What is the main advantage of the Daystar Combo Combo bundle?
The main advantage is flexibility. It provides a complete, pre-tested set of optical accessories—telecentric barlows and focal reducers—that allow you to change your magnification and field of view instantly. This saves you the trouble and expense of finding compatible accessories to frame the sun perfectly for both visual and imaging purposes.
How do the 2.8X and 4.3X telecentric barlows in the Combo Combo bundle differ from standard barlows?
A telecentric barlow is critical for use with a Daystar Quark because it presents light rays parallel to the optical axis. This is required for the etalon to function correctly across the entire field. Standard barlows do not do this and will cause uneven illumination and banding. Additionally, these barlows feature 13 internal baffles to maximize contrast.
What problem does the tilt mechanism on the 0.66X and 0.3X imaging reducers solve?
The ball-and-socket tilt mechanism is designed to eliminate interference fringes, also known as Newton's rings. These are concentric light and dark bands that appear when imaging with monochromatic light and parallel optical surfaces. By introducing a tiny amount of tilt, you can make these artifacts disappear from your final image.
What's the difference between the four Combo Combo kits?
The Barlow Set has the 2.8X and 4.3X telecentric barlows only. The Reducer Set of 3 has the 0.66X and 0.3X imaging reducers plus the visual reducer, with no barlows. The Accessory Kit combines both barlows and all three reducers. The Full Kit adds a Chromosphere Combo Quark on top of the Accessory Kit for observers who don't yet own one.
Which accessory in the Combo Combo bundle is best for imaging the full solar disk with a small sensor camera on an f/8 refractor?
Start with a telecentric barlow: Daystar gives the 2.8X or 4.3X for refractors from F/5 to F/9, and the 2.8X shows the full disk on refractors of about 720mm focal length or shorter. To fit more of the disk onto a small sensor, the 0.66X or 0.3X imaging focal reducer reduces the image scale.
Is the visual focal reducer in the Combo Combo bundle suitable for imaging?
No, it's optimized specifically for visual use. For imaging, you should use the dedicated 0.66X or 0.3X imaging reducers. They are designed with a T-mount thread for secure camera attachment and include the critical tilt-adjustment feature to remove interference patterns, which is not a component of the visual reducer.
