Quark problem?

[DRT]

I have owned my Quark for around two years and have always been delighted with the views. I have read all of the horror stories of faulty units and bad customer service but enough experienced observers have looked through my Quark to convince me it is a good one. 

Until today...

ive been doing a little spring cleaning of my Astro kit and noticed that there was quite a gathering of dust inside the eyepiece holder of the Quark. I unscrewed the eyepiece holder and cleaned the outer surface of the red glass filter and surrounding area. As I was doing this I noticed this pattern on the inside of the filter...

?

Please, if you have a Quark can you take a look and tell me if you see the same thing?

Alternatively, if you were unlucky enough to have a bad one did it look like the picture above?

Thanks

Derek

 

[xtreemchaos]

hi Derek, just had a look at mine, heres a pic,

its only 3 months old and the glass is clear on mine, do it change when you warm it up, and can you see it while viewing ?, might be a idea to email Quark and show them the pic, I'm not all that sure how thay work, looks much like the fungle you get in camera lens, but as I say I don't know that much about them. hope it nothing bad. charl.

[DRT]

Thanks, charl.

I have sent the picture to Simon at Widescreen Centre. I found the order confirmation and it's actually only 16 months old. It's always been kept in a cool, dry place in a foam lined flight case so I'm struggling to see how it could be fungus, although that certainly is what it looks like. 

[Stu]

5 minutes ago, DRT said:

Thanks, charl.

I have sent the picture to Simon at Widescreen Centre. I found the order confirmation and it's actually only 16 months old. It's always been kept in a cool, dry place in a foam lined flight case so I'm struggling to see how it could be fungus, although that certainly is what it looks like. 

It doesn't look like fungus to me Derek, from the picture it looks more like some sort of stress cracking.

Had you checked before or do you just not know if it has always been there? Views ok still?

[xtreemchaos]

A good dose of sunlight on that end should kill it if its fungul, works with camera lenses, I think its under the clear glass bit. charl.

[DRT]

4 minutes ago, Stu said:

It doesn't look like fungus to me Derek, from the picture it looks more like some sort of stress cracking.

Had you checked before or do you just not know if it has always been there? Views ok still?

I really have no idea when it appeared, Stu. The picture isn't as clear as when you look at it close up and my first thought when I saw it clearly was that it was some sort of degeneration of a lens coating.

I just found this article: http://myphotojourney.co.uk/daystar-quark-humidity-issue/

I don't want to dismantle it at no doubt my 5 year warranty will go down the tubes but it is possible there is some sort of internal moisture that is causing this.

[Floater]

Just had a look at mine, Derek, and see nothing like your pic.

I have had bad units(!) but I didn't take a look at the filter in those; just knew the view wasn't matching my SolarMax. ?

Simon at Widescreen was extremely helpful and I'm sure he'll have the answer. Hope all goes well. ?

[DRT]

The Sun has decided to go in for the day so I probably won't be able to look through it until tomorrow. I used it last week and it seemed fine.

[DRT]

Just now, Floater said:

Just had a look at mine, Derek, and see nothing like your pic.

I have had bad units(!) but I didn't take a look at the filter in those; just knew the view wasn't matching my SolarMax. ?

Simon at Widescreen was extremely helpful and I'm sure he'll have the answer. Hope all goes well. ?

Cheers, Gordon. 

[xtreemchaos]

33 minutes ago, DRT said:

I just found this article: http://myphotojourney.co.uk/daystar-quark-humidity-issue/

that something I didn't know, I thought you could not dismantle them at all, but if it kills the warranty its best left alone, hope you find a easy fix, charl.

[Pig]

Derek,
Here is mine

 

[DRT]

Cheers - I think the question in the thread title has been comprehensively answered 

I just hope there is a solution. Will report back when I hear from Simon.

Thanks for all the replies and pictures.

[Moonshane]

It does unfortunately look like delamination of two layers in this filter.  I suspect it could be readily replaced under warranty.

[DRT]

24 minutes ago, Moonshane said:

It does unfortunately look like delamination of two layers in this filter.  I suspect it could be readily replaced under warranty.

...and be away for the duration of the summer  

[DRT]

I have had a look through the Quark this morning through the gaps in the clouds. The good news is that it is still showing lots of detail and doesn't appear to be trashed by the marks on the lens. However, when you move the field of view slowly across the disk, especially in full brightness, you can see a shadow in the shape of the pattern shown in the picture above moving across the disk. The part that is covered by the shadow is visibly dimmer and shows less detail than the clear part of the FOV. Whilst this fault hasn't rendered the device completley   unusable it is certainly a degradation from where it once was.

 

[Davey-T]

Hi Derek, Daystar will fix or replace it without a problem but in my experience they're not very speedy.

If you email them they will send you a paid return ticket but you will need to figure out the customs form ( 5 copies ! ) yourself, I've got a template if you need a copy.

If you don't hear from them in a couple of days you will have to phone to gee them up, bit expensive but it appears to be the only way to get their attention.

A very nice lady on the phone but she seems to be the only person dealing with warranty items so she's rushed off her feet.

Once it returns your next problem is prising it out of the grip of HMRC Coventry, it took over a month to get mine off them.

HTH

Dave

 

[DRT]

Sounds like a nightmare, Dave.

I've contacted Widescreen Centre as I bought it from them new 16 months ago and am hoping they will offer to sort out the logistics. I'm sure they will have done it many times before and shipping it back with incoming stock might speed up the customs process.

[spaceboy]

Hope you get it sorted in a timely manner mate. Although do you not have a LS50 ? to keep you entertained while it's away. I have been tempted by getting a quark several times but their reputation put me off as I'm sure it has so many others. It's a shame as good examples offer up some superb images.

[Solar B]

Mmmm not seen that before on the etalon window .... will check mine .... hope you can get it all resolved.

 

Brian 

[Peter Drew]

I would post a piture of the defect on Solarchat, plenty of expert advice about such problems on there. 

[DRT]

6 minutes ago, Peter Drew said:

I would post a piture of the defect on Solarchat, plenty of expert advice about such problems on there. 

Thanks, Peter. I hadn't heard of that place before so will give it a go.

[Peter Drew]

Just now, DRT said:

Thanks, Peter. I hadn't heard of that place before so will give it a go.

The prime forum for anything solar.  

[DRT]

43 minutes ago, Peter Drew said:

The prime forum for anything solar.  

Second only to the Solar section on SGL?    

[DRT]

I tried three times and cannot get through solar chat's registration process. Grrrr.

[Merlin66]

Keep trying, it should work.

It the largest active solar forum on the web.

If pain persists contact me and I'll help.