5 replies to this topic

[mhtelescoper]

I’ve got a pair of the William Optics BinoViewers and I tried them out with a new Daystar Quark (Chromosphere). 
 

I noticed that one eyepiece was significantly dimmer than the other. I swapped them and it was the same eye with the issue, so it’s not the eyepieces themselves. 
 

Then I tried rotating the BinoViewers (while the quark stays in place), and the dim eye started to brighten, and the bright eye started to dim. Kind of like the light coming out of the quark is polarized.

 

has anyone used binos with a quark with success?

[Astrojensen]

Yes, my Zeiss binos, which are corrected for polarization effects, work well. And yes, the light coming out of the Quark is strongly polarized. 

 

 

Clear skies!

Thomas, Denmark

[Permanent-beginner]

Great question.  Apparently YES, the DayStar is polarized.  I am no expert, but I am falling hard for solar H-a observing and learning all I can.  Here is a link to a Cloudy Nights forum that talks about which manufactures are polarized, and why it happens with some and not others.  I know this is not your actual question (and no, I do not have a daystar. I have a Lunt DS) but thought the discussion was interesting and may help.  

https://www.cloudyni...rcular-or-none/

[mhtelescoper]

Got it.  Thank you for the info.

I’m guessing not much can be done about it, and the WO BinoViewers is not a good match for the quark….

[Spikey131]

Got it.  Thank you for the info.

I’m guessing not much can be done about it, and the WO BinoViewers is not a good match for the quark….

I don’t think changing binoviewers would fix this problem.  And I think your setup will work OK.  Just rotate the Quark so that the brightness is equal on each side.

 

You will want to keep the magnification fairly low (100x) with binoviewers.  I also have found that some kind of cloth over my head to block out extraneous light is very helpful (but not very sexy).

[mhtelescoper]

Yes I will have to play around with it to see what works.  I guess losing brightness is ok but I don’t want to lose contras/detail.  
 

I’m looking through a SW EvoStar 72 with 20mm and longer eyepieces so my max magnification is 90x.  The views were good through the binos, but it was very clear that one eyepiece was brighter than the other.  It took a while for the polarization idea to dawn on me.  I also use several TV plossls - of which I don’t have pairs - and the contras is excellent.  I figure that is a result of the better quality eyepiece combined with the lower magnification.  

 

But using the binos is so much more comfortable to just sit and stare.  I find I get fatigued during solar and lunar observation; much more so than planets/deep sky, and my conclusion is that is because the sun/moon are so bright. I find the disparity between that and my closed eye to be strenuous after only a couple minutes. The binos really help in this regard. So losing some brightness would be acceptable for the benefit of being able to use both eyes.