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Filters for NV


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PVS7 with high end tube due to arrive soonĀ šŸ˜€from OVNI. 55mm and televue 67mm converter on order. What filters/size would you recommend? Iā€™m thinking Astronimik 6nm ha based on quick research. Iā€™ll be doing viewing from light polluted city back garden in my 18ā€ dob. If I venture out with a handheld set up, e.g. x3 magnifier, can I use the same size or is that 2ā€ only?

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I made a pushfit adapter to hold a 2ā€ over the front of the 1x, fits the 3x with anotherĀ adapter. Then 2ā€ will fit on the 55mm plossl. 6nm is pretty good, the high spec tube people like the narrower Chroma filters,Ā but theyĀ costĀ a bit more. A 685nm long pass is the other one youā€™ll want (especially from town). I had a nice session looking at Milky Way structure (found B312), with 1x/3x from a local park.

Ā 

peter

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Thanks Peter, looks like theĀ filters arenā€™t going to be cheap.Ā I see the Chroma 5nm 2ā€ is almost double the cost of a 6nm Astronomik. Is the performance difference likely to be so great? Looks like I need to do more research before pulling the trigger...

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Many people are happy with the normal ones... itā€™s just some people have tried the more expensive ones and they do a bit better. Have a look at comparison posts. I reckon if you never compare yours against the chroma youā€™d probably never worry... but like not having a 5000FOM tube (if they existed).

Peter

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 30/07/2020 at 19:27, Trentend said:

Thanks Peter, looks like theĀ filters arenā€™t going to be cheap.Ā I see the Chroma 5nm 2ā€ is almost double the cost of a 6nm Astronomik. Is the performance difference likely to be so great? Looks like I need to do more research before pulling the trigger...

Congratulations!
I wouldnā€™t say the Chroma 5nm is a worthwhile step up from Astronomik 6nm. Iā€™d go all the way to a 3nm, but itĀ depends how bad your light pollution is. Mine is almost as bad as it gets, so a Chroma 3nm was worth the investment - although I balked at the cost of the 2ā€ and stuck with the 1.25ā€. That in turn means I have to use it with a 40mm plossl instead of the 55mm plossl, losingĀ out a bit on the speed of the systemĀ - so swings and roundabouts......
However, the 3nm Chroma is a little firecracker!Ā Showcase nebulae like the N America and M42 areĀ more substantial and brighterĀ than with my Baader 7nm. I can see more intricate detail in objects like the Veil. And thatā€™s only through a 130mm Tak Epsilon, which is my largest scope.
If youā€™re dealing with suburban rather than city centre skies, then the Astronomik 6nm wouldĀ be fine. Supposedly a very nice filter - and with your dob is going to transform your ability to see deep sky objects under any skies. And who knows, you might want to upgrade in the future to a Chroma 3nm?Ā These filters always seem to sell well on the used market. Look forward to hearing about your new gear.Ā 

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Iā€™ll wait till I see what the achromat does with my grey haired system, I fear it would kill the brightness too far....

I have a 12 and 7nm and a smaller 6nm astronomik. Sometimes I stack them to help keep the out of hand transmission down, especially if thereā€™s a lot of lig about.

Ā 

Peter

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On 19/08/2020 at 18:18, PeterW said:

Iā€™ll wait till I see what the achromat does with my grey haired system, I fear it would kill the brightness too far....

I have a 12 and 7nm and a smaller 6nm astronomik. Sometimes I stack them to help keep the out of hand transmission down, especially if thereā€™s a lot of lig about.

Ā 

Peter

Interesting Peter.Ā How do stacked filters perform compared with a single 6nm? Would there be benefits to adding a 7nm to my 3nm?Ā 

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ā€œAchromatā€... I meant Chroma.... auto correct is beginning to drive me nuts.Ā 
t

With such narrow band filters, when you have lots of light at other wavelengths even 0.1% could be an issue. Normal filter transmission plots are with a linear scale, so you can t tell 0.1% from 0.01%. Itā€™s quite common for these filters to have regions where they are less blocking, but you wonā€™t know unless they provide a logarithmic plot in ND units (which I think Chroma do). If you add a 12nm to a narrower one then the loss of hydrogen alpha will be trivial compared to the additional blocking of those undesirable wavelengths. I havenā€™t done a lot of testing as if I filter too heavily the image starts to get hard to use. Maybe in the coming months.

Ā 

peter

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Kit arrived today and a clear night here in Edinburgh.Ā Filter toĀ follow soon but had a quick peek upwards in the back yard 5 minutes ago handheld with the x1 lens. Wow, stars everywhere and even a shooting star as a welcoming gift in the first 5 seconds! Young one also had a go indoors with the lights off and really enjoyed it, especially the IR mode, which was pin sharp. Only concern is you have to twist the IR switch quite forcefully and I canĀ see that breaking if used often (not the intention, but a pretty ā€œcoolā€ feature). Also initiallyĀ concerned as a lot of scintillation when usedĀ indoorsĀ but this pretty much vanished when outside in its natural habitat.Ā Great start.

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9 hours ago, Trentend said:

Kit arrived today and a clear night here in Edinburgh.Ā Filter toĀ follow soon but had a quick peek upwards in the back yard 5 minutes ago handheld with the x1 lens. Wow, stars everywhere and even a shooting star as a welcoming gift in the first 5 seconds! Young one also had a go indoors with the lights off and really enjoyed it, especially the IR mode, which was pin sharp. Only concern is you have to twist the IR switch quite forcefully and I canĀ see that breaking if used often (not the intention, but a pretty ā€œcoolā€ feature). Also initiallyĀ concerned as a lot of scintillation when usedĀ indoorsĀ but this pretty much vanished when outside in its natural habitat.Ā Great start.

Excellent news! The best description Iā€™ve read of the sky with night vision is that itā€™s:Ā ā€œfilthy with starsā€. You have a lot of fun ahead of you. Do keep us informed of how you get on.

Afraid my strength weakened after my post above - Iā€™ve now ordered the Chroma 3nm 2ā€ ha filter for use with 55mm/67mm TV ā€˜superplosslā€™ and Panoptic 27.Ā Here in London I need all the help I can get.Ā 
But there are also cheaper narrow options. Iā€™ve just been reading about a new brand - Antlia, which apparently does a good 3.5nm.Ā 

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IR?? Never used the one on mine! Outdoors there is always plenty of light as the night sky is rich in NIR, indoors I was disappointed as you were. With the filters added youā€™ll kick it up a notch!

Mark, I need to try some of those other filters to see if itā€™s worth me investing....

Peter

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I ended up going with the Antlia 3.5. Will let you know how I get on with it (perhaps upgrade at a later point if needed). Not sure if the IR button is just on the PVS7? When used everything around 2-3m indoors in front of you isĀ crystal clear, compared to lots of scintillation without (although still cool).Ā I think the guy with the pitĀ in Silence of the Lambs had it on his...

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  • 3 weeks later...

I have a generic camera 680nm IR and the Altair 685nm, as I want to maximally purgeĀ light pollution, but some people are praising the 642nm... maybe I should get the shorter one, though I donā€™t get to dark skies often.

Peter

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  • 5 months later...

Ā I know chroma filters (6nm and 12 nm) went up before xmas and they are no longer listed byĀ FLO.

3nm Chroma is an eye watering Ā£1199, which is more than some people telescopes here.


Any ideas of other makes, Anitila or Astrodon are they any good?Ā I expect Chroma to be the best but given the price hike any other choices the would be good?

Backyard 20.5 SQM.Ā 


Device (I'll buy it once my scope final turns up)Ā :Ā OVNI-M Night Vision Eyepiece White Phosphor FOM2100

Asking now given the time delivery takes.

Edited by Deadlake
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The Chroma price rises are crazy! Can only presume they are pulling out of the mainstream market. My 2ā€ 3nm which I bought in the autumn has gone up over Ā£500. If you can find Astrodon filters at acceptable prices then theyā€™d be a first class alternative - on a par with Chroma

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18 hours ago, Highburymark said:

The Chroma price rises are crazy! Can only presume they are pulling out of the mainstream market. My 2ā€ 3nm which I bought in the autumn has gone up over Ā£500. If you can find Astrodon filters at acceptable prices then theyā€™d be a first class alternative - on a par with Chroma

Order of presence is Chroma >Ā Astrodon >Ā AnitilaĀ 

Where doesĀ 
Astronomik fit it, IĀ would of placed them theĀ same levels as Chroma?

Ā 

I see the OVNI are stocking Antila

https://www.ovni-nightvision.com/en/content/36-accessories-ovni-b

Edited by Deadlake
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