it out and watch the Quark Vs Lunt 50 debate rage and once the dust settles, I will make a choice...

And yes, it's not any clearer as you are making a good case for both!!!!!

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My apologies [emoji6][emoji6]

One thing we can maybe try to do is set up a bit of a comparison between various scopes at SGLX. This is at the time of the eclipse so we should have plenty of solar hardware there.

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Stu, quite right that the debate will go on for ages, but I would appreciate any feedback about my situation both from you and other members:

I don't like lugging a big scope out for solar observing - my sessions are limited to 30 minutes tops.

I use a 50mm f6.6 refractor and I have a 60mm f5.5 refractor on the way.

Currently using a 1.25" Lunt Hershel wedge and having a blast. I am all set for eyepieces that will also accommodate a Quark and give a full solar disk view.

I am considering either the Quark or the 50mm Lunt. Both are "similarly" priced so price is not an issue. Which one based on your experience (and on any other person with similar experience in this thread)?

I have a mount which can accommodate two scopes side by side and I am thinking of doubling the fun...

Tricky as you want a real grab and go scope, the difference at 50 or 60mm will not be great. It's when you get the Quark in 100mm upwards where the detail far surpasses what you can see in a smaller dedicated solar hydrogen-alpha scope.

I currently have a Solar Max 60 and since getting the Quark over six months ago, I have used the SM60 for about 20 minutes. We plan to sell it, I like the idea of keeping it, but we have bought something else that will get more use.

I like observing at home most with Quark and ED100 (preferred to my ED120 for visual, because it works a bit nicer on my giro mount).

For grab and go I use the Tele Vue 60. Quark has no obvious sweet spot (proms still look great at edge of view, no need to move them into the central sweet spot for a better view). On the downside, Quark needs about 10 minutes to warm up and needs power. For me the power is not much of an issue, I use a  portable battery and turn the Quark on ten mins before I want to use it (or as I start to leisurely set up, then Quark is ready when I am). How practical that is I guess will depend on your circumstances.

Reasons why I prefer Tele Vue 60 + Quark over SolarMax 60 include:

- no obvious sweet spot

- better focuser

- nicer to use scope

- can use the same scope for white light/regular astro (I just do single scope for grab and go - at home I do white light/h-a side by side - so maybe this point is not important for you as you are going dual mount)

I also use the Quark in 85, 100 and 120mm scopes (same as Herschel wedge), so all day long I would choose Quark over Lunt 50. The detail in a 100mm scope is far superior. One ace that the Lunt has, is that if you double stack it, it should have more contrast than the Quark. This is very nice.

Contrast on the Quark I find fine, but a double stacked dedicated h-alpha scope has very nice contrast.

I would though all day long, ignoring portability, view through a 100mm scope and Quark than a double stacked 50 or 60mm dedicated scope. The detail is so rich that the lower contrast is less noticeable, contrast can't of course help you see details that are unresolvable at 50 or 60mm.

If I did not use the Quark in bigger scopes, I'd probably still go Quark and Tele Vue 60, because of the "one scope solution" and because I love using the TV60.

Slight potential downside for your scopes, I wonder if you will have a little less contrast with a faster scope? I do not know the answer for sure. There seems to be less contrast with my F6 Tele Vue 60 than with my bigger scopes (F7, F7.5, F9).

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Great thread Stu enjoying reading it, that little Quark has really caused you a lot of work ;-)

Damian

It certainly has Damian [emoji2], been fun though [emoji12]

It had better be worth it!!

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Excellent thread Stu and some very interesting posts :smiley: I should be able to join the comparison party soon ..... one thing I did notice that was pretty unusual was the sunshine ... it has been almost a week since I have seen t here :grin:

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Hi Stu, what is the problem with the 32 Plossls ? I've got some cheap Revelation bino's and a couple of 20mm Revelation eyepieces that came with them, was thinking of getting another 32mm TV Plossl to go with the one I've already got to try a pair of them.

Tried it in the Quark /100mm refractor combo but I think the 20mms are too much mag' so be interested in your views before wasting money.

Dave

Dave, I'm not sure if you picked up the fact that I used the 32mm Plossls the other day in the Binoviewer and managed better with them. I removed the eye guard extensions and that helped a lot. I think it is definitely worth giving a go, if you can pick up a used 32mm

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This is interesting about stopping down the 6", i have been at Shanes today with my 6" mak with newly made white light filter and it was rubbish, no detail just a white disk, maybe there is a limit on this type of scope and aperture! i think i will salvage the solar film from the holder and make a full aperture filter for my incoming 4" starwave

look forward to the vinyl wrap, i did my old helios st 150 in fake carbon wrap and it looked good

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