Very interesting thanks :)

thanks, i wish i could buy the 3d printed adapter, is it available anywhere?

Hello there, I wanted to share a couple of thoughts as I have both camera too and also for solar imaging (that's also how and why I found your camera). I am a bit direct in my answers but I like your channel, so don't take it the wrong way, we are in that field/hobby to progress together ! 6:08 that's not an apple to apple comparison, 2.4MP vs 6.4MP you can't compare the fps for the full sensor. At 1080p, the 178M does 120 fps and the 174M does 186 fps. So yep, the 174M is indeed much faster, but the 178M is not ridiculously slow either. Anything above 60-80 fps is already very good. I agree the reason to chose between the two cameras depend of your setup and your critical samplilng in Ha. Those cameras simply don't target the same setups. The 178M is however probably as sensitive (if not more) in terms of dynamic range and full well as with the high res of the 178M, you can easily do a bin x 2 and you ends up with 60k full well and probably around 13-14 DR (without bin, 12.7 DR). The sensor analysis tool of sharpcap is very useful in that aspect. 16:06 indeed you have newton rings and need a tilt adjuster but moreover, you are largely over exposed. A "good" histogram in solar imaging is anywhere between 75 and 85-90%; never more, including in case of solar flare where it's gonna saturate completely your signal. Example, I was at 75% histogram and look at the flare I captured, already saturated : kzbin.info8Gki_Gzj71E But long story short : both cameras are good, I do think your image comparison is not fair as the images are not exposed in the same way. If you wish I can send you an image taken with a 178M and a Lunt 40 (so the tinyest scope you can find) at critical sampling and I have a much better resolution / sharpness. I see that you are using a Quark; the 178M critically sample Ha at F10; at 3.59 you mention that with the Quark you are at F31.5, so you are oversampling 3x, hence there is no way to get a sharp image. On the contrary, with the 174M, you critically sample around F22.. so you are over sampling, but only 1.5x, hence much sharper image. Having said all of that, I prefer the 174M but because of the higher fps and because they are easier to use with Quarks (and their telecentric 4.2x multiplier). A 178M is really not suitable with a quark, unless you use a 0.33x reducer after the quark. Solar imaging is however fantastic. It's incredible the dynamics we can capture realtime, it's unlike any other celestial objects, including planets, where most things are static due to long distance

Hi Kurt, Very interesting video. I'm not much into solar imaging but your video makes it a bit more enticing. There is no doubt that the 174 is the clear winner in this case. However, I would bet the 178 would be a great planetary camera due to its smaller pixel size. That suggested 432 with a 9-micron pixel size is just insane! That would aid in a super wide field of view with a short focal length scope. I am currently amid an extended cloudy rain period ... the typical July wet weather pattern. Clear Skies.

Nice video. Well done

Glad I found your video. I want to do this for outreach next month. I will cast my tablet to a Smart TV for public viewing. I mostly wanted to see if you needed the calibration frames. Good to see you do not, it will make things simpler. Thanks.

Great video! I use the ZWO462mm with my Lunt40mm and get great results with and with out a barlow.

Nice video and images Kurt. You should check out the ASI432MM - - your setup with 432 would improve to 0.74"/pixel. The 432's resolution on my SW72ED is 1.05"/pixel. The 432 shipped from AA with a free ZWO tilt adapter included. CS & GB!

Hey Kurt I have the 432 and its been very good with the Quark although I hear the Player One version is the best as it has a fan on it too. I also got good results with the 174mm too. You got some nice looking results there and good information.

Very good video 😃! I have a question......Can you use a focal reducer to photograph the sun? Thank you very much 😊😊😊.

It will also burn green without sulfuric acid so why do you use the acid?

Have you considered using the Planetary 5x rule instead of the traditional sampling calculation? This is a video from Dillon O’Donnell about the subject m.kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y4q2hICurbmtZqc&pp=gAQBiAQB

Interesting stuff. My vintage Celestrons use cork shims :-) Enjoyed seeing your aligned image.

Fantastic!! Clear as a bell what to do.

This is great method. Easy to do and effective. Thanks so much.

Thanks for your video! I have been all over the internet trying to figure out how to correct this same error. Your KZbin was the only source I have found with this solution. I will try it tonight.

thank you

Most helpful video I've found on this subject. Thank you.

Mr. Zepp! You are the Neutron Star of KZbin!

Thanks for this video. I also use the 294mcpro camera. When taking your “dark flats”, are you shooting those as darks or bias in your ASI software. Thanks again.

The legendary Zman!

Good stuff, Kurt. I was amazed, as you were, at seeing the results from the ST80 scope. That Quark filter really makes a difference. Wow, so many flares/prominences.

hey, this makes sense but just a thought: dont you have a backlash problem? do you have mount biased west and north before starting the calibration to make sure calibration steps are not wasted on backlash? I certainly made that mistake a few times😂

The chromatic aberration will not make a difference. Chromatic aberration causes different wavelengths of light to focus at different distances, so some things will be in focus and some won't. With narrow band imaging only a narrow band of light wavelengths are let through so it focuses just fine and there is no aberration.

Ha is only 1 wavelength which is around the red end of the spectrum, no need for triplets, doublets etc A Lunt is only a achromat, doesn't need anything special unless you want to use it with calcium k filter Well done for doing the outreach and educating the public

I learned that life is too short for this hobby and learning German. 😃

Hi there, I am also looking for a simple scope to use either my Quark instead of my William Optics GT71. I was considering the Orion ST80. Is the focuser on your standard? I did not think it came with a dual speed focuser. THU.

All the protuberances are prominences. Flares are bright areas on the "surface" that light up brighter than standard active regions. They exist for a matter of minutes.

Very informative - thanks!!

Great video Kurt I haven't done any solar outreach for quite some time now as I used to do it for the Charlie Bates solar astronomy project & I should really start doing it again as I've hundreds of solar glasses to give away. Would I be right in assuming the outreach you'll be doing is for international SUNday? I still use the Lunt 35, PST's Ha & CaK plus a wedge for white light & all perform pretty well although the CaK PST isn't made anymore & can only be used with a camera. I have both scopes that you've shown in your video although the Skywatcher variants I like the focuser upgrades you've added to yours been meaning to do mine I don't suppose you could share what they are? Cheers clear skies

What a perfectly timed vid for me! I have an ST80 that I have been using as a guide scope for my HD8 but just this week I thought of using it with my daystar quark which is usually used in conjunction with my AR102. This answers my FOV and quality questions. Thanks!

This is a very useful video for me and im sure many others. Ty again

Thank you, you were right on! absolutely everything i needed to know to create dark and light flats. Great Job.

Awesome video and hello from Scotland! I have actually just bought the 174mm to use with my Quark & SW Esprit 80ED. Also I’m pretty new to Sharpcap so was great to see how you worked that. ✨☀️

This is absolutely such a huge help! Been struggling with this for a while!

please explain something with dark flats. do you remove the light panel or if i used a white t shirt on scope with light panel. i am not sure of the setup.

Personally, Vega is my north star, just as it was for my ancestors, long long ago..

A note right off the bat on your PI processing. When you load frames into BLINK, you must click the remove all button to remove them from your memory. Just Xing the top of BLINK doesnt do that so those frames stayed loaded in your system memory, slowing all your following processing.

I just ran across this video and it is the first video I have ever seen that explains what a reducer does. It is the best timing as I am ready to buy a reducer/flattener for my takahashi which is over $1300. You have saved me $500 for a flattener only. Truly faster is not better in this situation especially in this hobby we spend a fortune on equipment then more to reducer quality for speed doesn’t make sense to me either. Again great info and video

😂🌞👈👉full calculater👉Vedas

I'm sure you've come a long way in the 3 years since

Very kool. I capture the solar flare with my Seestsr Friday. I want to get into solar imaging, just not sure best bang for buck. Do you have a video on using Stelarium mobile to do daytime PA? Also, I couldn't find a sky Atlas APP. For android.