ZWO ASI178mm - Considering a Purchase.

[CKemu]

I have a Coronado Solarmax II 60 BF10 telescope which was paired with my ASI120mm I purchased some years ago. The ASI120mm suffered from Newton Rings (fixed with a tilter) and also from horizontal interlace when imaging in H-Alpha (which ZWO never answered/resolved in numerous emails).

So the ASI120mm has found use as my OAG camera for my LX90 and Esprit 100ED setups, and does a great job.

Quick question, has anyone used the 178mm for solar imaging, have you experienced interlace or Newton rings, I've read some articles that suggest the camera had a global shutter resolving Newton rings, yet FLO and their website lists it as a rolling shutter which AFAIK with CMOS can cause Newton rings? Admittedly I'm not too fussed as my tilt adapter should in theory fix them - but I'd like to know what I am walking in to before making a purchase.

This camera will be used with my other scopes for lunar imaging as well, so can anyone recommend alternatives to consider for a similar price point. I can't go much higher as my primary goal this year is to save for a new DSO imaging camera which will take my to a "printable" resolution.

Many thanks in advance.
 

[David Smith]

I use a 178MM for solar, primarily Ca-K to be honest but occasionally for H alpha. In Ca-K it seems to be pretty much free of any significant problems. I have had mixed results when connected to my PST. The images below illustrate the good and the bad! They are both 9 pane mosaics but one shows obvious interference in each of the panes and the other shows much less. To be honest my main focus has been Ca-K and white light so I have not tried very hard to improve on this. PST brings lots of limitations as well, which makes the whole process seem like hard work as compared to Ca-K & WL!