Ed80 and Quark

[Steve Clay]

I've decided I'm going to buy a quark chromosphere.

Will my ed80 be a good match?

2 inch or 1.25 diagonal?

ERF l guess not strictly necessary but I might want to use my ed120 too.

What power supply for the quark. Needs to be portable. No other power necessary as manual mount.

Thanks

Ste0ve

 

Edited May 2, 2020 by Steve Clay

[Davey-T]

9 minutes ago, Steve Clay said:

I've decided I'm going to buy a quark chromosphere.

Will my ed80 be a good match?

2 inch or 1.25 diagonal?

ERF l guess not strictly necessary but I might want to use my ed120 too.

What power supply for the quark. Needs to be portable. No other power necessary as manual mount.

Thanks

Ste0ve

 

ED80  should just about do longer focal length is preferred as the " straighter " the light hits the Quark the better.

I use a 2" diagonal but either will do.

ERF not needed and internal 2" Baader 35nm Ha is cheaper than front mounted one.

Lot's of small rechargeable / solar power packs on Amazon / EB as long as they can sustain a couple of amps and don't have the annoying habit of shutting down when they think nothing's plugged in 😁

Dave

[BGazing]

19 hours ago, Steve Clay said:

I've decided I'm going to buy a quark chromosphere.

Will my ed80 be a good match?

2 inch or 1.25 diagonal?

ERF l guess not strictly necessary but I might want to use my ed120 too.

What power supply for the quark. Needs to be portable. No other power necessary as manual mount.

Thanks

Ste0ve

 

ED 80 will be fine. Telecentric barlow in the Quark will bring it over f/30, which is enough.

Internal ERF should be sufficient for ED80 and, as per Daystar, on 120 too. Putting it further up the tube (ahead of diagonal on extension tube) would help. You need to use something that cuts BOTH UV and IR: UV/IR cut, Neodymium (IR-cut version) or 35nm. 2 inch diagonal is pretty much a a must if you want internal ERF, as this is the place where you mount your filter in 2 inch diagonal it will meet the light cone earlier.

Any portable phone charging battery capable of supplying 2A would do. Unfortunately, they all tend to cut off when no power is necessary.  So does Celestron Power Tank...

Make sure to test it for the 'best' setting. Do not assume that 0 setting will be on band. Mine is on band fully CCW (-5).

 

[Steve Clay]

7 hours ago, BGazing said:

ED 80 will be fine. Telecentric barlow in the Quark will bring it over f/30, which is enough.

Internal ERF should be sufficient for ED80 and, as per Daystar, on 120 too. Putting it further up the tube (ahead of diagonal on extension tube) would help. You need to use something that cuts BOTH UV and IR: UV/IR cut, Neodymium (IR-cut version) or 35nm. 2 inch diagonal is pretty much a a must if you want internal ERF, as this is the place where you mount your filter in 2 inch diagonal it will meet the light cone earlier.

Any portable phone charging battery capable of supplying 2A would do. Unfortunately, they all tend to cut off when no power is necessary.  So does Celestron Power Tank...

Make sure to test it for the 'best' setting. Do not assume that 0 setting will be on band. Mine is on band fully CCW (-5).

 

Can you recommend an extension for getting the filter further up the tube.

Thanks 

Steve

[BGazing]

Well I have 47 mm clicklock extension on my Tak which was bought beause with a T2 diagonal I was 'neither here nor there' so I had to take things on and off for reachin focus when doing white solar with barlow, this was perfect. 

If you want something further up your tube you may use something like this (chose the longer one, 28mm)

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/baader-planetarium/baader-hyperion-finetuning-ring.html

but it is by no means a must, especially on 80mm scope.

Also, it is recommended not to screw the filter in tightly, so as to allow it to expand if necessary under load.

[Steve Clay]

So the following items have been ordered:

Quark chtomospher 

Daystar UV/IR cut filter. Thought I'd go for this filter as its Daystars product. So if there are any snags hopefully I'll be better placed.

Baader M56 clicklock.

Baader 28 mm extension to place the filter a bit further up the tube.

12v/5v 2amp power pack from Amazon.

Thanks for the tips and info.

Steve

[astro_al]

Very nice! Sounds like you are all set.

I am about a week into owning mine and have been enjoying some interesting proms today. Not much in the way of surface detail so far though, regardless of the tuning. 

[Steve Clay]

39 minutes ago, astro_al said:

Very nice! Sounds like you are all set.

I am about a week into owning mine and have been enjoying some interesting proms today. Not much in the way of surface detail so far though, regardless of the tuning. 

Do you think that's due to the seeing. What scope are you using? 

[astro_al]

I am using a 3” F7.5 scope.
The Quark is set fully CCW at -5 and I even turned off the power today to see if the view changed much, and it didn’t. Going past 0 to +5 there is a big change with the views becoming more like those I see in white light. I believe that -5 is the lowest temperature setting so I am wondering if when I replace the UV/IR with the 35nm Ha filter if the internal temperature will drop and require a higher setting on the Quark. We will see, hopefully tomorrow.
I am also going to stop the aperture down to 60mm once a friend has printed this for me. This will move the scope from F32 to about F40. The image today is quite bright and I read on CN that a higher FR helps with the contrast of the surface details. Something else to experiment with.
I am sure the seeing is a contributing factor, coupled with the higher magnification when compared to my white light setup. I can see that there is detail, it’s just not very clear. 

[BGazing]

On 04/05/2020 at 23:18, astro_al said:

I am using a 3” F7.5 scope.
The Quark is set fully CCW at -5 and I even turned off the power today to see if the view changed much, and it didn’t. Going past 0 to +5 there is a big change with the views becoming more like those I see in white light. I believe that -5 is the lowest temperature setting so I am wondering if when I replace the UV/IR with the 35nm Ha filter if the internal temperature will drop and require a higher setting on the Quark. We will see, hopefully tomorrow.
I am also going to stop the aperture down to 60mm once a friend has printed this for me. This will move the scope from F32 to about F40. The image today is quite bright and I read on CN that a higher FR helps with the contrast of the surface details. Something else to experiment with.
I am sure the seeing is a contributing factor, coupled with the higher magnification when compared to my white light setup. I can see that there is detail, it’s just not very clear. 

If you turn the power off the view will not change much immediately. But it will degrade and become featureless soon. It takes longer for it to cool than to heat normally.

I tried stopping from 71 to 62 in my 5.6 refractor (have a stopping ring). This stops it to 6.42, so overall f27. Image gets dimmer and a bit more contrasty, I'd say, but not sure if due to bigger f or because the image is dimmer and easier to look at.

[Wyvernp]

58 minutes ago, BGazing said:

If you turn the power off the view will not change much immediately. But it will degrade and become featureless soon. It takes longer for it to cool than to heat normally.

You can actually see this happening in one of the latest Chuck's Astrophotography videos when his power supply for the Quark ran out. Have to say  I did want to buy one after watching that!

 

ahh just re-watched and it wasn't a quark it was a dedicated solar scope but the result of no power is the same. 

 

Edited May 9, 2020 by Wyvernp

[astro_al]

4 hours ago, BGazing said:

If you turn the power off the view will not change much immediately. But it will degrade and become featureless soon. It takes longer for it to cool than to heat normally.

Thanks. Yes, that's what I see now I have spent more time with the Quark. I observed with the power off and then at -5 which showed the clear difference vs starting at -5 and then comparing to off but with the residual heat. Like you say it takes longer to cool, which I also saw yesterday when I had the Quark at 0 for a little while. When I set it back to -5 it took a long time to go green.

[astro_al]

4 hours ago, Wyvernp said:

You can actually see this happening in one of the latest Chuck's Astrophotography videos when his power supply for the Quark ran out. Have to say  I did want to buy one after watching that!

I believe the Solar Scout is an integrated Quark and scope package sold by DayStar so what is shown in the video would be the same scenario for me when I unplugged my Quark. I am now wondering if I should cancel my order for new binoviewers and get a camera instead  

[BGazing]

1 hour ago, astro_al said:

I believe the Solar Scout is an integrated Quark and scope package sold by DayStar so what is shown in the video would be the same scenario for me when I unplugged my Quark. I am now wondering if I should cancel my order for new binoviewers and get a camera instead  

If you want to dim the image a bit try single polarizing filter and put it on EP. Quark is already polarized do by rotating you may dim the image and keep the resolution instead of stopping it down. I think at f/32 (which is your 7.5) the f is good enough for the Quark to operate as it should...

[astro_al]

I tried a polarising filter but it wasn’t very subtle. It was like someone put a finger over the objective. I use the same filter with the Herschel wedge and it works much better for some reason. 

[astro_al]

On 09/05/2020 at 12:00, astro_al said:

Thanks. Yes, that's what I see now I have spent more time with the Quark. I observed with the power off and then at -5 which showed the clear difference vs starting at -5 and then comparing to off but with the residual heat. Like you say it takes longer to cool, which I also saw yesterday when I had the Quark at 0 for a little while. When I set it back to -5 it took a long time to go green.

I am going to have to change my mind on this one.

I have been trying to see the large AR off and on today with the Quark. I didn't notice it was there at any point during observations yesterday, it was only when I saw it on GONG that I realised.

I started with an hour this morning between 7:30 and 8:30 AM and could just about convince myself it was there, but only because I knew where to look. The Quark was on -5 and ambient temperature was 11 degrees C.

I popped out again at lunchtime. Ambient temperature was 23 degrees C, Quark still on -5. Same deal, barely visible.

Mid afternoon I grabbed 20 minutes. Ambient temperature was 23 degrees C, Quark still on -5. This time it was much more visible, easily detected. What was the difference? I forgot to plug the Quark into its power source! I observed for a little longer before plugging in the Quark after which the image slowly changed so that the AR was barely visible again.

I repeated this later in the day i.e. with the power off first. Ambient temperature was 24 degrees C. I always bring the Quark indoors between sessions even though I leave the scope out so it is coming from a cool location. Same experience, the AR was much easier to see before I powered the Quark.

So what does this mean? Do I not bother with power when the ambient temperature is in the 20s and only bother with it in the winter? 11 decrees C this morning isn't that warm. I guess I was expecting that the heat required to get the Quark on band would be higher than ambient UK temperatures so that I could always rely on a specific setting. It feels like today's experience means that I don't have any real control about regulating the temperature. Maybe a question for FLO.

[Steve Clay]

I'll be getting first light on mine this coming weekend. I'll post here on my experiences.

Steve

[Peter Drew]

Good to swap experiences but no two Quarks seem to be the same.  Getting the best out of solar Ha equipment can be quite a learning curve calling for patience.    🙂

[johngm]

On 03/05/2020 at 09:27, BGazing said:

ED 80 will be fine. Telecentric barlow in the Quark will bring it over f/30, which is enough.

Internal ERF should be sufficient for ED80 and, as per Daystar, on 120 too. Putting it further up the tube (ahead of diagonal on extension tube) would help. You need to use something that cuts BOTH UV and IR: UV/IR cut, Neodymium (IR-cut version) or 35nm. 2 inch diagonal is pretty much a a must if you want internal ERF, as this is the place where you mount your filter in 2 inch diagonal it will meet the light cone earlier.

Any portable phone charging battery capable of supplying 2A would do. Unfortunately, they all tend to cut off when no power is necessary.  So does Celestron Power Tank...

Make sure to test it for the 'best' setting. Do not assume that 0 setting will be on band. Mine is on band fully CCW (-5).

 

 I am also in the process of purchasing the quark, but why the 2" 35nm filter and not the 1.25", when the imaging/viewing area has thread for a 1.25" filter ? maybe i'm missing something.

 

[Davey-T]

4 hours ago, astro_al said:

So what does this mean? Do I not bother with power when the ambient temperature is in the 20s and only bother with it in the winter? 11 decrees C this morning isn't that warm. I guess I was expecting that the heat required to get the Quark on band would be higher than ambient UK temperatures so that I could always rely on a specific setting. It feels like today's experience means that I don't have any real control about regulating the temperature. Maybe a question for FLO.

Unpowered the Quark gives quite nice AR views similar to white light observing.

Dave

[astro_al]

The closest I have seen to a white light view is when the Quark is +5, so max power. I see nice proms on -5, I also see nice proms and the best surface detail (so far) when the Quark is off. At the moment I am not understanding what powering the Quark gives me. 

[astro_al]

1 hour ago, johngm said:

I am also in the process of purchasing the quark, but why the 2" 35nm filter and not the 1.25", when the imaging/viewing area has thread for a 1.25" filter ? maybe i'm missing something.

I have the 2” so I can screw it into the nose of the diagonal and not the Quark. This is inline with Daystar’s diagrams and I guess means the filter rejects the unwanted energy as early as possible. 

Edited May 19, 2020 by astro_al

[Steve Clay]

I've got a 28mm extension on the front of the diagonal which moves the filter further into the draw tube.

[BGazing]

11 hours ago, astro_al said:

The closest I have seen to a white light view is when the Quark is +5, so max power. I see nice proms on -5, I also see nice proms and the best surface detail (so far) when the Quark is off. At the moment I am not understanding what powering the Quark gives me. 

Seeing best proms and surface detail at -5 suggests that this is your Quark's 'on band' setting.

Seeing them best when it is unpowered (as opposed to -5) suggests that 'on band' is outside of the temperature range of your particular Quark. Ask for replacement, but NOT before verifying that unpowered is indeed better than -5. Make sure it is.

Heating brings etalon 'on band'. Turning the knob represents a range of temperatures and one of them should be 'perfect' for your etalon to come on band.

[astro_al]

Thanks @BGazing. I was out observing this morning for a little while and started with no power. Still better than -5 to my eyes, but I will test more later.

I view the Quark dial in the same way as I view focusing a scope i.e. even when I think I am in focus then I still focus through and edge back to be sure. If -5 looks good with the Quark and no power or 0 looks worse then I feel good that I am 'in focus'. I don't have that at the moment.

Edited May 20, 2020 by astro_al