Need a full disc HA sidekick (PST/Quark/??)
Posted: Sat May 27, 2017 8:57 pm
Hey all,
I currently do high(ish) resolution HA & white light imaging with my 120mm refractor and a Quark and various white light filters. It suits me for now for my level of seeing commonly. I have done full disc in the past with a wee 50mm guidescope that I stop down to 27mm aperture and also use a focal reducer on the Quark to get a full disc FOV with my camera's sensor size (ASI174MM). But, that resolution is really poor, and it just looks messy.
I'm considering trying to build or modify something to make it easier to go full disc with some things I have, or to be modular so that I can go from higher resolution to full disc with similar equipment.
I'm considering a few entry options that maybe I can get advice on:
1. Quark Chromosphere. I have this already. If I could remove the internal 4.2x telecentric barlow, maybe I could use that with a shorter scope, stopped down, to effectively image full disc? My Quark's barlow doesn't just unscrew. I think there is a bolt on the side that locks it up. And I'm not sure if its sealed with locktite or something. I've yet to really wrench it apart as its my only HA filter and I'd rather not damage it with my inexperience. But I'd love to hear more about how this could be possible to use for full disc without using tiny apertures and focal reducers to get there. I have a 50mm (190mm 3.8) guidescope and an Orion ST80 (400mm F5) refractor that can be turned into anything.
2. PST. I have seen tons of resulting mods with this, from SCT's to inserting it into another refractor. I'm very interested in it because it seems it can be made to go from full disc to a really high resolution setup with an SCT and an D-ERF (I'd love to one day use a 9.25" with full aperture D-ERF and a PST etalon mod maybe). I don't have a PST though, but I could get one. I'm just curious if it would be possible to use it stock for full disc with an ASI174MM, or if I'd have to modify something. I don't want to have to use a barlow just to get focus, I'd rather find a way without that if possible. I've seen images of PST's shoved into the back of other refractors. That's interesting. Or just harvesting the etalon out of the PST and making it work with another refractor. I'm curious what kind of thing could be made with an Orion ST80, if any?
3. Forget all this and just use my ST80, stopped down, Quark, Focal Reducer and a bigger sensor camera to change FOV?
Note: Mosaics have been problematic for me because of uneven fields with my Quark. For a full disc, I'd love to just do it in one shot.
Looking for ideas to compliment what I have, or use what I have already.
Very best,
I currently do high(ish) resolution HA & white light imaging with my 120mm refractor and a Quark and various white light filters. It suits me for now for my level of seeing commonly. I have done full disc in the past with a wee 50mm guidescope that I stop down to 27mm aperture and also use a focal reducer on the Quark to get a full disc FOV with my camera's sensor size (ASI174MM). But, that resolution is really poor, and it just looks messy.
I'm considering trying to build or modify something to make it easier to go full disc with some things I have, or to be modular so that I can go from higher resolution to full disc with similar equipment.
I'm considering a few entry options that maybe I can get advice on:
1. Quark Chromosphere. I have this already. If I could remove the internal 4.2x telecentric barlow, maybe I could use that with a shorter scope, stopped down, to effectively image full disc? My Quark's barlow doesn't just unscrew. I think there is a bolt on the side that locks it up. And I'm not sure if its sealed with locktite or something. I've yet to really wrench it apart as its my only HA filter and I'd rather not damage it with my inexperience. But I'd love to hear more about how this could be possible to use for full disc without using tiny apertures and focal reducers to get there. I have a 50mm (190mm 3.8) guidescope and an Orion ST80 (400mm F5) refractor that can be turned into anything.
2. PST. I have seen tons of resulting mods with this, from SCT's to inserting it into another refractor. I'm very interested in it because it seems it can be made to go from full disc to a really high resolution setup with an SCT and an D-ERF (I'd love to one day use a 9.25" with full aperture D-ERF and a PST etalon mod maybe). I don't have a PST though, but I could get one. I'm just curious if it would be possible to use it stock for full disc with an ASI174MM, or if I'd have to modify something. I don't want to have to use a barlow just to get focus, I'd rather find a way without that if possible. I've seen images of PST's shoved into the back of other refractors. That's interesting. Or just harvesting the etalon out of the PST and making it work with another refractor. I'm curious what kind of thing could be made with an Orion ST80, if any?
3. Forget all this and just use my ST80, stopped down, Quark, Focal Reducer and a bigger sensor camera to change FOV?
Note: Mosaics have been problematic for me because of uneven fields with my Quark. For a full disc, I'd love to just do it in one shot.
Looking for ideas to compliment what I have, or use what I have already.
Very best,