Recommend Antlia Quad Band Anti-Light Pollution Filter for a Bortle 8/9 Backyard? - Forums

Hey all, I am about to acquire a ZWO AM5, Redcat 71 WIFD and ASIair Plus to try some imaging in my (sadly) Bortle 8/9 backyard. I know the best solution is traveling to darker skies but due to family situation it is difficult to do that and being in NYC there isn't exactly a close dark site nearby.

I plan on purchasing a Optolong L-Ultimate to use with this setup along with my ZWO ASI533MC and a ZWO 2" Filter Drawer. I checked out getting a Altair SII/OIII 4nm filter but its sold out everywhere for now.

My question is; I was thinking of getting this Antlia Quad band to use on broadband / galaxy targets. Wondering what all those with much more experience in AP and who have used the filter in perhaps similar conditions have to say about it? Any better options out there or is it worth the money? Thanks in advance!

Vinny Vent:
Hey all, I am about to acquire a ZWO AM5, Redcat 71 WIFD and ASIair Plus to try some imaging in my (sadly) Bortle 8/9 backyard. I know the best solution is traveling to darker skies but due to family situation it is difficult to do that and being in NYC there isn't exactly a close dark site nearby.

I plan on purchasing a Optolong L-Ultimate to use with this setup along with my ZWO ASI533MC and a ZWO 2" Filter Drawer. I checked out getting a Altair SII/OIII 4nm filter but its sold out everywhere for now.

My question is; I was thinking of getting this Antlia Quad band to use on broadband / galaxy targets. Wondering what all those with much more experience in AP and who have used the filter in perhaps similar conditions have to say about it? Any better options out there or is it worth the money? Thanks in advance!

I have an AM5 with a RedCat51 WIFD and an ASIair. Camera is an ASI294MC Pro, so we're close. Did I read somewhere that the Ultimate is not recommended above B7 skies? I live in B7 with a huge soccer complex 1/8 mile away, so the skies are lit up pretty good here. I use the Optolong L-eXtreme for nebula. I use an Optolong Quad and an Optolong UV/IR for galaxies. Works for me. Two examples:

L-eXtreme

Quad / UV/IR Taken with an FLT91, but otherwise, same gear.

I also recommend an EAF and EFW. Once you've had auto-focus, you'll never go back. The filter compartment on the RedCat WIFD series is a pain in the butt. At least a filter drawer.

Vinny Vent:
Hey all, I am about to acquire a ZWO AM5, Redcat 71 WIFD and ASIair Plus to try some imaging in my (sadly) Bortle 8/9 backyard. I know the best solution is traveling to darker skies but due to family situation it is difficult to do that and being in NYC there isn't exactly a close dark site nearby.

I plan on purchasing a Optolong L-Ultimate to use with this setup along with my ZWO ASI533MC and a ZWO 2" Filter Drawer. I checked out getting a Altair SII/OIII 4nm filter but its sold out everywhere for now.

My question is; I was thinking of getting this Antlia Quad band to use on broadband / galaxy targets. Wondering what all those with much more experience in AP and who have used the filter in perhaps similar conditions have to say about it? Any better options out there or is it worth the money? Thanks in advance!

For OSC, what I have come not to enjoy are very narrowband filters like L-Ultimate as they block all color except for red (Ha). They certainly block light pollution, but I prefer to have other colors in targets and stars, if present. For those targets, I'll wait to get to a darker sky site outside my city and try to capture colors with broadband or no filter. I do have a Optolong L-Quad that allows more color beside red. My favorite filter is Optolong L-Pro

DavesView:
Vinny Vent:
Hey all, I am about to acquire a ZWO AM5, Redcat 71 WIFD and ASIair Plus to try some imaging in my (sadly) Bortle 8/9 backyard. I know the best solution is traveling to darker skies but due to family situation it is difficult to do that and being in NYC there isn't exactly a close dark site nearby.

I plan on purchasing a Optolong L-Ultimate to use with this setup along with my ZWO ASI533MC and a ZWO 2" Filter Drawer. I checked out getting a Altair SII/OIII 4nm filter but its sold out everywhere for now.

My question is; I was thinking of getting this Antlia Quad band to use on broadband / galaxy targets. Wondering what all those with much more experience in AP and who have used the filter in perhaps similar conditions have to say about it? Any better options out there or is it worth the money? Thanks in advance!

I have an AM5 with a RedCat51 WIFD and an ASIair. Camera is an ASI294MC Pro, so we're close. Did I read somewhere that the Ultimate is not recommended above B7 skies? I live in B7 with a huge soccer complex 1/8 mile away, so the skies are lit up pretty good here. I use the Optolong L-eXtreme for nebula. I use an Optolong Quad and an Optolong UV/IR for galaxies. Works for me. Two examples:

L-eXtreme

Quad / UV/IR Taken with an FLT91, but otherwise, same gear.

DavesView:
I also recommend an EAF and EFW. Once you've had auto-focus, you'll never go back. The filter compartment on the RedCat WIFD series is a pain in the butt. At least a filter drawer.

Thank you very much Dave and great images I appreciate you sharing for the comparison! I totally forget to mention I actually already have a ZWO EAF, it’s been sitting unopened in the box for about a month that’s probably why it slipped my mind lol

i did think about getting a EFW; it’s not really about the money so much; I just keep reading different things about its usefulness for an OSC. Some will still swear by it for convenience as they’ll throw a darks filters in there along with some others like the ones you mentioned (UV/IR / L-Quad / NB). Others will say for OSC your not using that many filters and especially for high LP areas like mine I am more likely to be using one filter per imaging session since maximizing integration time is key to getting higher SNR. Being I have an ZWO Filter Drawer (forgot to mention that too sorry) I figured I would opt to hold off on it now.

I don’t think I’ve read about not using the ultimate above B7 but I’m brand new at this so you could very well be right. My understanding was the higher the LP the narrower the band was more desirable but meant you needed to spend more time on the target.

lol it’s all quite a bit to take in at least for me. I’m excited to get started soon but just want to make sure I’m getting the right gear for the job as things like these filters can add up quickly and if I can avoid getting the wrong ones that would be great.

Thanks again for the input, I appreciate it!

BryanHudson:
Vinny Vent:
Hey all, I am about to acquire a ZWO AM5, Redcat 71 WIFD and ASIair Plus to try some imaging in my (sadly) Bortle 8/9 backyard. I know the best solution is traveling to darker skies but due to family situation it is difficult to do that and being in NYC there isn't exactly a close dark site nearby.

I plan on purchasing a Optolong L-Ultimate to use with this setup along with my ZWO ASI533MC and a ZWO 2" Filter Drawer. I checked out getting a Altair SII/OIII 4nm filter but its sold out everywhere for now.

My question is; I was thinking of getting this Antlia Quad band to use on broadband / galaxy targets. Wondering what all those with much more experience in AP and who have used the filter in perhaps similar conditions have to say about it? Any better options out there or is it worth the money? Thanks in advance!

For OSC, what I have come not to enjoy are very narrowband filters like L-Ultimate as they block all color except for red (Ha). They certainly block light pollution, but I prefer to have other colors in targets and stars, if present. For those targets, I'll wait to get to a darker sky site outside my city and try to capture colors with broadband or no filter. I do have a Optolong L-Quad that allows more color beside red. My favorite filter is Optolong L-Pro

Thanks Bryan! I definitely wish I could get to darker skies more easily and often it’s just very difficult. I have a 3 year son with autism and my elderly parents next door. By the time I finish with work and then caring for my son it doesn’t give me a whole lot of time in the evening to leave the NYC area to get to a darker site with our normal traffic. That’s why my B8 yard unfortunately will be the area most often used to image.

You are mentioning what I fear most regarding the only signal coming through being red (Ha). What’s throwing me for a loop is I’ve seen reviews performed by Galactic Hunter and Cuiv the lazy geek who images from Tokyo and they seem to be getting shots that do in fact show other colors so it’s quite confusing and hard to decide. Even here on Astrobin when doing a search I find many images (like the one here: https://www.astrobin.com/2zwu6g/I/?nc=group&nce=3805) that show members using an L-Ultimate with a OSC camera showing color besides red.

Seems like this won’t be an easy decision lol

Vinny Vent:
BryanHudson:
Vinny Vent:
Hey all, I am about to acquire a ZWO AM5, Redcat 71 WIFD and ASIair Plus to try some imaging in my (sadly) Bortle 8/9 backyard. I know the best solution is traveling to darker skies but due to family situation it is difficult to do that and being in NYC there isn't exactly a close dark site nearby.

I plan on purchasing a Optolong L-Ultimate to use with this setup along with my ZWO ASI533MC and a ZWO 2" Filter Drawer. I checked out getting a Altair SII/OIII 4nm filter but its sold out everywhere for now.

My question is; I was thinking of getting this Antlia Quad band to use on broadband / galaxy targets. Wondering what all those with much more experience in AP and who have used the filter in perhaps similar conditions have to say about it? Any better options out there or is it worth the money? Thanks in advance!

For OSC, what I have come not to enjoy are very narrowband filters like L-Ultimate as they block all color except for red (Ha). They certainly block light pollution, but I prefer to have other colors in targets and stars, if present. For those targets, I'll wait to get to a darker sky site outside my city and try to capture colors with broadband or no filter. I do have a Optolong L-Quad that allows more color beside red. My favorite filter is Optolong L-Pro

Thanks Bryan! I definitely wish I could get to darker skies more easily and often it’s just very difficult. I have a 3 year son with autism and my elderly parents next door. By the time I finish with work and then caring for my son it doesn’t give me a whole lot of time in the evening to leave the NYC area to get to a darker site with our normal traffic. That’s why my B8 yard unfortunately will be the area most often used to image.

You are mentioning what I fear most regarding the only signal coming through being red (Ha). What’s throwing me for a loop is I’ve seen reviews performed by Galactic Hunter and Cuiv the lazy geek who images from Tokyo and they seem to be getting shots that do in fact show other colors so it’s quite confusing and hard to decide. Even here on Astrobin when doing a search I find many images (like the one here: https://www.astrobin.com/2zwu6g/I/?nc=group&nce=3805) that show members using an L-Ultimate with a OSC camera showing color besides red.

Seems like this won’t be an easy decision lol

I see your point. NYC area is a whole different level of challenge. I live in Central Indiana, so I can get to a Bortle 4 in about 40 minutes.
At my Bortle 7-8 home, I have done well with dual narrowband filters and then doing dual narrowband editing in Pixinsight to bring out color.

BryanHudson:
Vinny Vent:
BryanHudson:
Vinny Vent:
Hey all, I am about to acquire a ZWO AM5, Redcat 71 WIFD and ASIair Plus to try some imaging in my (sadly) Bortle 8/9 backyard. I know the best solution is traveling to darker skies but due to family situation it is difficult to do that and being in NYC there isn't exactly a close dark site nearby.

I plan on purchasing a Optolong L-Ultimate to use with this setup along with my ZWO ASI533MC and a ZWO 2" Filter Drawer. I checked out getting a Altair SII/OIII 4nm filter but its sold out everywhere for now.

My question is; I was thinking of getting this Antlia Quad band to use on broadband / galaxy targets. Wondering what all those with much more experience in AP and who have used the filter in perhaps similar conditions have to say about it? Any better options out there or is it worth the money? Thanks in advance!

For OSC, what I have come not to enjoy are very narrowband filters like L-Ultimate as they block all color except for red (Ha). They certainly block light pollution, but I prefer to have other colors in targets and stars, if present. For those targets, I'll wait to get to a darker sky site outside my city and try to capture colors with broadband or no filter. I do have a Optolong L-Quad that allows more color beside red. My favorite filter is Optolong L-Pro

Thanks Bryan! I definitely wish I could get to darker skies more easily and often it’s just very difficult. I have a 3 year son with autism and my elderly parents next door. By the time I finish with work and then caring for my son it doesn’t give me a whole lot of time in the evening to leave the NYC area to get to a darker site with our normal traffic. That’s why my B8 yard unfortunately will be the area most often used to image.

You are mentioning what I fear most regarding the only signal coming through being red (Ha). What’s throwing me for a loop is I’ve seen reviews performed by Galactic Hunter and Cuiv the lazy geek who images from Tokyo and they seem to be getting shots that do in fact show other colors so it’s quite confusing and hard to decide. Even here on Astrobin when doing a search I find many images (like the one here: https://www.astrobin.com/2zwu6g/I/?nc=group&nce=3805) that show members using an L-Ultimate with a OSC camera showing color besides red.

Seems like this won’t be an easy decision lol

I see your point. NYC area is a whole different level of challenge. I live in Central Indiana, so I can get to a Bortle 4 in about 40 minutes.
At my Bortle 7-8 home, I have done well with dual narrowband filters and then doing dual narrowband editing in Pixinsight to bring out color.

I envy your situation being 40 min for a B4! It’s good to know some color can be brought out using Pixinsight. I purchased it last week and also got Adam Blocks tutorial that I’m going to begin this week which should me get more familiar with utilizing many of the great features.

BryanHudson:
(like the one here: https://www.astrobin.com/2zwu6g/I/?nc=group&nce=3805) that show members using an L-Ultimate with a OSC camera showing color besides red.

After looking at Eduardo's (the link posted) pictures, I will have to acquire the Ultimate for my toolbox.

DavesView:
Vinny Vent:
Hey all, I am about to acquire a ZWO AM5, Redcat 71 WIFD and ASIair Plus to try some imaging in my (sadly) Bortle 8/9 backyard. I know the best solution is traveling to darker skies but due to family situation it is difficult to do that and being in NYC there isn't exactly a close dark site nearby.

I plan on purchasing a Optolong L-Ultimate to use with this setup along with my ZWO ASI533MC and a ZWO 2" Filter Drawer. I checked out getting a Altair SII/OIII 4nm filter but its sold out everywhere for now.

My question is; I was thinking of getting this Antlia Quad band to use on broadband / galaxy targets. Wondering what all those with much more experience in AP and who have used the filter in perhaps similar conditions have to say about it? Any better options out there or is it worth the money? Thanks in advance!

I have an AM5 with a RedCat51 WIFD and an ASIair. Camera is an ASI294MC Pro, so we're close. Did I read somewhere that the Ultimate is not recommended above B7 skies? I live in B7 with a huge soccer complex 1/8 mile away, so the skies are lit up pretty good here. I use the Optolong L-eXtreme for nebula. I use an Optolong Quad and an Optolong UV/IR for galaxies. Works for me. Two examples:

L-eXtreme

Quad / UV/IR Taken with an FLT91, but otherwise, same gear.

it's amazing that you're able to get rid of crazy gradients using 294mcpro...I stopped using that camera just for that reason. But you're images are coming out really good even with using L-extreme..so you're doing something right. Good work.

Niraj:
it's amazing that you're able to get rid of crazy gradients using 294mcpro...I stopped using that camera just for that reason. But you're images are coming out really good even with using L-extreme..so you're doing something right. Good work.

Thanks! About to step it up with a 2600.

DavesView:
Niraj:
it's amazing that you're able to get rid of crazy gradients using 294mcpro...I stopped using that camera just for that reason. But you're images are coming out really good even with using L-extreme..so you're doing something right. Good work.

Thanks! About to step it up with a 2600.

yes that's what I ended up doing. Got me a 2600mcpro..not the duo as it came little bit later after I got 2600mcpro.

Niraj:
yes that's what I ended up doing. Got me a 2600mcpro..not the duo as it came little bit later after I got 2600mcpro.

The duo seems like a bad idea to me. I don't want to guide through a filter.

hi,

my five cents , SQM17.00 and less , i Hight recommend go to mono and narrowband filters 3nm or less, and forget some target with LRGB
that is the price that we have to pay for bad skies( bad background) ,HIGHT NOISE ,LOW SNR we need more stacking data
however we can take a good quality image.

my challenge is one IOTD with SQM 16.84( my backyard in miami, FL )

CLEAR SKIES

DavesView:
Niraj:
yes that's what I ended up doing. Got me a 2600mcpro..not the duo as it came little bit later after I got 2600mcpro.

The duo seems like a bad idea to me. I don't want to guide through a filter.

it actually works even with filter..just the number of stars would be less to work with. But yeah duo isn't that necessary. Not sure how many other astrophotographers out there got one.

Brian Diaz:
hi,

my five cents , SQM17.00 and less , i Hight recommend go to mono and narrowband filters 3nm or less, and forget some target with LRGB
that is the price that we have to pay for bad skies( bad background) ,HIGHT NOISE ,LOW SNR we need more stacking data
however we can take a good quality image.

my challenge is one IOTD with SQM 16.84( my backyard in miami, FL )

CLEAR SKIES

Hey Brian, no doubt you’re correct in this. Truth be told I know I probably should have gone mono but I didn’t due to lack of faith in myself in avoiding getting overwhelmed.

Just for my first telescope this past December (SCT 8). This new rig I’m building as initially mentioned on the original post is my first “AP” rig and will be my first time ever using an EQ mount.

My concern was biting off more than I can chew in regard to actually learning how to use & polar align an EQ mount, the aspects of how to conduct imaging sessions for the relevant targets; how to take calibration frames and then how to process the images with Pixinsight / photoshop.

I was afraid that by taking on mono imaging would be biting off more than I can chew all at once. I figured I can get the 533MC and still use it on my SCT8 to do some EAA once I have grown comfortable using the EQ mount and getting my bearings with the whole AP process and at that point move on to mono.

Not sure if that makes sense or not lol but that’s how I landed where I am

Suggestion………start with a small refractor rather than an 8” SCT…….The long focal length of the SCT will be a challenge to get guiding well for someone starting imaging-a smaller refractor will be much easier to start out with

The Askar FRA400 or 500 would be a good choice

Suggestion………start with a small refractor rather than an 8” SCT…….The long focal length of the SCT will be a challenge to get guiding well for someone starting imaging-a smaller refractor will be much easier to start out with

The Askar FRA400 or 500 would be a good choice

Thanks donsinger. I’m actually ordering a Redcat 71 WIFD for the exact reason you had mentioned. I am keeping the SCT to do a bit of EAA and planetary imaging

Vinny Vent:
Hey all, I am about to acquire a ZWO AM5, Redcat 71 WIFD and ASIair Plus to try some imaging in my (sadly) Bortle 8/9 backyard. I know the best solution is traveling to darker skies but due to family situation it is difficult to do that and being in NYC there isn't exactly a close dark site nearby.

I plan on purchasing a Optolong L-Ultimate to use with this setup along with my ZWO ASI533MC and a ZWO 2" Filter Drawer. I checked out getting a Altair SII/OIII 4nm filter but its sold out everywhere for now.

My question is; I was thinking of getting this Antlia Quad band to use on broadband / galaxy targets. Wondering what all those with much more experience in AP and who have used the filter in perhaps similar conditions have to say about it? Any better options out there or is it worth the money? Thanks in advance!

Hi Vinny,

I live in B7+ (SF Bay Area). I'm new to AP so take what I mention with a grain of salt but I've been imaging with the Antlia Quadband for my recent broadband data and I like the results. It does best in targets with some red (Ha) regions as it is pretty good at cutting out the other wavelengths and emphasizing those wavelengths. You would need to be better about color calibration and white balance with it because everything ends up slightly redder with this filter. You also need to be careful with some bright stars. It does halo around Alnitak but not Menkib. An alternative I heard about is the L-Quad which seems to be a similar filter.

Here are some stacked images I took a while back when I first got it to get some idea of how the filter performs vs no filter. These all have similar integration times (20-30min, ASI Fits view auto stretched and saved and are resized about 75% smaller. You can also check out the galaxy images on my profile for some final images (I need to go back and CC ones from before M106). However, you can also have more integration and fight the light pollution that way.

Niraj:
DavesView:
Niraj:
yes that's what I ended up doing. Got me a 2600mcpro..not the duo as it came little bit later after I got 2600mcpro.

The duo seems like a bad idea to me. I don't want to guide through a filter.

it actually works even with filter..just the number of stars would be less to work with. But yeah duo isn't that necessary. Not sure how many other astrophotographers out there got one.

Hi Niraj,

I have a MC Duo. I didn't have issues with it on my 75Q even with the Sii Hb filter since the wider angle had a lot of stars to pick from but for my Esprit I had issues with HaOiii on 2 sec exposures in some regions of the sky (For example M106 after the meridian flip). This is likely due to the smaller FoV + filter. On my Quadband I haven't had issues with it.

My Quadband arrives on Saturday, I'll post a result. The bands are perfect for (NIR/L)RGB Compositions.

Joel Lee:
Vinny Vent:
Hey all, I am about to acquire a ZWO AM5, Redcat 71 WIFD and ASIair Plus to try some imaging in my (sadly) Bortle 8/9 backyard. I know the best solution is traveling to darker skies but due to family situation it is difficult to do that and being in NYC there isn't exactly a close dark site nearby.

I plan on purchasing a Optolong L-Ultimate to use with this setup along with my ZWO ASI533MC and a ZWO 2" Filter Drawer. I checked out getting a Altair SII/OIII 4nm filter but its sold out everywhere for now.

My question is; I was thinking of getting this Antlia Quad band to use on broadband / galaxy targets. Wondering what all those with much more experience in AP and who have used the filter in perhaps similar conditions have to say about it? Any better options out there or is it worth the money? Thanks in advance!

Hi Vinny,

I live in B7+ (SF Bay Area). I'm new to AP so take what I mention with a grain of salt but I've been imaging with the Antlia Quadband for my recent broadband data and I like the results. It does best in targets with some red (Ha) regions as it is pretty good at cutting out the other wavelengths and emphasizing those wavelengths. You would need to be better about color calibration and white balance with it because everything ends up slightly redder with this filter. You also need to be careful with some bright stars. It does halo around Alnitak but not Menkib. An alternative I heard about is the L-Quad which seems to be a similar filter.

Here are some stacked images I took a while back when I first got it to get some idea of how the filter performs vs no filter. These all have similar integration times (20-30min, ASI Fits view auto stretched and saved and are resized about 75% smaller. You can also check out the galaxy images on my profile for some final images (I need to go back and CC ones from before M106). However, you can also have more integration and fight the light pollution that way.

Niraj:
DavesView:
Niraj:
yes that's what I ended up doing. Got me a 2600mcpro..not the duo as it came little bit later after I got 2600mcpro.

The duo seems like a bad idea to me. I don't want to guide through a filter.

it actually works even with filter..just the number of stars would be less to work with. But yeah duo isn't that necessary. Not sure how many other astrophotographers out there got one.

Hi Niraj,

I have a MC Duo. I didn't have issues with it on my 75Q even with the Sii Hb filter since the wider angle had a lot of stars to pick from but for my Esprit I had issues with HaOiii on 2 sec exposures in some regions of the sky (For example M106 after the meridian flip). This is likely due to the smaller FoV + filter. On my Quadband I haven't had issues with it.

Thanks Joel-
It's interesting you mention meridian flip because reviews I've heard were without meridian flip I think. So wasn't aware if there was an issue or not. From your experience, it looks like there is but in some cases and not all.

Niraj:
Joel Lee:
Niraj:
DavesView:
Niraj:
yes that's what I ended up doing. Got me a 2600mcpro..not the duo as it came little bit later after I got 2600mcpro.

The duo seems like a bad idea to me. I don't want to guide through a filter.

it actually works even with filter..just the number of stars would be less to work with. But yeah duo isn't that necessary. Not sure how many other astrophotographers out there got one.

Hi Niraj,

I have a MC Duo. I didn't have issues with it on my 75Q even with the Sii Hb filter since the wider angle had a lot of stars to pick from but for my Esprit I had issues with HaOiii on 2 sec exposures in some regions of the sky (For example M106 after the meridian flip). This is likely due to the smaller FoV + filter. On my Quadband I haven't had issues with it.

Thanks Joel-
It's interesting you mention meridian flip because reviews I've heard were without meridian flip I think. So wasn't aware if there was an issue or not. From your experience, it looks like there is but in some cases and not all.

Yeah, the meridian flip changes your field of view as the guide camera is asymmetrically mounted. You start out the night set up for your current FOV. Then you can get unlucky and when flipped end up with a region that has dimmer stars. It's mainly an issue if you are automating images overnight then go to sleep before you cross the meridian. You wake up in the morning with no images despite a perfect night.

My Quadband arrives on Saturday, I'll post a result. The bands are perfect for (NIR/L)RGB Compositions.

Thanks! Looking forward to the posts!

My Quadband arrives on Saturday, I'll post a result. The bands are perfect for (NIR/L)RGB Compositions.

Thanks! Looking forward to the posts!

Hi Vinny,

I live in B7+ (SF Bay Area). I'm new to AP so take what I mention with a grain of salt but I've been imaging with the Antlia Quadband for my recent broadband data and I like the results. It does best in targets with some red (Ha) regions as it is pretty good at cutting out the other wavelengths and emphasizing those wavelengths. You would need to be better about color calibration and white balance with it because everything ends up slightly redder with this filter. You also need to be careful with some bright stars. It does halo around Alnitak but not Menkib. An alternative I heard about is the L-Quad which seems to be a similar filter.

Here are some stacked images I took a while back when I first got it to get some idea of how the filter performs vs no filter. These all have similar integration times (20-30min, ASI Fits view auto stretched and saved and are resized about 75% smaller. You can also check out the galaxy images on my profile for some final images (I need to go back and CC ones from before M106). However, you can also have more integration and fight the light pollution that way.

Thank you Joel! Really nice images, especially for 20-30 minutes. Plus yours seems like a pretty close comparison to the environment I am shooting in so definitely helps to see what you get. I think the Halo's are also apparent on the Optolong L-Quad from what I have read; but also it seems Optolong is a bit of a filter lottery as well. Regardless of that I am probably picking up the L-Ultimate to do some narrowband imaging as its the best target type considering the situation. I have avoided going mono due to being new and the learning curve that comes with it until I get more comfortable with the entire process; I do however think I may also want to get an SII / OIII filter in combination with the Ultimate; something like the Altair 3nm - just impossible to find at the moment.

Joel Lee:
Niraj:
Thanks Joel-
It's interesting you mention meridian flip because reviews I've heard were without meridian flip I think. So wasn't aware if there was an issue or not. From your experience, it looks like there is but in some cases and not all.

Yeah, the meridian flip changes your field of view as the guide camera is asymmetrically mounted. You start out the night set up for your current FOV. Then you can get unlucky and when flipped end up with a region that has dimmer stars. It's mainly an issue if you are automating images overnight then go to sleep before you cross the meridian. You wake up in the morning with no images despite a perfect night.

That's what I usually do observation wise so I don't have to wake up to do flip-believe I had some similar issue with OAG setup as well when I did it. But due to less than decent guiding issues, stopped using OAG. It may work for many but using separate guide scope approach works just fine for me.