How to Set Up the Daystar Quark Chromosphere Solar Filter

Hi folks, some of you asked me to make a short video on how I Set Up my Daystar Quark Chromosphere Filter in combination with my camera and telescope to image The Sun. Here it is, hope it's useful!
Links to the gear I use to image the Sun:
USA/WW (OPT):
TS Photoline 80/480 APO refractor Telescope: bit.ly/2RgvciJ
Daystar Quark Chromosphere Filter: bit.ly/3tk6nlQ
ZWO ASI678MC color camera: bit.ly/3MiJmbK
EU/WW (Astroshop):
TS Photoline 80/480 APO refractor Telescope: bit.ly/2WH3Jrb
Daystar Quark Chromosphere Filter: bit.ly/3UMkc8f
ZWO ASI678MC color camera: bit.ly/3EnTYUg
Music (Artlist.io): Just over that Hill - John Coggins
Clear skies!
Wido.
I'm producing FREE content about astrophotography and space. Any SUPPORT is greatly appreciated! You can support me as follows:
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Any support you can give is highly appreciated, thanks!
You can also find me here:
www.astroforumspace.com/
/ astroforum

[@Ronalddegroote]

Although being a noob in astrophotography, and this is way above my head, ii am glad I've found your channel. You have good beginners guides as well. Glad I've found your channel. Greets from Belgium. Bedankt man.

[@AstroForumSpace]

Dank je, ik wist er 7 jaar geleden ook niets van, haha. Stel gerust vragen als je er niet uitkomt. Groeten uit Nederland 😃

[@riaanlouw3956]

I am so glad I found your channel, I recently moved to the Netherlands (Also Utrecht) and thought I would have to drive for hours to get some decent low light places... your videos are awesome and I will be watching them closely.

[@AstroForumSpace]

Thanks! Welcome to my country, and my channel 😉.

[@perry3928]

Thanks Wido. Great information 👍

[@siegfriednoet]

Well explained Wido. For myself the first thing I did when I received the Daystar a year ago was to get rid off the diagonal and also bought a tilt adapter. This made a huge difference for me.

[@patindaytona]

How did it make a difference not using the diagonal?

[@siegfriednoet]

@@patindaytona The difference was made by the tilt adapter, sorry for the misunderstanding getting rid of the diagonal just made it easier to balance

[@vicfrombelgium8765]

What an amazing tutorial, Wido!

[@AstroForumSpace]

Tx Vic 😉

[@Daniel_DP83]

since a few days i have the Quark GEMINI + Skywatcher 72/420 ED + UV/IR cute filter (safe is safe). Normally you need from 80mm to 120mm a UV/IR cut filter, up to 120mm lens diameter you need a D-ERF Filter! So i can switch between Prominence and Chromosphere mode with just one Quark! But you have to know it works just with more then 2.0 Ampere!

[@Oamaruastro]

First of all, happy New Year from New Zealand! I discovered your channel in mid-2022 and have found it very helpful as I slide down the razor blade of astrophotography. I recently got the Quark, and have stupidly been using the diagonal with it--don't know why! I am fairly sure I have something like the 80mm extension tube you have--what is its purpose though (and do you have a link to yours, just in case mine is somehow not the same sort of thing?)?

[@khabbabbabikerelsiddig8906]

Good, so there is no filter put in front of an objective lens as I thought? I think you should make a video explaining how the different sun filters work, we really enjoy your videos about how the telescope equipment work.

[@AstroForumSpace]

A regular solar filter goes in front of the scope.

[@spacedogsbackyardastronomy8274]

Hey Wido I been meaning to ask you about those t-shirts and hoodies you be wearing. Where do you get them?

[@glennsmooth]

Do you use a mini computer or ASIair Plus? Do you need an EAF for the sun? Or just use manual focus?

[@AstroForumSpace]

I've used all the stuff you mentioned. Mini pc, asiair, eaf and manual. My favorite workflow is rough polar alignment. Slew to the Sun using asimount (not air), or stellarium. Then, search a bit till I find the Sun. I do have an eaf (oasis) but manual focusing works too.

[@glennsmooth]

I just built a rig with a William Optics GT81WIFD and a mini PC. It has internal focusing like a DSLR and I’m hoping will have a lot of room for back focus. Hey do you also use a “energy rejection” filter to keep the scope from heating up? Daystar makes them but they’re around $700 😳

[@Nick-we7lf]

1. If you very LUCKY and get a Daystar Quark that works proceed to watch the video. 2. If the answer to 1 is NO, then prepare for dealing with the horrible Daystar Customer Service whose job is to blame you for the failure and when you finally RMA and wait for 2 months receive it back you will get it in the same operating (NOT) way you sent it. 3. Throw the Daystar in a drawer and buy a LUNT and actually get to see the Sun.

[@adamsaso]

Whoa... good to know, I am picking now my first sun setup up to 2000usd and Quark is fighting with Lunt.

[@AstroForumSpace]

That's an unfortunate experience Nick. The daystar has been working fine out of the box for me, but that's ofcourse just n=1.

[@Nick-we7lf]

@@AstroForumSpace Thats how it rolls with Daystar. Go on cloudy nights to read all the pain we “unlucky” people have suffered. Daystar uses low end Etalons so the quality of the Quark varieties greatly. They even state on their website that you cannot “Cherry pick” your quark. Some people get a great Etalon and others don’t. Workmanship is also all over the map. For example, mine had a broken heater wire, ( which I discovered later ). I sent the unit back to them and they returned me the quark in the same condition I had sent it to them after two months. When I called to exchanged it, they said, No, there is nothing wrong with it. It wasn’t until later, when a fellow astronomer from the Yale New Haven club opened up the unit and discovered the issue. I highly recommend to all my astronomer colleagues to invest in a Lunt. It’s an incredible company with amazing customer service and their products or top-notch. They are a life purchase. Solar is great, but don’t waste your hard earned money on a subpar product.

[@ShevillMathers]

@@AstroForumSpace_I have read many reviews on this unit, each with different experiences/outcomes. In essence it would appear that the Quark units vary quite a bit in performance depending how well the etalon came out in its factory production. There is no test results with the unit to indicate it’s real performance-some units are really good, many not so good. Reading these many reviews has made me take a second to. Do more research/look at more reviews. These are low end priced units aimed at the newcomers to solar Ha imaging, which makes sense when you look at the eye watering cost of the real Daystar Ha units.