Help me join the light side...

[Victor Boesen]

This is a very dangerous teritory for me as I'm aware what I may risk a lot of money but here I go🤑

Since I looked through a hydrogen alpha telescope a couple years back at a Mercury transit in 2016 I still vividly remember staring at the beautiful texture and proms visible in the small PST-40. I quickly forgot everything about solar telescopes as soon as I saw the price since I was (still am in many ways) too young to have such expenses going towards a hobby. Here I am about 5 years later looking into a solar telescope once again after winning a small amount of money in a science competition that I won.
This is the situation I'm in right now:

• Currently studying and working a part time job
• I previously sold my 10" dob and switched it for a smaller apo refractor due to ease of use. I like simple but good quality equipment
• Limited funds, will get more into this

What I'm looking for / considering at the moment:

The main reason solar telescopes caught my interest again was a video by Dylan O'Donnell on youtube showing his brief first impressions of the Lunt 40mm telescope. I had seen a post on this scope here on SGL a while back but it was very new back then. I have also done some reading on the Daystar Quark chromosphere but I'm discouraged buying this due to the poor customer service and quality control by Daystar together with its slightly expensive pricepoint. I am, however, aware that the quark will probably be superior to any other solar telescope around the same pricepoint so this is where I seek your advice!

Lunt 40mm telescope

• Pros
  • Cheap
  • Small and portable
  • Full disk is no problem
• Cons
  • Another telescope to store!
  • Small aperture
  • Focuser might not be suitable for heavy eyepieces or perhaps even binoviewers in the future

Daystar Quark chromosphere

• Pros
  • Can be used in both my refractors (with a UV/IR filter or aperture mask with the 102 f7 perhaps)
  • Good units show great visual performance
  • Narrower band pass = Better contrast (?)
  • Full disk just managable with my ED72 and 14mm eyepiece
• Cons
  • Bad quality control
  • Expensive
  • Heat-up time and requires power (Remember, I like simplicity most of the time)

I'd be open for second hand scopes but I rarely find anything at this price sold second hand in Denmark and especially not solar telescopes, but perhaps @Rusted has some recommendations? That said, I'm open for other scopes/solutions but it seems that these are the only options within my price range. The quark is just outside it though😅 I've also looked at the solarscout but heard bad things about it so I haven't really considered it.

My concerns/thoughts:

My main concern with regards to the Lunt 40mm is that I won't be satisfied or perhaps even get bored of the lack of high magnification observing. I'm aware that it's currently a solar minimum (perhaps a little more active but you get it) and I won't see much interesting. The quark seems to perform good in most cases, but I've seen many reports with bad units and poor customer support, but again, you often only hear about the bad experiences rather than the good ones so I suppose this might also be true here? The next reson I haven't already purchased the quark is due to its pricepoint. I'd rather stay below the 1000£ if possible, which I know isn't easy in hydrogen alpha solar equipment.

If I missed anything useful you should know then let me know! I hope someone can point me in the best direction.

[mikeDnight]

Hi Victor.  Using a binoviewer greatly improves the visibility of intricate detail in a PST, so I'd imagine the same would apply to the 40mm LUNT. And with a blackout hood the definition and contrast improves even further. 

[Roy Challen]

I bought a Solar Scout from FLO in February. Although I have nothing to compare it to, it has been great so far. The views through it are amazing and match descriptions of what other people say should be expected. 

I must admit that I was a bit apprehensive about the reports of poor customer service and quality control, but it seems I've got a 'good' one. Hope it stays that way.

https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/372856-first-light-with-daystar-ss60/?tab=comments#comment-4047055

Edited May 5, 2021 by Roy Challen

[johninderby]

Had a Solar Scout briefly but was really poor for visual use. No detail at all but much better for imaging. If buying a Quark of any kind only buy one from a local dealer who will exchange it if you are not satisfied given the QC variability. 

[Stu]

13 minutes ago, johninderby said:

Had a Solar Scout briefly but was really poor for visual use. No detail at all but much better for imaging. If buying a Quark of any kind only buy one from a local dealer who will exchange it if you are not satisfied given the QC variability. 

Did you return it John? Sounds like it was a baddun.

[johninderby]

23 minutes ago, Stu said:

Did you return it John? Sounds like it was a baddun.

Just left it on the shelf for a while and then found someone who wanted it for imaging so ended up selling it. Should have just returned it I suppose. 🤔

Edited May 5, 2021 by johninderby

[Carbon Brush]

You will get a lot of enjoyment from a PST. I owned one for a few years.
It was a good grab an go scope. Requiring no special treatment or tweaking.
The only issue I had was the difficulty in getting a camera to focus - without it being in the eyepiece tube.
Now the 'rusty' objective lens is consigned to the history books, you should generally be OK with a used purchase.

A couple of years back I considered the various Quark & Solarscout offerings.
There had been a lot of reports of poor performance and 'back to the shop for refund'.
I could not find positive reviews to counter these reports and retailers did little to reassure me.
I stress this was a couple of years back so the situation may have changed.

I had enough budget to look at the lower end of the Lunt range and found many good reports.
Then I located a nice package near to me, but over budget. So I went for it and stopped eating for a while.
No regrets.

HTH, David.

[Victor Boesen]

11 hours ago, mikeDnight said:

Hi Victor.  Using a binoviewer greatly improves the visibility of intricate detail in a PST, so I'd imagine the same would apply to the 40mm LUNT. And with a blackout hood the definition and contrast improves even further. 

Thanks! Would you argue the Lunt 40 and a binoviewer (which I can also use for night time observing of course) would be the best choice considering my budget then?

1 hour ago, Roy Challen said:

I bought a Solar Scout from FLO in February. Although I have nothing to compare it to, it has been great so far. The views through it are amazing and match descriptions of what other people say should be expected. 

I must admit that I was a bit apprehensive about the reports of poor customer service and quality control, but it seems I've got a 'good' one. Hope it stays that way.

https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/372856-first-light-with-daystar-ss60/?tab=comments#comment-4047055

The daystar looks really good, and it would match the colors of my tripod and mount head perfectly😅 However, judging from other's experiences and John's in this thread I don't think it will be my final choice.

 

40 minutes ago, johninderby said:

Had a Solar Scout briefly but was really poor for visual use. No detail at all but much better for imaging. If buying a Quark of any kind only buy one from a local dealer who will exchange it if you are not satisfied given the QC variability. 

I suppose FLO would be a great place buying from. The only problem is import taxes shipping to Denmark I guess!

Thanks all!

[johninderby]

Had a PST as well and it never disappointed me. Wouldn’t mind getting another some day. 🙂

[Victor Boesen]

3 minutes ago, Carbon Brush said:

You will get a lot of enjoyment from a PST. I owned one for a few years.
It was a good grab an go scope. Requiring no special treatment or tweaking.
The only issue I had was the difficulty in getting a camera to focus - without it being in the eyepiece tube.
Now the 'rusty' objective lens is consigned to the history books, you should generally be OK with a used purchase.

A couple of years back I considered the various Quark & Solarscout offerings.
There had been a lot of reports of poor performance and 'back to the shop for refund'.
I could not find positive reviews to counter these reports and retailers did little to reassure me.
I stress this was a couple of years back so the situation may have changed.

I had enough budget to look at the lower end of the Lunt range and found many good reports.
Then I located a nice package near to me, but over budget. So I went for it and stopped eating for a while.
No regrets.

HTH, David.

 

Just now, johninderby said:

Had a PST as well and it never disappointed me. Wouldn’t mind getting another some day. 🙂

Sounds like I should reconsider the PST. I just feel like it's a little more "flimsy" compared to the Lunt 40 as an example. However, it is actually the only item out of the Lunt 40 and Quark that I can find in a Danish shop for about 800£. I'd have to get the Lunt 40 directly from Lunt except if some of you can point me in another direction buying somewhere else?

[johninderby]

I looked at getting a Lunt 40 recently but couldn’t find anyone in the UK or EU that I could pre-order it from so would have to order direct from Lunt. Hopefully will be available from a local dealer sooner or later.

Edited May 5, 2021 by johninderby

[Victor Boesen]

6 minutes ago, johninderby said:

I looked at getting a Lunt 40 recently but couldn’t find anyone in the UK or EU that I could pre-order it from so would have to order direct from Lunt. Hopefully will be available from a local dealer sooner or later.

Perhaps @FLO will be stocking these soon? I see they've just stocked a bunch of new Lunt solar products. In that case, if the price is right, then that'll be the obvious place to buy from.

EDIT: Another option would be to reach out to my local vendor and ask them if they could get one or stock them. They seem to have quite a lot of lunt scopes

Edited May 5, 2021 by Victor Boesen

[Mark at Beaufort]

I bought my PST in 2005 mainly to view the Annular eclipse in Spain and the Total eclipse in Turkey the following year. Since that time I have used the PST whenever possible. I used it yesterday and hopefully today. A few years ago I bought the Double Stack from a member of SGL. Okay it slightly darken the view but the surface detail is much improved.

I always use a hood which improves the view.

I have now watched the video that Victor listed. It does appear to be a very nice Ha scope and I can imagine that it will be popular. If I just wanted a quick grab and go Ha scope I think I would go with the Lunt 40mm rather than Quark or Solarscout.

[Victor Boesen]

21 minutes ago, Mark at Beaufort said:

I bought my PST in 2005 mainly to view the Annular eclipse in Spain and the Total eclipse in Turkey the following year. Since that time I have used the PST whenever possible. I used it yesterday and hopefully today. A few years ago I bought the Double Stack from a member of SGL. Okay it slightly darken the view but the surface detail is much improved.

I always use a hood which improves the view.

Sounds like the PST might not be a bad choice nonetheless. Have you tried binoviewing in the PST?

[Mark at Beaufort]

1 minute ago, Victor Boesen said:

Sounds like the PST might not be a bad choice nonetheless. Have you tried binoviewing in the PST?

Victor I have not used binoviewers on my PST. I have owned several binoviewers but I don't believe I could get focus even with a barlow. When we had the Mercury transit in 2016 I used binoviewers on my 4" Apo but not on the PST hence my opinion about focus. The attached photo shows that that the scopes were close enough to test the system on the PST.

[Victor Boesen]

2 minutes ago, Mark at Beaufort said:

Victor I have not used binoviewers on my PST. I have owned several binoviewers but I don't believe I could get focus even with a barlow. When we had the Mercury transit in 2016 I used binoviewers on my 4" Apo but not on the PST hence my opinion about focus. The attached photo shows that that the scopes were close enough to test the system on the PST.

Very useful information! Thanks a lot:) Taking a look at Lunt's website just now, I see that the Lunt 50 isn't too much more expensive compared to the Lunt 40. Do you think the extra aperture would help? Or would the lower band pass and higher focal ratio in the Lunt 40 give a higher contrast?

[Mark at Beaufort]

Victor my understanding is the PST has a 1.0 Angstrom band pass whereas the Lunt 50mm has a 0.75 band pass. The new Lunt 40mm has a band pass less than 0.7. What this means is the lower the band pass the surface detail is improved. My double stack PST has a band pass of 0.5 and individuals have told me surface detailed is better than the Lunt 50mm. I personally have not check this.

Someone will advise you that the extra aperture will always be better.

I have also found on the Widescreen website that the Lunt 40mm has 3 blocking filter options - B500, B600 and B1200. On the FLO website it states under the Lunt 50mm that the B400 is better for visual and the B600 is better for imaging. More to consider.

[Stu]

1 hour ago, Victor Boesen said:

Sounds like the PST might not be a bad choice nonetheless. Have you tried binoviewing in the PST?

One additional benefit of the PST is the ability to modify them for larger apertures. This is a fairly well documented process, and gives excellent results more cheaply than the alternatives.

I cheated and bought a ready modified scope from our very own Peter Drew, but it’s quite possible to do yourself if you follow the guides and examples out there.

This is my Vixen 102mm F10 PST mod, side by side with the Tak for white light. I use binoviewers in both and it does enhance the views. A barlow is needed to reach focus, so it will not give full disk views with binoviewers.

[Victor Boesen]

6 minutes ago, Mark at Beaufort said:

Victor my understanding is the PST has a 1.0 Angstrom band pass whereas the Lunt 50mm has a 0.75 band pass. The new Lunt 40mm has a band pass less than 0.7. What this means is the lower the band pass the surface detail is improved. My double stack PST has a band pass of 0.5 and individuals have told me surface detailed is better than the Lunt 50mm. I personally have not check this.

Someone will advise you that the extra aperture will always be better.

Thanks for clearing things up! There really is a lot to consider

[Victor Boesen]

1 minute ago, Stu said:

One additional benefit of the PST is the ability to modify them for larger apertures. This is a fairly well documented process, and gives excellent results more cheaply than the alternatives.

I cheated and bought a ready modified scope from our very own Peter Drew, but it’s quite possible to do yourself if you follow the guides and examples out there.

This is my Vixen 102mm F10 PST mod, side by side with the Tak for white light. I use binoviewers in both and it does enhance the views. A barlow is needed to reach focus, so it will not give full disk views with binoviewers.

I completely forgot about the PST mod! Would it be something permanent? Or is it easy to attatch/detatch the PST module from the scope used?

I'm suprised noone has tried convincing me to go for the Quark though.... But my wallet appreciates that

[Stu]

2 minutes ago, Victor Boesen said:

I completely forgot about the PST mod! Would it be something permanent? Or is it easy to attatch/detatch the PST module from the scope used?

I think it is quite possible to convert it back to the standard 40mm objective if you want to. I don’t have that part available to me but I’m ok with it as it is. I do sometimes miss the full disk views, but can just about get them using a Leica Zoom, and I always end up viewing the proms at higher power anyway so it’s really not that much of an issue.

[Stu]

15 minutes ago, Mark at Beaufort said:

Someone will advise you that the extra aperture will always be better.

Oops 🤣🤣🤣

[Victor Boesen]

2 minutes ago, Stu said:

I think it is quite possible to convert it back to the standard 40mm objective if you want to. I don’t have that part available to me but I’m ok with it as it is. I do sometimes miss the full disk views, but can just about get them using a Leica Zoom, and I always end up viewing the proms at higher power anyway so it’s really not that much of an issue.

I was refering more to the regular telescope used with the PST module😅 But definitely good knowing one also could go back to the 40mm objective.

[Stu]

2 minutes ago, Victor Boesen said:

I was refering more to the regular telescope used with the PST module😅 But definitely good knowing one also could go back to the 40mm objective.

Oh I see. Yes, the scope can have the internal ERF removed and then it can be used as a normal telescope again. Easy to do. It needs to be a f10 scope ideally to match the focal ratio of the PST, if shorter than this you end up not using all the aperture. The TAL 100RS is a popular choice for this. You do need to chop a bit off rear of the OTA to position the PST correctly, so may need an extension to reach focus at night, although it would be great for binoviewers!

[Victor Boesen]

3 minutes ago, Stu said:

Oh I see. Yes, the scope can have the internal ERF removed and then it can be used as a normal telescope again. Easy to do. It needs to be a f10 scope ideally to match the focal ratio of the PST, if shorter than this you end up not using all the aperture. The TAL 100RS is a popular choice for this.

I see.... My f7 apo might not be suitable then. Thanks again Stu!