Too hot for me.....and the Quark

[grimble_cornet]

Yesterday was the hottest day of the year so far here in the UK.
Now 35 degrees C (95F) may not sound even warm to some of you guys but its HOT for this part of the world and gave me an unexpected problem - more later......

Seeing was pretty good at 7.30am although it dropped away later.
I would like to share some images but every time I try to add a file from my hard drive I get this error message:

500: Internal server error
This error is generated when a script running on the server could not be implemented or permissions are incorrectly assigned for files or directories
Troubleshooting suggestions:
Temporarily disable any rewrite rules by renaming your .htaccess file if it exists.
Ensure that any CGI or Perl scripts have at least .755. permissions.
If trying to run PHP and you get this error, you may have an invalid php.ini in your /cgi-bin, or may be missing your php.dat file in this folder.

Not sure what any of that means so................... I'll just provide links to a few images and animations on Flickr:
Lyra152 Baader wedge Grasshopper 2-pane mosaic 2016 1907 0745 ut by Mike Garbett, on Flickr
A 2-pane mosaic taken with my Lyra152, Baader ceramic wedge and Grasshopper

Lyra152 Baader wedge Grasshopper ARs 2565 and 2567 2016 1907 0759 ut coloured by Mike Garbett, on Flickr
Add stacked x2 and x1.6 Barlows to show ARs 2565 and 2567

Lyra152 Baader wedge Grasshopper AR 2569 2016 1907 0800 ut coloured cropped by Mike Garbett, on Flickr
Same setup for AR 2569


Change over to the Quark and add a Baader full aperture ERF:
Lyra152 Quark Grasshopper 6-pane mosaic 2016 1907 0811 ut coloured by Mike Garbett, on Flickr
A 6-pane mosaic using two stacked x0.5 focal reducers. Seeing was changing quite quickly so some uneven blending.

Lyra152 Quark Grasshopper x0.5 2-pane mosaic 2016 1907 0835 ut coloured by Mike Garbett, on Flickr
A 2-pane mosaic of ARs 2565 and 2567 using a single x0.5 focal reducer.



I noticed that the battery pack powering my Quark had switched itself off - it does this if no power is being drawn for about 60s
It would re-start but then powered off again. I tried changing the tuning dial on the Quark with the intention of trying some off-band imaging but nothing seemed to change.



Oh well, lets capture a short animation of the one decent prom on show:

Prom-Animation-19th-July-2016 by Mike Garbett, on Flickr
This is about 30 minutes worth of action.



Next about 35 minutes of action from the main hot spot of ARs 2565 and 2567:

Animation-AR2565-close-up by Mike Garbett, on Flickr
All of the frames have been processed in the same way and you can probably see that the Quark is drifting off band. Eventually I could not see any real Ha detail at all
After 30 minutes in the fridge it started to work again BUT......... within 30 minutes the problem returned.
Although we don't get these temperatures very often it is worrying that the Quark seems less able to handle them than I am.
Anybody else have this problem?



Finally - bit of light relief.
This shows the last 20 frames of one of the 300 frame movies contributing to the Ha full disc mosaic:

Plane-1000px by Mike Garbett, on Flickr

[cshahar]

You've come back with a bang Mike. These images and animations are stunning! I really appreciate the quality and effort that goes into them.

-Charles

[grimble_cornet]

Thanks Charles......... its good to be back after weeks of wet and cloudy weather


Unfortunately the last 3 days of sunshine are about to be followed by a return to the cloud which has typified so much of our 'summer' this year

[longtech]

Outstanding sir! ...and what an excellent transit :-)

[Carbon60]

Excellent images, Mike. Great animations and transit. I've still to capture one of these myself having just missed about three over the past couple of years.

As you say, back to cloud again now.

Stu.

[grimble_cornet]

Thanks Stu

I'm on the approach path to Brum Airport so see transits all the time although this one was a bit special

Also get loads of party balloons (not sure where they are coming from)

The planes are a real pain when I attempt night-time imaging as about 20% of 20 minute exposures will have a row of flashing lights running through it

[Ewan]

Excellent work Mike, I was imaging for approx. 4-5 hours & the Quark behaved perfectly, stayed on band as expected, sorry to hear about your issue. I have never given it a second thought until you mentioned it, interesting.

[pedro]

Fantastic images there Mike in spite of the hot weather, 35C for us is peanuts...

[mattwastell]

Glad the plane offered some shade on that hot day!

[grimble_cornet]

Thanks guys......... it will be interestiing too see how the Quark performs in the future.

[Montana]

What a great set, the transit will always be favorite I hope the Quark works when you next get it out. Still no sign of mine, not much use out of it since I got it. It was great last July and August and that was it. Hopefully it will come back soon.

Alexandra

[grimble_cornet]

Thanks Alexandra - must admit that I still get a real kick when I capture a dramatic transit despite seeing 'run of the mill' ones every few days when imaging from home.
You know that I have been very happy with my (second, replacement) Quark but this one has already been back to DayStar to have its oven thermostat 'recalibrated'. That was pretty fast, painless and free but it looks as if the same problem is happening again and will be out of warranty.
Maybe I need to build a 'cooling unit' for the Quark!!!!

[DJD]

All good stuff Mike !
I must admit my Quark got traded in for a PGR - it was one or the other.
Best wishes,
David

[grimble_cornet]

Thanks David.
I have really become attached to my Quark and don't know what I would do if it failed out of warranty.

Valery and others have said how lucky I have been to get such an even and high resolution example so I'm not really confident of getting an equally good replacement unit

Might have to throw obscene amounts of money at one of DayStar's pro level units

[marktownley]

Super shots there Mike! A very nice collection!

Regards your Quark, try changing the USB cable you use to power it; the plastic in the micro end is very soft and pliable, and over time deforms. It may be that this no longer presents a good connection to the Quark causing intermittent power downs and hence going off band. When you get a new cable make sure it is a high power capacity, normally 24awg cable, some of the el-cheapo cables don't have the power capacity the quark needs. Sample variance aside I think the USB power connector is the Quarks Achilles heel. It will be interesting to see what the longevity of the component is, not good IMHO.

[Montana]

If you are going to spend lots of money I would heartily recommend the Solarspectrum instead, it's far superior

Alexandra

[grimble_cornet]

Mark.......
It only powers down when using the battery pack - indicating that no power is being drawn.
When powered via the mains adaptor it came with it stays 'powered' but slowly drifts off band.
If I remove power completely......... then it stays 'on band' for a very long time. Suggests to me that the 'oven' is hot enough to be on band without power and that any power heats it up too much - is that why it stops taking power from the battery pack?
Not sure what the 'dial' is doing......... is clockwise 'hotter' or 'cooler'?
Bearing in mind that this unit has been back to Daystar to have its heater/thermostat 'recalibrated' once................ and that it came back 'working' but with '-4' (only one click from max anti-clockwise) as the optimum setting............ it would be good to get some advice from Daystar. However, the helpful guy I dealt with last time has moved on and contact via 'customer support' was like swimming through treacle last time and others report even less success!

Alexandra......
I don't know what to believe any more re Ha. I bought the Lunt 100 as 'the best thing since sliced bread' and still can't get it to perform at anywhere near the level I get from the Quark plus a cheapo Tal100.
Maybe the LS100 is faulty, maybe I'm just an idiot who doesn't know how to use it......... I don't have anything to compare it with and its out of warranty (as the result of a 6 month delivery delay; it was November by the time it arrived and I was advised to 'put it away until March when conditions improve') so I'm stuck.
Having invested in the Lyra 152 plus full aperture Baader ERF I really want to get the best out of that system.
I have been very encouraged by the recent results obtained with this kit plus the Quark and am very reluctant to throw all of that progress away and start again with another 'wonderful toy' which may or may not deliver the goods.

Just to make my life complete....... my EQ-direct cable has just died so I can't control my mount.

Maybe I should give up astronomy and take up golf

[turi lo vecchio]

Hi Mike,
really compliments !

Ciao

[Rybak]

Super images Mike!
Impressive transit!
I am struggling with my second Ouark.

[marktownley]

If you are going to spend lots of money I would heartily recommend the Solarspectrum instead, it's far superior

Alexandra

Is there something you need to tell us here Alexandra?

[marktownley]

I don't know what to believe any more re Ha. I bought the Lunt 100 as 'the best thing since sliced bread' and still can't get it to perform at anywhere near the level I get from the Quark plus a cheapo Tal100.

Maybe the LS100 is faulty, maybe I'm just an idiot who doesn't know how to use it......... I don't have anything to compare it with and its out of warranty (as the result of a 6 month delivery delay; it was November by the time it arrived and I was advised to 'put it away until March when conditions improve') so I'm stuck.

I fixed an LS60 recently that had similar issues you described. Unscrew the blanking cap off the tuning knob. When you look down the end you will see an allen bolt. Crank this up tight, it sits against a rubber o-ring so will be fine. I bet you have a leak on the pressure vessel here. You should be able to get on band then

[marktownley]

Mark.......
It only powers down when using the battery pack - indicating that no power is being drawn.
When powered via the mains adaptor it came with it stays 'powered' but slowly drifts off band.
If I remove power completely......... then it stays 'on band' for a very long time. Suggests to me that the 'oven' is hot enough to be on band without power and that any power heats it up too much - is that why it stops taking power from the battery pack?
Not sure what the 'dial' is doing......... is clockwise 'hotter' or 'cooler'?
Bearing in mind that this unit has been back to Daystar to have its heater/thermostat 'recalibrated' once................ and that it came back 'working' but with '-4' (only one click from max anti-clockwise) as the optimum setting............ it would be good to get some advice from Daystar. However, the helpful guy I dealt with last time has moved on and contact via 'customer support' was like swimming through treacle last time and others report even less success!

Given that i'm at a loss as to what to say. They seem to have a custom security hex key on the quark which means it is incredibly difficult to 'enter' the unit. I'm working on it, but till then i'm no help. Once inside it is a simple thermostatic oven so could be a simple fix. I suspect there is a variable potentiometer in there somewhere...

[krakatoa1883]

It only powers down when using the battery pack - indicating that no power is being drawn.
When powered via the mains adaptor it came with it stays 'powered' but slowly drifts off band.
If I remove power completely......... then it stays 'on band' for a very long time. Suggests to me that the 'oven' is hot enough to be on band without power and that any power heats it up too much - is that why it stops taking power from the battery pack?

the same happens to my unit which is otherwise a very good one. When air temperature is higher than 25 - 30 °C (77 - 86 °F) AND the device is directly exposed to sunlight it doesn't even need any power supply, it remains tuned by itself. In these conditions if the Quark is connected to the battery pack it switches off, while if connected to the mains the led remains yellow. But if I shade the Quark from direct sunlight then the led turns green in few minutes.

I don't think it is a serius inconvenience, I have always been able to tune it in every climate, however I noted a more regular behaviour in winter, with cold air.

Hope it helps

[marktownley]

Now aint this peculiar...

[grimble_cornet]

WOW.......... thank you Raf, that makes me feel a lot better - I think

It was only about 27 C today so I decided to have another play as I was worried that the Quark had died....

At first, everything was fine with it coming on band with its 'normal' -4 setting.
After about 30 minutes the battery pack switched off but the Quark image did not change noticeably for over 10 minutes. I then switched it back on and - just as Raf described - the light remained orange and it slowly drifted off band. With it set to the '0' position.......... the image was almost 'white light'.
The seeing was dire so don't be too critical of the images taken via the Tal100 and Grasshopper:

Quark power and heating problems by Mike Garbett, on Flickr

When I packed away, I placed the Quark on the table indoors and plugged it in................... green light after about 3 minutes!!!!!

Maybe I need to build a cool box!

I think you are right Mark; variable pot inside somewhere - seemed a bit excessive that it had to travel 15,000 miles or so to be adjusted last year

[solarchat]

Hey Mike. The image upload limit is currently set by Network Solutions to 130kb. Embedding the images is a far better choice anyway to save server space. We are trying to lift the limit.

[grimble_cornet]

Hi Stephen. Not a problem for me; I'm quite happy to link via Flickr. Feeling quite guilty now about the vast amount of stuff I have loaded onto your servers over the last few years

[Montana]

I used Luca Valentini's Solarspectrum for three days, it was solid, reliable, even, easy to use, good bandwidth (although never as good as a tilt etalon). You only have to see Michael Wilkinson's and Luca's images to agree. I think their service is excellent too but not many folks have used it, whereas I am not too sure about Daystar's

Alexandra

[grimble_cornet]

Thanks for the information Alexandra - what was the spec/bandwidth of the one you used?
They seem to offer 'standard' and 'research' grades, series 1 and 1.5 models (different 'clear aperture' ????) in 0.3, 0.5 and 0.65A at prices ranging from 3,000 to 14,000 Euros. Not at all clear what the pros/cons are from the Teleskop-Express site so more research needed!

[Montana]

Click here http://www.amun-ra.org/equipment.asp

Of course Luca has the best

Not sure what Michael has although I think it is a 0.3A

I wonder if Rupert is trying to sell these by reading in to a certain sentence he stated in his last e-mail, you could ask him

Alexandra

[grimble_cornet]

Ah.................. that makes sense and offers a solution to my problems:
All I have to do is sell my house and purchase the gear he is using to image in Ha (well, some of it - not sure my house is worth enough to purchase it all) and set it all up outside my tent in an area of really exceptional seeing....... simples

[Montana]

I'll come and visit

[solarchat]

Me too

[grimble_cornet]

You will both be very welcome.............. if you bring beer or wine

[marktownley]

Have you tried my fix on the Lunt100 yet Mike?

[eroel]

Mike:
Super images.
As for the problem concerning the heater of the Quark, I can say that it took me long to get the best setting on the pot of my very old Daystar T-Scanner, that was converted to a tilt and heated unit by Jen long time ago. The days temperature has an effect on the band, as also the tilt mecanism, so first I had to get the tilter on a position where no tilt was apparent, then started adjusting the pot in small steps until the etalon came on band, so now the heater works perfect on a normal temperature day at my place and the tilter gets you on both wings very easy.
When I bought my 0.5A° t-scanner, I remember Del Woods asking me what was the normal day temperature at my place as also my altitude above sea level, so he used to make the etalons specially for a given temperature and altitude.
Then many years later, David Lunt with the help of Bill Dean picked for me a set of 40mm Coronado filters for a DS setup to take to Egypt for the Venus transit, it was a pair of etalons that I used for a 76mm TeleVue refractor that was taken to image the event, the place was Luxor but the temperature climbed up that day to the hottest temperature I have ever experienced almost 60°C in the shade, so the setup was off band.
I also have an old ATM 0.45A° Daystar filter, that has the original housing and heater, that filter is always on band, I have never needed to readjust the oven.
So sometimes is luck and others the need to tweak a bit the filters.
Best regards and wishes,
Eric.