Need help with Daystar Quark Chromosphere

[kbrown]

Hi,

I'm not new to astroimaging per se but I am new to solar imaging and could use some help to get my rig set up correctly. I've recently bought a Daystar Quark Chromosphere  "eyepiece" but have had very few opportunities to actually use it. I'm using it with a 72mm F/6.9 achromatic refractor. I was testing it the other day with my ZWO ASI183MC Pro (I know, mono would be better), but wasn't able to achieve focus. This was probably mainly due to clouds always obscuring the sun a bit but still I was disappointed not to be able to see more than a blurry white blob no matter what I did. I had the Quark after my diagonal and the camera attached to it using the 1.25" nosepiece together with a 11mm T-ring. Does this sound correct? I haven't been able to find information on how close/far away the sensor should be from the Quark. Any insight on this would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Kari

[Peter Drew]

It could be that the 4.2x Barlow built into the Quark means that you will need an extension to reach focus.  Blurry white blob doesn't sound right to me, a Ha image should be red.  I'm sure things will sort out.     🙂

[Rusted]

15 hours ago, Peter Drew said:

It could be that the 4.2x Barlow built into the Quark means that you will need an extension to reach focus.  Blurry white blob doesn't sound right to me, a Ha image should be red.  I'm sure things will sort out.     🙂

A colour camera in H-alpha will show a pale disk with a hint of pink.
Or pink surface markings on a pale grey-pink background.
It depends on how bright the image is and how evenly it is lit.
Here is an old, overexposed image captured with my ASI120MC colour camera:

 

Edited April 21, 2020 by Rusted

[Davey-T]

Where does the T ring enter into the setup ? the camera should fit straight into the Quark.

Dave

[kbrown]

2 hours ago, Davey-T said:

Where does the T ring enter into the setup ? the camera should fit straight into the Quark.

Dave

The T-Ring is on the ASI so I could put the 1.25" nosepiece on it. This is the closest I could get the ASI to the Quark with what I have. I tried unscrewing the 1.25" receptable off the Quark but that revealed a thread that I couldn't recognise or use with anything.

Maybe I'll try imaging with my QHY5L-II instead. Smaller sensor but at least it's mono...

[Davey-T]

Looks like it should work

You can get one of these to turn it into a sensible thread

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/adapters/astro-essentials-adapter-for-daystar-quark-to-t2.html

Dave