New Lunt Mod

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New Lunt Mod

Post by MapleRidge »

Hi everyone...

A quick post about a revision I made to my modded Celestron CR-150 OTA/Lunt DSII etalon mod.

I have been wanting to set up a double stack on this system but never had a lot of time to pursue it...had been thinking of trying a Quark but wasn't prepared to shell out the cash without knowing if it would work.

What I wound up doing was hiving a local machinist make a threaded adapter to allow mw to mount the primary Etalon out of my LS80T at the rear of the donor OTA, and then install the DSII module for a DS system. I had a very short window to assemble and test yesterday over the noon hour...terrible seeing and strong winds made for an interesting first light.

The layout is shown below...from right to left: CR-150 OTA (internal Baader ERF)/Primary LS80T Etalon (red)/DSII module (black)/Moonlite focuser/B1800Ha blocking filter/Explore Scientific 3x Tele-converter/Daystar tilt adapter mounted to the ZWO ASI174MM camera:
IMG_2487.JPG
IMG_2487.JPG (866.13 KiB) Viewed 4384 times
First are a few images in the single stack mode:
3x_CR150_Ha_122404-ASI.jpg
3x_CR150_Ha_122404-ASI.jpg (692.65 KiB) Viewed 4384 times
3x_CR150_Ha_122534-ASI.jpg
3x_CR150_Ha_122534-ASI.jpg (200.5 KiB) Viewed 4384 times
In the DS mode it does improve the contrast:
3x_CR150_Ha_123415-ASI.jpg
3x_CR150_Ha_123415-ASI.jpg (176.75 KiB) Viewed 4384 times
3x_CR150_Ha_123659-ASI.jpg
3x_CR150_Ha_123659-ASI.jpg (203.87 KiB) Viewed 4384 times
3x_CR150_Ha_123521-ASI.jpg
3x_CR150_Ha_123521-ASI.jpg (180.68 KiB) Viewed 4384 times
Just a few points on the images...no flats (some dark banding in the DS images) and no alignment checks due to time limits. I just assembled the pieces and shot the test frames before I ran out of time. To seal the trial off I had clouds roll in until I was back to the office :o

Waiting on another sunny day to test things out some more.

Questions and comments are welcome...how do the modders in the group see this???

Another pending Mod is to fit the DSII to the C9.25 Edge as a single stack. A trial looked promising but my temporary housing wasn't rigid enough to stop the flexure. I'd like the ability to run this and use the pressure tuning to do quick on-band/wing images and when the seeing is good switch to the Quantum for the more narrow bandpass work (0.45A).

Thanks,
Brian


Brian Colville

Maple Ridge Observatory
Cambray, ON Canada

Photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/185395281@N08/albums

10'x15 Roll-off Roof Observatory
Takahashi EM400 Mount carrying:
C14 + Lunt 80ED
Deep Sky Work - ASI294MM Pro+EFW 7x36/Canon 60D (Ha mod), ONAG
Planetary Work - SBIG CFW10, ASI462MM

2.2m Diameter Dome
iOptron CEM70G Mount carrying:
Orion EON 130ED, f7 OTA for Day & Night Use
Ha Setup: Lunt LS80PT/LS75FHa/B1200Ha + Home Brew Lunt Double Stack/B1800Ha on the Orion OTA + Daystar Quantum
WL, G-Band & CaK Setup: Lunt Wedge & Lunt B1800CaK, Baader K-Line and Altair 2nm G-Band filter
ASI1600MM, ASI432MM, ASI294MM Pro, ASI174MM, ASI462MM
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Re: New Lunt Mod

Post by krakatoa1883 »

Nice setup Brian, it seems working really fine. I don't have a DS module for my Lunt mod however my Quark increases contrast dramatically compared to the SS.

Just a question: does the ES 3x work as a telecentric amplifier ?
Last edited by krakatoa1883 on Fri Oct 05, 2018 7:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.


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Re: New Lunt Mod

Post by MapleRidge »

Hi Raf...

Thanks for the feedback on the setup. I hate to keep the LS80 in pieces and it does such a nice job on full disk images. I had been thinking of trying a Quark without the built in barlow as a DS unit (the photoshereic one might work ok as I'm not trying to beat the Quantum) but I don't have one to experiment with.

The ES tele-extenders are relatively telecentric...I've used them for years and seem to work as well as the Powermates. Teleview doesn't have the 3x, and these fit my budget a bit better too :)

Brian


Brian Colville

Maple Ridge Observatory
Cambray, ON Canada

Photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/185395281@N08/albums

10'x15 Roll-off Roof Observatory
Takahashi EM400 Mount carrying:
C14 + Lunt 80ED
Deep Sky Work - ASI294MM Pro+EFW 7x36/Canon 60D (Ha mod), ONAG
Planetary Work - SBIG CFW10, ASI462MM

2.2m Diameter Dome
iOptron CEM70G Mount carrying:
Orion EON 130ED, f7 OTA for Day & Night Use
Ha Setup: Lunt LS80PT/LS75FHa/B1200Ha + Home Brew Lunt Double Stack/B1800Ha on the Orion OTA + Daystar Quantum
WL, G-Band & CaK Setup: Lunt Wedge & Lunt B1800CaK, Baader K-Line and Altair 2nm G-Band filter
ASI1600MM, ASI432MM, ASI294MM Pro, ASI174MM, ASI462MM
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Re: New Lunt Mod

Post by krakatoa1883 »

Thank you for the info, I am planning to purchase a 3x amplifier because my Powermate loses amplification with the distance from the lenses. Best would be a Baader TZ system but it costs much more.


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Re: New Lunt Mod

Post by MapleRidge »

Raf...

I see that Explore Scientific has just introduced a 2"version of the 3x extender. It isn't as much an issue with the Ha system (1.25" blocking filter), but I prefer to reduce as many adapters (2"-1.25") as I can to keep the collection of optics as well aligned as I can. If it will fit ahead of the blocking filter that might help, as opposed to putting the extender between the camera and blocker.

It will be a good option to use with the WL and CaK filters since they are 2" and I could get rid of the reducers.

Brian


Brian Colville

Maple Ridge Observatory
Cambray, ON Canada

Photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/185395281@N08/albums

10'x15 Roll-off Roof Observatory
Takahashi EM400 Mount carrying:
C14 + Lunt 80ED
Deep Sky Work - ASI294MM Pro+EFW 7x36/Canon 60D (Ha mod), ONAG
Planetary Work - SBIG CFW10, ASI462MM

2.2m Diameter Dome
iOptron CEM70G Mount carrying:
Orion EON 130ED, f7 OTA for Day & Night Use
Ha Setup: Lunt LS80PT/LS75FHa/B1200Ha + Home Brew Lunt Double Stack/B1800Ha on the Orion OTA + Daystar Quantum
WL, G-Band & CaK Setup: Lunt Wedge & Lunt B1800CaK, Baader K-Line and Altair 2nm G-Band filter
ASI1600MM, ASI432MM, ASI294MM Pro, ASI174MM, ASI462MM
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Re: New Lunt Mod

Post by bart1805 »

Wow Raf, that looks great! Congratulations!
No double limb at all anymore with the DS.


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Re: New Lunt Mod

Post by Carbon60 »

Looks like an excellent setup, Brian, producing very nice first light images, right off the bat.

I looks highly promising for the new season in spring ;)

Stu.


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Re: New Lunt Mod

Post by krakatoa1883 »

bart1805 wrote: Fri Oct 05, 2018 8:38 pm Wow Raf, that looks great! Congratulations!
they're Brian images, Bart ;)

Brian, are you using the extender for extracting the focus or just to enlarge the image ? In my Lunt mod I barely reach focus with my Chameleon so I inserted a Powermate between the focuser and blocking filter.


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Re: New Lunt Mod

Post by marktownley »

Looks like the mod works well.


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Re: New Lunt Mod

Post by MapleRidge »

Bart, Stu, Raf, and Derek...

Thanks for all the feedback on the setup. Cloudy/rainy Thanksgiving holiday weekend has set in here, so more testes will have to wait. Maybe a nice big AR will appear next week to use as a test subject ;)

Raf, I use the extender to bump the focal length/image scale. I also have an Airylab 2.7x telecentric to try as well, though I need to find some adapters to fit it into the system since it has all threaded connections.

Brian


Brian Colville

Maple Ridge Observatory
Cambray, ON Canada

Photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/185395281@N08/albums

10'x15 Roll-off Roof Observatory
Takahashi EM400 Mount carrying:
C14 + Lunt 80ED
Deep Sky Work - ASI294MM Pro+EFW 7x36/Canon 60D (Ha mod), ONAG
Planetary Work - SBIG CFW10, ASI462MM

2.2m Diameter Dome
iOptron CEM70G Mount carrying:
Orion EON 130ED, f7 OTA for Day & Night Use
Ha Setup: Lunt LS80PT/LS75FHa/B1200Ha + Home Brew Lunt Double Stack/B1800Ha on the Orion OTA + Daystar Quantum
WL, G-Band & CaK Setup: Lunt Wedge & Lunt B1800CaK, Baader K-Line and Altair 2nm G-Band filter
ASI1600MM, ASI432MM, ASI294MM Pro, ASI174MM, ASI462MM
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