26th Sept - Proms PST80

[NickH]

Still s stack load more to process...but working also on some deep sky (8pm to 4am....)

PST80 at F40

Lumenera Skynyx 2-0m

[NickH]

And a quick rework on the Active region - F40 ish

[steppenwolf]

Very nice and crisp - I particularly like the first one

[daveg]

Excellent prom detail. I have to say again (sorry Pete ) but I think the modded PSTs are giving the high end stuff a real run for thier money.

Dave

BTW Nick if we start going up in aperture/FL we may reach a stage where the prime focus FL is too long for proms and ARs. I noticed in one of your posts you had to come down to f/20 to fit it in. These are hopefully just tiddlers compared to what we're going to get towards max and I could just fit them in at f/30.

Dave

[johnh]

Amazing images and that is one hell of a prominence, granulation is exactly that with fine detail. John.

[RichieJarvis]

Lovely images Nick - glad to hear your back with the DSO's again as well

Cheers,

Richie

[NickH]

Thank you everyone.

Dave yup. I agree, the increase in aperture is mroe for resolution than for pushing up the focal length much more.. F50 is usually as high as I will take in in H-A, Cak maybe up to F60-70

[Starman]

Great shots Nick - some lovely detail in the proms.

I have to say again (sorry Pete ) but I think the modded PSTs are giving the high end stuff a real run for thier money.

I think the mods are doing very well but I still think the quality of a high end filter such as the Solarscope shines through Dave. Remember that, if you're comparing the modded PST shots with my Solarscope shots (as I assume you are) that I'm working with a 70mm aperture (at the moment anyway ) filter. I'll be happy to be proved wrong (I've still got my old PST sitting in a drawer and it has a very good etalon in it as Nick will confirm) but I've not seen anything that has convinced me to bin the SF-70 just yet, especially as I also have the DS etalon, which I've yet to really use in anger, to bring into play as well.

[NickH]

I have to say I still disagree on the "run for their money" quote. Whilst at high mag/high focal length, yes, they are very good (the modded PST's), for full disc shots, the swet spto is a royal pain in the proverbial..plus, having used the SF70, due to the optical quality throughtout the system, I could really get better results with that probably still than the PST90. I think, probably a good PST etalon at 102mm could match the SF70, but then, that's the point, it's very hit and miss...people like solarscope don't cut corners, the product you get is pretty close to perfect from day one. I would, for instance love to put a Solarscope 100mm ERF on my setup, as I think again it would be better than the Baader one..

anyway, thank you everyone, very kind, but ...money no object, a Solarscope or Daystar would be my preferred choice... the PST mod is great, and delivers I hope, very good results, but I always want that bit more :-). Pete has hit the nail on the head...and I was gutted when the 70 went back.

I do hanker for an SF100, but I'm also really interested in a larger Daystar based setup having now played with that..

The ONLY Pst mod shots which had me thinking that the SF70 could be beaten were Dodi's on a 150mm aperture scope... but that's double the aperture on a probably 0.7A etalon (which I know I have and suspect Pete's is pretty close too!)

[Starman]

Thanks for the backup Nick

It's also worth pointing out that the Solarscope filter is made for life. It uses hard coatings throughout which are designed not to degrade over time. As Ken Huggett of Solarscope once said to me, the filter will probably outlast the scope to which it's fitted!

That is... so long as you don't drop it!

I know of other imagers using other high-end filters who have had to have them returned or replaced due to coating degradation.

I'm not sure what the state of play is with the PST mod components but it's an important 'hidden' factor. I can't really comment on which of the other filters has which type of coating because I simply don't know, but it is another issue to factor in.

[NickH]

The key point is that for under £700 in my case, I have a rig which delivers results I am pleased with, and I went that route purely to solve a technical problem created by the manufacturer. I still have the SV50 (beautiful bit of kit) for those wide/full disc images, and for when portability is a critical factor, but... 6 numbers on saturday and that 200mm etalon (custom) double stacked 0.5A setup would be bubbling away in the IOM/CVI workshops by Monday morning..