Jeff Ridder:
Interesting review. I've not experienced the centering problem reported there. Definitely have with QHY, though. I use an ASG Photon Cage with my Indigo, so that uses about 3mm of backfocus, but necessary if using a full frame camera.
Nick Grundy:Jeff Ridder:
Interesting review. I've not experienced the centering problem reported there. Definitely have with QHY, though. I use an ASG Photon Cage with my Indigo, so that uses about 3mm of backfocus, but necessary if using a full frame camera.
I ordered the photon cage as well (epsilon is forcing me into new territory with its speed)
It’s entirely possible that issue was a one off. I had another issue with a Pegasus motorized OAG that sounds a bit similar, however support was very responsive and involved. They ending up sending me a replacement part and it was resolved. (Ive 100% never gotten that level is support from ZWO)
Nick Grundy:
Thanks @Chris White- Overcast Observatory
thats very helpful. I was expecting them to be flush or work as a washer or something. Makes more sense now.
Jeff Ridder:
I have the Indigo and it’s been extremely solid. QHY filter wheels are…not my favorite — loud, kinda junky, temperamental. I don’t use any ZWO product if I can avoid it. What’s the bad report on the Indigo that you read?
Chris White- Overcast Observatory:
I believe that the centering issue some people had were caused by a slight anodizing issue on the carousel. Simply using a sharpie to color it seems to solve that issue.
Rob Kiefer:Jeff Ridder:
I have the Indigo and it’s been extremely solid. QHY filter wheels are…not my favorite — loud, kinda junky, temperamental. I don’t use any ZWO product if I can avoid it. What’s the bad report on the Indigo that you read?
I only have the QHY FW, so I cannot comment on any other. But loud? I can hardly hear mine when changing. And even if, how often do you change in a session? Once? Anyway, I cannot confirm that the QHY is loud or temperamental. Mine works perfect and does what it is built for.
Jeff Ridder:Rob Kiefer:Jeff Ridder:
I have the Indigo and it’s been extremely solid. QHY filter wheels are…not my favorite — loud, kinda junky, temperamental. I don’t use any ZWO product if I can avoid it. What’s the bad report on the Indigo that you read?
I only have the QHY FW, so I cannot comment on any other. But loud? I can hardly hear mine when changing. And even if, how often do you change in a session? Once? Anyway, I cannot confirm that the QHY is loud or temperamental. Mine works perfect and does what it is built for.
As with all things in astrophotography, if you have something working for you reliably, by all means use it. One less thing to worry about. I’m not here to convince you that what’s working for you doesn’t in fact work. Unfortunately, I’ve had three QHY filter wheels, and NONE of them has been reliable. Two didn’t work out of the box — had to open them up and slide up that rubber sleeve over the gear. One of them had that sleeve repeatedly slip down — always a fun time starting an imaging session only to find your filter wheel requires surgery at the outset. One has never been able to switch to USB mode. Another has never been able to operate in 4-pin mode. There’s more, but again — reliability is the name of the game, and the QHY filter wheels for me have been anything but. And nobody is going to convince me that my experience with them hasn’t been short of what I require.
Jeff Ridder:Rob Kiefer:Jeff Ridder:
I have the Indigo and it’s been extremely solid. QHY filter wheels are…not my favorite — loud, kinda junky, temperamental. I don’t use any ZWO product if I can avoid it. What’s the bad report on the Indigo that you read?
I only have the QHY FW, so I cannot comment on any other. But loud? I can hardly hear mine when changing. And even if, how often do you change in a session? Once? Anyway, I cannot confirm that the QHY is loud or temperamental. Mine works perfect and does what it is built for.
As with all things in astrophotography, if you have something working for you reliably, by all means use it. One less thing to worry about. I’m not here to convince you that what’s working for you doesn’t in fact work. Unfortunately, I’ve had three QHY filter wheels, and NONE of them has been reliable. Two didn’t work out of the box — had to open them up and slide up that rubber sleeve over the gear. One of them had that sleeve repeatedly slip down — always a fun time starting an imaging session only to find your filter wheel requires surgery at the outset. One has never been able to switch to USB mode. Another has never been able to operate in 4-pin mode. There’s more, but again — reliability is the name of the game, and the QHY filter wheels for me have been anything but. And nobody is going to convince me that my experience with them hasn’t been short of what I require.
Now that you've had the Indigo EFW for a few months, how has your experience been with it?
Chris White- Overcast Observatory:
My Pegasus wheels are the best of the three IMO
Chris White- Overcast Observatory:Chris White- Overcast Observatory:
My Pegasus wheels are the best of the three IMO
I would like to amend this previous recommendation. Due to issues with centering and repeatability as well as no resolution from Pegasus after over a month I decided to change back to ZWO filter wheel. Of the budget wheels, I thin the ZWO is the best... as much as that hurts to say.
Chris White- Overcast Observatory:Chris White- Overcast Observatory:
My Pegasus wheels are the best of the three IMO
I would like to amend this previous recommendation. Due to issues with centering and repeatability as well as no resolution from Pegasus after over a month I decided to change back to ZWO filter wheel. Of the budget wheels, I thin the ZWO is the best... as much as that hurts to say.
Are you using a ZWO with your QHY camera? How do you go about connecting it if so?
John Hayes:
I have a Pegasus FW sitting in my shop but I was so unhappy with it that I replaced it with a FLI FW. My concerns were:
1) It does not come out of the box with an acceptable method for mounting the filters. I had to use 3D printed filter holders.
2) It came out of the box with gaps in the housing that let in dust. Pegasus did send me a part to fix this problem but the way that the FW attaches adapters is Mickey Mouse.
3) Filter positioning was not very repeatable. Maybe that’s fixable but I gave up on it before I looked into solving that problem.
4) The housing is not very mechanically rigid. It will flex, even with only moderately light equipment attached to it. It looks to me like it’s made of very thin architectural grade aluminum, which might be fine for backyard use where you can fiddle with it, but I wouldn’t send it to a remote installation.
5) The mechanical design for the motor drive relies on friction that does not include a spring pre-load. Instead it relies on slight compression of a rubber o-ring on a drive wheel to keep everything running. It works but in my view, that’s a cheap way to make it work but that’s not reliable enough for a remote system.
If someone wants a virtually new Pegasus FW set up for 50mm x 50mm square filters, PM me and I’ll give you a good price on it.
John