1st Light using Quark + ASI178

[ChrisLX200]

By the time my ZWO ASI178MM arrived in the post a sunny morning had turned to patchy cloud. By the time it was all set up and ready to go the final gaps in the cloud were just closing and I had time to capture just one run of 1000 frames - not even time to refine focus or search the disk for Proms, let alone optimise the Quark tuning. Oh well, I'm sure there will be another sunny day!

The OTA is a SW Equinox 80ED, this was a stack of 10% of the captured 1000 frames using AutoStakkert!.

ChrisH

[Moonshane]

Really impressive Chris.  sorry if I am responsible for an empty wallet!

 

[David Smith]

Looks promising Chris.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Does look promising. I do wonder if the ASI178MM doesn't have rather small pixels when used with a quark. I am considering one, but mainly for Ca-K and WL full disks, because my main H-alpha set-up has a focal ratio similar to a Qurak. Do you use a focal reducer?

[laudropb]

Promising start Chris.

[Macavity]

47 minutes ago, michael.h.f.wilkinson said:

I do wonder if the ASI178MM doesn't have rather small pixels when used with a quark. I am considering one,

Heheh. Good point. I must admit I did resort to making a PAPER list of the various
attributes (pixel size etc.) of ZWO Cameras. Quite a lot of them (cameras) now.

Impressive image too!

[Davey-T]

Looking good Chris, the main problem with solar ATM is clouds, no long sunny days to experiment.

A motor focuser is a good thing to have for imaging, sure you could knock one up in a couple of hours if you haven't already done so

Dave

[ChrisLX200]

Thanks for the encouragement!

Yes, this is all your fault Shane... ;-)

The ASI178MM will have to pull double shifts on the planets, Moon and Sun - so maybe not ideal for doing just Solar but it will work. The 174 would have been a better choice for the Quark (at near double the cost though).

@Dave - Oh yes, already have the focuser motorised ;-)

How many folk with a Quark have callibrated the full effect of the tuning dial? i.e., take an image, turn the knob one click and wait for it to stabilise, then take the next image, and so on for the full range of adjustment? Seems like a tedious job..

ChrisH

[Davey-T]

23 minutes ago, ChrisLX200 said:

Thanks for the encouragement!

Yes, this is all your fault Shane... ;-)

The ASI178MM will have to pull double shifts on the planets, Moon and Sun - so maybe not ideal for doing just Solar but it will work. The 174 would have been a better choice for the Quark (at near double the cost though).

@Dave - Oh yes, already have the focuser motorised ;-)

How many folk with a Quark have callibrated the full effect of the tuning dial? i.e., take an image, turn the knob one click and wait for it to stabilise, then take the next image, and so on for the full range of adjustment? Seems like a tedious job..

ChrisH

Alexandra (Montana) did a test from one end to the other and posted pic's of all the settings, a few months ago, it's lurking on the Solar imaging forum somewhere if you do a search of her posts it should come up.

Dave

[xtreemchaos]

great result Chris, you caught some lovely detail with your first go with the new camera.well done, thanks  charl.

[Pete Presland]

Superb 1st light!

[Drop Of Sun]

Promising start, Chris! That bodes well I think! You could try going two notches at a time to start with, it may help get you in the ballpark area a little quicker. I think the manual mentions something about trying two more notches?

[Davey-T]

10 hours ago, ChrisLX200 said:

How many folk with a Quark have callibrated the full effect of the tuning dial? i.e., take an image, turn the knob one click and wait for it to stabilise, then take the next image, and so on for the full range of adjustment? Seems like a tedious job..

ChrisH

There you go Chris.

Dave

[ChrisLX200]

LOL sounds about right! I'll still attempt to do it if we get a good day.

ChrisH

[Montana]

Looks great but yes, I would do a test on all the settings, it may surprise you. In fact I found it good fun and it was interesting to spot all the blue wing features at the same time which most folk forget about. Probably only because we don't have the time ie a 2 minute gap, so we focus on centre line. You do need a good blue sky day as you need at least 10 minutes per dial setting.

Alexandra

[Ewan]

Excellent first light Chris, looks to be a good setup for you.