SolarChat!

daslolo

JochenM wrote: ↑Mon Apr 06, 2020 12:58 pm I swapped out my Baader diagonal for a cheap/simple Skywatcher one I have lying around and that seems to fix the issue.

Herschel? Quarks don't work with those

daslolo

Cheap Indian copy for solar - Brilliant!
If like to see a tuto on how to machine adapters. They become expensive fast. And not fun to search.

daslolo

I mainly use microscope eyepieces because I like the binocular head and you get high quality eyepieces for a lot less money and again no vignetting, plossls are fine as well. Cheers Rod Mica crystallization? What's that? Yes solar is forgiving. What head is that? I have a TS big bino on the nexstar...

daslolo

that's impressive for the price and i couldn't agree more: highly moddable, good view. why isn't this more popular?

have you removed the field stop? i was wondering if it's meant for the telecentric beam more than etalon edge problem.

daslolo

I see that it is an expensive adventure no matter how you slice it.

Now that I know a little more about sun viewing I must say the view from the Quark isn't bad at all for the price! Just not very contrasty when there is anything to look at these days...

daslolo

See, I didn't understand how photosphere got through, now I think I get it: it's just so bright that even at 0.1% pass through in the 500nm range it floods the image.
I get double stack, why not double blocking filter instead? they're cheaper.

daslolo

got it!
have you tried blocking filters that let two spikes through? i'm thinking ha and sodium or whatever other wavelength has details that match

daslolo

No, the lesson to be learned is : always open every part of the optical train to verify that they didn't cut corners I'm saying that because I bought this diagonal due to its all metal construction, external construction. Fortunately in the land of the free (return) these sort of cost cutting measur...

daslolo

Increasing f ratio means f/5 -> f/9? Is that to increase parallelism of the rays? Using a Quark with a telecentric lens, yes, will increase contrast. PST etalon uses collimated lens - totally different optical system is there a way to increase prominence brightness with a quark? Yes, reduce the foc...

daslolo

In front of any scope... with a blocking filter in the diagonal?

daslolo

Any mod with the second etalon ?

daslolo

Increasing f ratio means f/5 -> f/9? Is that to increase parallelism of the rays? I saw faint prominences and one long faint filament in my quark, didn't see it in the GONG... our sun is sleeping, but yeah probably <0.5A I think that, given the ultra low activity, prominence are more fun to observe....

daslolo

How did the light even reach the black plastic? Is the telescope miscollimated you think?

daslolo

Today I watched the sun. The setup was Orion 120mm - beloptic ir/uv cut filter - 2" diagonal - quark To the touch the entire optical chain was cold, the quark was barely lukewarm - the altaz dec motor shaft is slipping so I was doing most of the tracking by hand. The sun sets, I pull the scope ...

daslolo

Jim's 7" refractor with 0.3A filter, or Frederic's 8" SCT with 0.3A How can I *cheaply* know the bandwidth of my quark? A lot of optimizing goes into producing great views. Apart from, say, add a beloptik UV/IR cut in front of the diagonal I don't know how else I can optimize Ha. I read t...

daslolo

Hey guys! If you are looking for a cheaper Lunt50 focuser upgrade, here's my solution. The total cost of the project, around $200, but that depends on the cnc milling cost in your area. Typically, I pay around $10-15 for an adapter. Pre Diamond Baader Steeltrack 2'' focuser, was purchased from a fa...

daslolo

It was to protect the PST etalon from too much UV and IR, so I guess, as an ERF

daslolo

The quark is crisp at 1/4 disc, super blurry at 1/8th disc but that must be atmospheric conditions, there was some haze always taunting me. I like the quark but I miss the instant feedback of turning the PST's ring to explore the sun's spectrum, it was more fun. Is there anything you know that's con...

daslolo

Marty,
How's the view with 2" eyepieces compared to binos?

daslolo

BigDob wrote: ↑Thu Feb 20, 2020 10:49 pm I used it on a WO 132mm with a set of Denks and a power switch. Detail I observed was amazing when I could max out the power.

I just got a quark chromo which I hooked to an Orion 120mm. The closest I can get while remaining crisp is 1/4 disc, how close could you get with your setup?

daslolo

How much did you pay your OTA?
I got a Orion 120st and now I know why everyone buys APO :-D
It's fine for solar I'm sure, I'll know when the sun gets less shy.
We need cloud filters!

daslolo

I tried a few things, to see how much the PST mod really costs. I tried going cheap and was surprised to find out that you don't get what you don't pay for. For example, the Astromania helical focuser you get on Amazon for 100$ can't handle the weight of a bino. Adding all up, the price is close eno...

daslolo

It seems self-destructive if Orion sues Celestron. Synta owned Celestron is a major supplier of Orion Telescopes and Binoculars. Orion makes nothing on it's own.They are basically just a store. A brand name. In the corporate world lawsuits are used as negotiations leverage. Meade should die. It did...

daslolo

I tested again but outdoors this time and the results are much closer to baader curve so there is something interesting happening here.
The same happens with an 850nm infrared flashlight.

https://youtu.be/kfSNER3mdBU

daslolo

So I see these nice filters on amazon, with crazy good filtration curve 71ToO9FfWHL._SL1000_.jpg Or cheap filters from China that are a fraction of a baader. Danger danger. Or maybe not. How about measuring these filters? Here is my first test https://youtu.be/Gs1ZhuaE7p4 I was surprised by the resu...

daslolo

Oh I see thanks for the tip.

daslolo

do the planoconcave lens need to face the flat part to the objective?
and how do i recognize the flat part? the curvature of the PC lens I see is so soft that I cannot tell the flat from the concave by looking at it - perhaps through it.

daslolo

Based on the known data I prepared a spreadsheet shows the various effects of a ERF/ etalon/ITF/ blocking filter on the energy transmission. Solar ignition.zip I read through this, put it here for easier viewing than having to unzip a file. https://bit.ly/2vYUIP8 What is it about? No filter vs filt...

daslolo

Based on the known data I prepared a spreadsheet shows the various effects of a ERF/ etalon/ITF/ blocking filter on the energy transmission. Solar ignition.zip Love that spreadsheet, I put it on google sheet for my private use and I'm thinking that the data on that stuff is scatterred far and wide,...

daslolo

Despite the internal 90mm D-ERF I was able to burn my hand in the focused beam at the empty focuser. The heat must have damaged my camera even after passing through the etalon, ITF and BF. During video capture my 120MC shows a persistent, translucent mask, identical to solar surface features at the...

daslolo

Maybe this could work with a heat lamp on the other end
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07PMS5S12/re ... uEbRP309RR

: 81bL39AerkL._SL1500_.jpg (185.4 KiB) Viewed 8871 times

daslolo

The blocking filter designations (BF 10/ BF15/ B600 etc refer to the whole blocking filter assembly i.e. including the ITF or pre-filter (in the Lunt Schott BG38) The number is generally the clear aperture of the final sort filter - BF10 = 10mm. B600 = 6mm etc. To achieve the required sort filter b...

daslolo

Thanks again Ken, I am starting to understand how it all works now. It seems that adding another sort filter could narrow the total bandpass of the scope even more if, by gambling on manufacturing tolerance, its band is slightly offset from the other sort filter. Is it the red part of the cube or th...

daslolo

and what does it combine?

daslolo

Thanks Ken. I'm only modding the black box out, for now. The pentaprism offers added protection, so be mindful of that when modding. I know it because I could feel something in my eyeballs in the mod, then nothing when I put back the stock PST. Through binos so I'm halving per eye exposure which mea...

daslolo

AOK Swiss supply a 2" to M50 male nosepiece which fits the PST etalon assembly and a rear adaptor M50 female to 2" http://www.aokswiss.ch/index_sonne.html Edmund Optics probably have a suitable negative lens...you're looking for a 25mm diameter, negative focal length = 20 x focal ratio i....

daslolo

Tada! photo_2020-02-22_02-40-59.jpg The ultra cheap lx65 plastic diagonal did the trick, thanks Marty. Tomorrow will be testing this arrangement, perhaps the 2x barlow can shorten the tube or I'll have to buy a few extensions. I'm tempted to try out that crazy sweiller telephoto mod http://sweiller....

daslolo

AndiesHandyHandies wrote: ↑Wed Jul 17, 2019 12:07 pm I put an Omega Bobs 40nm ERF filter in the front of the PST Black Box in place of the Collimating lens. Same diameter as the lens. Convert to 'Combat'.

What is 'combat' ?

daslolo

Daslolo, Probably not. The standard PST mod needs the etalon to be at -200mm inside the focus. Don't think you'll achieve that spacing with a normal Barlow. You could replace the front lens of the PST assembly with a shorter negative focal length lens.... So a negative focal length lens would also ...

daslolo

AndiesHandyHandies wrote: ↑Fri Feb 21, 2020 1:15 pm For stars it inside the diffraction pattern.

Stars wavelength is shorter than the obstruction?

daslolo

Thanks Ken, I emailed you. I'll start with replacing the black box, it seems easy. I'm almost there! Perhaps I need to replace the 1.25" helical focuser by a 2" focuser to avoid vignetting but for now I have this question: How do I fit the ITF+eyepiece holder assembly? I think I would need...

daslolo

Would a 2" 2x barlow at the focuser of a f/5 refractor effectively turn it in a f/10
Then slide in the PST mod

Like this one https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BRLT4LB/re ... tEb17Y1QZQ

daslolo

marktownley wrote: ↑Thu Feb 20, 2020 8:55 am
daslolo wrote: ↑Sun Feb 16, 2020 8:18 pm What ERF do you use at the entrance of this C8?
Aries DERF

got it! so
450$ for the pst used
about 200$ for the various extensions to get proper focus
about 1600$ for the filter and mount (off memory)
2300$ to turn an 8" solar

daslolo

Is it because the external second stack is 40mm? No, they have a central obstruction that will be visible in a collimated beam. I've seen that happen on my SCT when out of focus but it goes away when in focus (still don't know how). Can you explain? I have : beams entering the tube are parallel, go...

daslolo

and that's a prominence version?
incredible!
did you have to dial the tuner all the way?

daslolo

I had to fiddle with a few extension tubes/diagonals to get it to focus, but looking through it at 100x magnification was awesome! I can't imagine that the "native" front-mounted DS etalon could be much better than this. I'll still have to get the feathertouch/moonlite focuser to better h...

daslolo

krakatoa1883 wrote: ↑Tue Sep 04, 2018 5:37 pm I would suggest to purchase the Combo version instead of the standard version

Can you explain why and show your setup?
I only read their website which presented the combo as SCT only.

daslolo

i have to add: before the #4 customer support at daystar told me i am using a wrong diagonal and didnt want to exchange. had to sell it and buy the second hand one.. finally happy with it. scope>diagonal>quark? how can that affect the quark? it'd make more sense if he said you attached it to a 120m...

daslolo

For visual: 2" UV/IR (later replaced with the 35nm H-Alfa); 2" diagonal, Quark. Does 2" eyepieces help bring details? The quark being 1.25... I used (before my Quarl died) with the Baader focuser, 2 80 mm extensions to come to focus without diagonal. (Only 1 needed with the 2" d...

daslolo

It was five years old and well used and well traveled, so I don't hold that against it. Things do happen. That's a good question, was it just good seeing? I will check back over time. The fact that the 92mm looked "fine" points to a special day in a big scope. The view looks like single s...

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