Quark vs Lunt

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Quark vs Lunt

Post by rray6 »

I currently do my solar imaging with a Lunt 80mm THa PT DSII scope and for the most part, I love it. My biggest complaint is that I do imaging/observing in two different locations (1000 miles apart) so I am constantly having to transport the scope. I have been noticing some beautiful work on this forum using the Quark Daystar filters and wanted to see if I can get a discussion going about the pluses and minuses of Quark and maybe even a quality comparison with Lunt (preferably 80 mm) solar scopes. In general, I am looking to move to a more portable instrument but one that does not sacrifice image quality. I already have an 80mm APO refractor and a 132mm APO refractor so I could easily adapt a Quark filter to my imaging routines. My only concern is that, in order to do this, I would need to sell my trusty Lunt. Looking for advice from the experts... Thanks.

-Robert


Robert Ray
Last night as I lay in bed looking up at the stars in the sky, I thought to myself -- "Where the heck is the ceiling???"

www.redshift48.com
Lunt LS80 DSII B1800 f/7
WO 132mm f/7
Celestron 9.5 Edge HD f/10
Stellarvue 80mm f/7 Raptor SVR80ST2
WO Z73ii f/5.9 APO
Lunt CaK B1800 Filter and Baader Herschel Wedge (Photo)
PGR Grasshopper 3.0 (ICX687 - mono)
Player One Apollo M-Max IMX432
ZWO ASI178MM and ZWO ASI174MM with filter wheel
SBIG STT8300M
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Canon 5D Mark IV and Canon Rebel T7i
AP 1200GTO (Permanent) and iOptron CEM60EC and CEM25EC Mounts
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Re: Quark vs Lunt

Post by rsfoto »

Hi,

As you live in USA and DayStar is in USA there should be no problem to exchange a faulty Quark several times until you really get a good one or just buy a Quark with the condition that they show you the performance with a test certificate ...

I had a Quark US $ 1,200.00 as well as a US $ 12,000.00 Quantum PE 0.4Å filter and both where " Poop ", the harsher word is forbidden here and begins with " S... " and ends with " ...t ", until I send them back and I got my money back and so the story with DayStar and Me finished for all times ...

Both of these filters where blind ...

The main reason was the very lousy customer service when I reported the problem and they never informed me what they were doing ... Only after sending mail after mail they dignified themselves to answer me ...

All very unpleasant as I live in Mexico and importing stuff to Mexico is complicated ...


regards Rainer

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Re: Quark vs Lunt

Post by EGRAY_OBSERVATORY »

Rainer has very well explained problems that have been associated with DayStar and what "should be" a good customer experience with such expensive pieces of kit.

There have been many comments over the last many months (years) relating to Quarks, so worth a trawl-back through the archives here on SolChat - to see experiences from other owners.

True, a good one can and does produce some excellent imagery, of which numerous can be seen here on SolarChat, but when one looks at say Lunt acquisitions and any subsequent snags, customer-service both in the U.S and Europe, seem to be absolutely excellent, so whether it would be prudent to consider the the feasibility and financial-cost of using a Lunt Ha BF etc., with one of your refractors (bearing in mind any ERF that maybe required too), and then just the need to transport the BF etc.
Also remember that the Quark will also need its' own Power Supply requirement...

PS - I do now own a DayStar Sodium Quirk, as well as a Lunt 60 Ha + DS & also the Lunt 60 CaK scope for some 11-years now and without any issues.

Hopefully others will also comment to your post here Robert...

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Re: Quark vs Lunt

Post by rsfoto »

Hi,

Here is the infamous thread ...

viewtopic.php?t=29454


regards Rainer

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Re: Quark vs Lunt

Post by rray6 »

Thanks for those comments. I will not be in a big hurry to sell my trusty, known-quantity Lunt to take a chance on getting a good Quark. Actually, now that I think about it, it's not that hard to transport between my imaging locations.


Robert Ray
Last night as I lay in bed looking up at the stars in the sky, I thought to myself -- "Where the heck is the ceiling???"

www.redshift48.com
Lunt LS80 DSII B1800 f/7
WO 132mm f/7
Celestron 9.5 Edge HD f/10
Stellarvue 80mm f/7 Raptor SVR80ST2
WO Z73ii f/5.9 APO
Lunt CaK B1800 Filter and Baader Herschel Wedge (Photo)
PGR Grasshopper 3.0 (ICX687 - mono)
Player One Apollo M-Max IMX432
ZWO ASI178MM and ZWO ASI174MM with filter wheel
SBIG STT8300M
ZWO ASI2600MC-P
Canon 5D Mark IV and Canon Rebel T7i
AP 1200GTO (Permanent) and iOptron CEM60EC and CEM25EC Mounts
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Re: Quark vs Lunt

Post by Montana »

Never sell your trusty Lunt :shock:

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Re: Quark vs Lunt

Post by rray6 »

Don't know what I was thinking... :bow2


Robert Ray
Last night as I lay in bed looking up at the stars in the sky, I thought to myself -- "Where the heck is the ceiling???"

www.redshift48.com
Lunt LS80 DSII B1800 f/7
WO 132mm f/7
Celestron 9.5 Edge HD f/10
Stellarvue 80mm f/7 Raptor SVR80ST2
WO Z73ii f/5.9 APO
Lunt CaK B1800 Filter and Baader Herschel Wedge (Photo)
PGR Grasshopper 3.0 (ICX687 - mono)
Player One Apollo M-Max IMX432
ZWO ASI178MM and ZWO ASI174MM with filter wheel
SBIG STT8300M
ZWO ASI2600MC-P
Canon 5D Mark IV and Canon Rebel T7i
AP 1200GTO (Permanent) and iOptron CEM60EC and CEM25EC Mounts
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Re: Quark vs Lunt

Post by EGRAY_OBSERVATORY »

Indeed Robert, I'm sure I'm not alone in beginning to make a "not so good" decision, similar to the one you have mentioned in this post.

Looking at the whole picture of the scenario, seems to now have shown you, that taking a risky-decision, was not necessary...

Besides the phrase "If it works well - don't mess with it." So your Lunt stays safely with you, rather than elsewhere...

Terry


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Re: Quark vs Lunt

Post by rray6 »

:bow2


Robert Ray
Last night as I lay in bed looking up at the stars in the sky, I thought to myself -- "Where the heck is the ceiling???"

www.redshift48.com
Lunt LS80 DSII B1800 f/7
WO 132mm f/7
Celestron 9.5 Edge HD f/10
Stellarvue 80mm f/7 Raptor SVR80ST2
WO Z73ii f/5.9 APO
Lunt CaK B1800 Filter and Baader Herschel Wedge (Photo)
PGR Grasshopper 3.0 (ICX687 - mono)
Player One Apollo M-Max IMX432
ZWO ASI178MM and ZWO ASI174MM with filter wheel
SBIG STT8300M
ZWO ASI2600MC-P
Canon 5D Mark IV and Canon Rebel T7i
AP 1200GTO (Permanent) and iOptron CEM60EC and CEM25EC Mounts
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Re: Quark vs Lunt

Post by MalVeauX »

You shouldn't give up your Lunt 80. There's not a Daystar filter, let alone a Quark, that will likely even remotely compare to the quality of your 80's etalon unless you have a total lemon on your hands. Images and visual are two very different things and the Quark images are the result of processing for contrast, because their images without processing are low contrast; ask to see the raw stack output. Quarks have generally bad uniformity. Quarks also have electronics that control temp to tune and require time to get to temp and power sources.

I really can't think of a good reason to use a Quark over your Lunt 80 for practically anything other than an inexpensive (relative to filters cost) commercial product that can be shoved into a larger aperture instrument as long as you can manage thermal energy on it (via ERF, DERF, etc).

Etalon quality is direly more important than aperture is.

A nice crush-proof case with foam liner would be a great way to carry it where ever you go.

Very best,


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