New Solar Setup: DayStar Quark with the Orion ED80!

[@ChucksAstrophotography]

Congrats on your new Quark. I would raise the gain and lower the exposure time so you can get more frames in a shorter amount of time.

[@AstroQuest1]

Thanks for the advice, I had no idea affects the frame rate. Cheers Kurt

[@gee6607]

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

[@AstroQuest1]

Yeah, I had not done nuch as I got sidetracked but I am back into it again.

[@paullawrence8394]

Try reducing exposure and increasing gain. Long exposures will be blurred

[@AstroQuest1]

Will do. Thanks!

[@robsbackyardastrophotograp8885]

Looks good! Glad to see you getting into solar!

[@AstroQuest1]

Thanks Rob. I hated having the ED80 just collecting dust.

[@stanleyherman6512]

Nice intro. Gain looks pretty high. Oops, I should have said the exposure looks pretty high. Try lowering it significantly.

[@AstroQuest1]

Thanks for the tip Stanley. I don't do a lot of solar imaging, at least not yet so any advice is welcome. Cheers

[@whatmattersmost6725]

Looking to get the Quart and use it on my 80ED like yours, please make more videos showing this combo and your results please...Thank you!

[@AstroQuest1]

That's the plan! I have been busy lately though...

[@glennsmooth]

Awesome. I just ordered a chromosphere. They’ve been “sold out” everywhere for a long time. Trying to put together a rig now with the 2024 eclipse coming . Is that 90° diagonal mirror required for the quark?

[@AstroQuest1]

Hey Glenn, Thanks. The diagonal is not required, however, it adds the required backspace. If you do it without it you will have to add very long extensions. Also, it makes it easier to do visual stuff if you want to just observe the sun. - Good Luck

[@paullawrence8394]

Your new 178 will give crisper images than QHY. I used a QHY5m ii, the same as you and the images were poor. The 178 is much better. I now use a 174, and that is even better. When Imaging prominences, use a high exposure figure to focus, but reduce it to about 80ms to capture. You can then stretch the images to reveal the prominence in post processing. Longer exposures become blurred.

[@AstroQuest1]

Thanks, great advice Paul. I am not holding my breathe on this camera anytime soon. I did some imaging with the QHY on a PST and I think that I caught flares doing something like you recommended. I did not know I would be able to capture the flares as I was more interested in surface detail - it was accidental as I did not what I was doing. I now understand what you and Chuck are saying. - Cheers

[@DJRonnieG]

The main issue I saw was that the camera is in Mono 8-bit mode. The pulldown menu should let you choose 16-bit. That'll give you more shades of contrast. Mine is a 12-bit camera, but the menu says 16-bit. Makes a big diff.

[@AstroQuest1]

Thanks for the info! I am relatively inexperienced with solar imaging and will take all the advice I can get. Cheers

[@DJRonnieG]

@@AstroQuest1 when I do the moon in 8-bit, it gets all washed out even at the lower settings. At 16-bit, more levels of gain become available with finer increments of control. Also, this last bit isn't scientifically precise but for me a rule of thumb is to set the offset to half of the gain. So if my gain is 300, my offset is 150... and adjust accordingly if I increase or reduce the gain. I wish you clear skies and mosquito-free nights!

[@AstroQuest1]

@@DJRonnieG Thanks for additional info!

[@juancarlosdelasotta6375]

Hi, nice jobe , I enjoy and learn from your video, questions, I have skywatcher evostar doublet 120mm ,f7.5 that Quark will work or buy a Lunt 55mm , what you think.? Thanks

[@AstroQuest1]

Hi Juan, Yes the Quark would work. Either way you go you won't go wrong. The Quark will give more of close up view and you would not see the entire sun where as the Lunt will give you a larger FOV and you can get the entire disk. Cheers

[@juancarlosdelasotta6375]

Thanks very much for replay. Take care

[@jasonmcintosh2632]

Thanks for a great video. Perfect for my needs. Since this is looking at such a narrow band of light, would an inexpensive achromatic telescope work just fine?

[@AstroQuest1]

Absolutely, especially if it is a monochrome camera. Chuck's Astrophotography also mentions this in a couple of his solar imaging videos. - Good Luck

[@4ln1l4m]

Hi there! Congrats for your new solar set up...I must say that I was thinking as well to try solar observing through my 80 ED SW and the Quark, so your video has been a marvellous hint for me. I wanted to ask you: 1) why did you get so very close image of the sun...even if you cut the focal length of the OTA? Shouldn't have been a much more "distant" look of the disk? 2) The cromosphere model allow to see the prominences as well (as you got imaging); 3) what about the differences in visual with the Coronado PST that you have, there is only a difference in the close look to the surface, or someother things? Thank you very much for your review, I really appreciated! Best greetings from Italy, Ciaoo! Paolo

[@AstroQuest1]

Yes the reason it is so close is the Quark has a 4.3x built in barlow so if you want more of the solar disk you would need a camera with a larger sensor. The chromosphere model is more universal than the the flare model - as I understand it. Visually the ED80 with the quark gives a much better look than the Coronado PST in my opinion. - Good Luck

[@marygarcia4544]

Hi, I have the Explore Scientific 80ED and would like to use the Daystar Quark with ZWO ASI174mm, how would i determine backfocus on this scope for solar imaging.

[@AstroQuest1]

You should not have to worry about back focus unless you are using a focal reducer or flattener. Whenevever it comes into focus is good. You may need an extension though before it does come into focus. Good Luck

[@javiercuellolopez5610]

Hi Astroquest. The Quark is very interesting. In your new solar train, I see that the scope don't need a filter on the front?. In the final session, the scope were very hot???, Is it not dangerous for the scope?. Thanks

[@AstroQuest1]

Only for larger scopes do you need a front filter.

[@Astrofrank]

@@AstroQuest1 But not one of the common white light filters, it must be an energy rejection filter which blocks UV, blue, green and yellow, but not red, so it is usually made of Schott RG630.

[@AstroQuest1]

@@Astrofrank Exactly. of course they are much more $$expensive as well...

[@juvaknin]

cool, can you please add link here for the uv/ir filter you using? thanks.

[@AstroQuest1]

Hi Yuval. Baader UV/IR - Here it is: bit.ly/3h5tN9I

[@AstroDanno]

Do you still use your Quark? After this most recent partial eclipse, I’ve been thinking about dabbling in solar. I’m on the fence between a Lunt and a Daystar.

[@AstroQuest1]

Hey Danno, I still do use the quark occasionally and love it. However, it is also a 4.2x barlow which means it has a small FOV, so you may not get the entire disk. Depending on how you want to image sun the Lunt might be a better option. - Good Luck

[@AstroDanno]

@@AstroQuest1 I think I’d like those closer views better, but I’ve been reading about all the QC issues on Cloudy Nights. I wouldn’t know if I got a bad copy or not because I haven’t done much solar.

[@AstroQuest1]

Yeah I know what you mean. I think I have a good one. Chuck from 'Chuck's Astro' uses both, a Quark and a Lunt so you might want to scan some of his videos. Cheers @@AstroDanno

[@AstroDanno]

@@AstroQuest1 thanks! I’m in the rabbit hole of research! 😂

[@siegfriednoet]

Very interesting Kurt, I was planning on buying one before the summer, how is your experience in the meantime with the Daystar Quark ? Why did you choose the chromosphere over the prominence model ?

[@AstroQuest1]

Hi Siegfried, I have been very happy with it although I have not done much solar imaging lately. It is good visually as well. The chromosphere does it all really well and other users were saying as much. - Good Luck

[@nebulasky522]

Congratulations on the quark! I bought one recently as well. What size of diagonal is recommended? I have the diagonal mirror of 2 " that came to me with my maksutov, I do not know if it is better the one of 1'25.. The DayStar quark would use it in a skywatcher 72ed refractor. Best regards!

[@AstroQuest1]

Hi David, congrats with the Quark. I love it although I have not done much with it this year as I have been playing around with a new setup. I use it with the 2" diagonal with no problems. I Believe Chuck Ayoub (Chuck's Astro) does the same thing. - Cheers Kurt

[@heliczer]

You need a tilt adapter to eliminate those Newton's rings. Great vid tho, nice set-up... I love my Quark :)

[@AstroQuest1]

Thanks. Yeah I was waiting to see if it will be a problem. I guess I may as well order it just in case while I wait for the camera.

[@heliczer]

AstroQuest1 you will definitely need it. Also check for light leaks around it. I wrap tinfoil around all the “gaps” of the tilt adaptor - took me a while to come up with this handy fix which makes a big difference!

[@AstroQuest1]

@@heliczer Thanks For the info. - Cheers Kurt

[@ChanceLabMedia]

Cool video! Don't need any sun filter(ERF)? I'm worried that the lens coating will melt.

[@AstroQuest1]

No need for smaller scopes, if it were 100mm or more then you would need one. - Cheers

[@Astrofrank]

The lens coating on the objective of the telescope does not have a problem, as the sunlight is not concentrated. Diagonal and Quark can be damaged, and also a UV/IR blocking filter.

[@chrisstrobel3439]

Nice roll-off roof observatory 👍 Do you have air conditioning in it for the summer heat to keep from cooking your equipment when it’s all closed up?

[@AstroQuest1]

Thanks Chris, unfortunately no AC. There is plenty of draft and the equipment does not get too warm so that is good.

[@scottmcmanus4697]

Are you still happy w Quark?

[@AstroQuest1]

I sure am although I have not been doing much solar imaging lately. I have been really busy doing other things. - Cheers

[@patindaytona]

What camera are you using? Which editting software?

[@AstroQuest1]

Hey Patrick, I am using the ZWO ASI178MM. For capturing I use Sharpcap and editing Autostakkart, Registack, PS and PI.

[@M31glow]

Just a suggestion, to focus toggle your gain on and then mess with the exposure to get a very high contrast image. You won't use these setting to take your image just to focus. Once you are satisfied with your focus turn the gain to zero and adjust your exposure so that you are not blowing out the proms. You want to just barely see the faint details in the proms. Think about solar as you would about DSO's. Once you blow out the highlights you will never be able to recover them. Second suggestion, download ImPPG it is used to post-process solar images. greatattractor.github.io/imppg/tutorial/tutorial_en.html you will be amazed at how much detail you can bring out in your images. Shoutout to @UCQflhnQ8L-L370dQVqwb_QQ who has a great post on he processes solar images and how he uses ImPPG. Be sure to check out how he inverts the image using ImPPG. Studying his workflow was a game-changer for me. Love your channel keep up the great work.

[@AstroQuest1]

Thanks for the info.

[@rogergriggs4638]

is there some other reason there's not a solar filter in front of the objective ?

[@AstroQuest1]

It is not needed for smaller aperture scopes. Larger scopes will collect even more light, too much, more than what the Quark was designed for. You need a certain minimal amount to get it to work in the first place but there is a max as well. - Cheers

[@Astrofrank]

The standard white light solar front filter wouldn't work, as it block the H-alpha line as well. The filter used with the Quark is made of red glass which blocks all shorter wavelengths and passes the longer ones. Most common is Schott RG630.