I hate filter wheels!!!

[JohnH]

</RANT>

Nasty, unreliable, unstable. I have had 5. I started with a manual wheel - it was horrid, moving filters caused lost focus, lost guiding and/or changed framing, no use.

Second up was an ATIK EFW with hand controller - useable but now I had to stay up all night to press the button - I tended to not complete my colour series. ATIK brought out a USB interface to the EFW. Great, now I could automate filter changes. The only problem was the USB interface was very unreliable...may nights lost trying to fight that box and the poor mechanics of the wheel. Eventually the USB box died.

Now this had cost me about 6 months of real time and much of my patience with AP.

Still, after a while sans wheel I steeled my nerves and went for an Orion Nautilus, 1.25" 7 positions, single USB connection with inbuilt contol circuit great - now I can load LRGB and Ha, Oiii, Siii. Out of the box it worked, hovever I did get stalls due to instability of the whell which I tracked to the bearing which was loose but it was adjustable and, after careful setup, it worked well.

BUT

I had to go and change my CCD (to an SBIG model) - and it came with a FW so the Orion has gone to a better place.

Now I thought surely I will not have FW issues - the CFW8a wheel and ST2000xm are mated at the factory and the filters installed there to match...

Wrong. The bl00dy thing stalled on first use. I was mad. Back to 5 positions and not working...pulling it apart and testing step by step showed the problem to be caused by flexure of the front plate, this casued the wheel to stall in certain orientations. Of course it worked ok on the bench - just on the scope it would stall - and there is no warning in the s'ware when it happens either so you waste some more time. I had to shim the front plate to get more clearance. Then tape the thing up to stop the light leaks. Ugly but it worked. Turns out to be a known issue with a known solution - a muscle plate - but these are no longer made. Damn.

Then up one popped on IIS! Bagged it!

Then I got a bit more luck - and IISer was selling a CFW10 - now I can get all my filters back in service, and with a bit of luck move the CFW8 and muscle palte on, of course the 10 will not have any of the issues of the old 8 - SBig are bound to have fixed those...

So I set up the CFW10 today and guess what - it STALLED. Worked with the cover off but not with the cover on and filters loaded - ARGHHHH!

This time turned out the LRGB filters that came with the CFW8 - they are not compatible with the CFW10 - the holders are too deep and foul the fw casing. My Astronomic NB filters work ok and I sit here cursing because I sold my Astrnomik LRGB set wth the Nautilus wheel, should have sold the Astrodons instead. Bu33er!

So now I am looking for a good quality, low profile LRGB filter set and a new owner for a CFW8 with musle plate, LRGB and a Neb filters plus the adapter for the AO-8.

</end of RANT>

[renormalised]

Simple solution....OSC:):):P:P

[gbeal]

LOL, or do what I do, use a manual filter drawer. Soaks up minimal back focus, and more especially, cash. Slow I know, but if you take a night of Ha, and another of O3, then another of L, or similar, does slow actually matter.
Gary

[gregbradley]

WOW, what an experience!

I don't think its that uncommon for a particular piece of gear to cause problems.

I went through a spat of trouble with USB hubs and USB connections.

For what its worth I found Apogee FW50mm square filter wheel to be the best. My FLI filter wheels have been good but their front cover is a bit thin plus the thread depth to screw adapters in is too shallow.

Apogee also has various screw and plastic washer combinations to hold various thickness filters. FLI has brought out something similar for round filters (a screw in ring - good idea). Sometimes my FLI filter wheel would stick because an adapter went too far into the filter wheel and the little screws that hold in the filters would snag on the adapter and freeze it.
I have gotten good at grinding back adapters although it usually means they are a bit harder to get the threads to engage. My FLI CFW4/5 flexes slightly with the weight of my Proline 16803. It must be minor as it does not appear to affect most images but I see a minor affect on some sensitive optical configurations.

The only problem with the Apogee FW50 was they put openings in the earlier models and sometimes that allowed dust to shift around inside making flats unstable. I did not have that problem but have read about it. I believe later models corrected that.

My SBIG filter wheels seemed to work fine. I had trouble with the carousel of an STL11 but that was because I opened it up so often to change over to narrowband filters.

[OzRob]

I have had a couple of problems with my QHY filter wheel. The latest is the failure of the cable that connects it to the camera. I knew it was failing but could work out where. Last week I discovered that it was the pin on the camera end of the cable. Now it is stuck in the camera..ggrrrr. I had even checked it earlier and it appeared tight. I had to buy a new computer (which I was planning anyway) so that I could use the serial connection for the filter wheel.

[frolinmod]

Orion Nautilus filter wheel is too thin.

No problems whatsoever with the QSI filter wheels.

[TrevorW]

From what I have read we are all to forgiving of crappy equipment tending to accept design faults as the norm,

if something does not work as intended(advertised) we should send it back and ask for a refund

this seems to be indicative of all astro products not just filter wheels, yet so many times I have read on this forum and others how people spend big $$$ on equipment and then void their warranty by trying to fix a problem themselves.

I think I'll post another thread about this to see what the consensus is.

Cheers

[marki]

Try a FLI unit. They are big and heavy but just do as advertised. Mine is brilliant and super reliable.

Mark

[allan gould]

The filter wheel inbuilt into the QSIwsg583 is so good you forget about it. Luckily Apple doesn't make filter wheels and lock you into a single brand of filter which passes the only bit of the spectrum they are interested in.
Sorry couldn't help myself

[TrevorW]

:poke::thumbsup:

[JohnH]

Its good to know there are some decent FWs out there. It seems to be an area crying out for Moonlite or someone to just kill it with good engineering.

[Terry B]

I've never had any problems with my CFW10 on my ST10XME. It also has the weight of an AO8 unit. It is populated with Astrodon photometry filters and colour filters. No problems with the thickness of the filters.:shrug:

[JohnH]

Hmm,

I am not sure about the amke of the filters - there is no name on them. I believe they are the ones supplied with the CFW8 which date back to approx 2003 I think. They certainly are quite deep holders - about double the thickness of my Astronomics.

Not dissing the CFW10 really just venting.

[Poita]

Do you want to swap your astrodons for my astronomiks set for a week or two to see if it solves your problem?

[JohnH]

Peter, (tried to PM this but your PM Box is full)

The filters were sent today - a little more research shows them to be Custom Scientifics and not Astrodons as I had thought - but they are the same quaility - and reckoned to be superior to the Astronomiks. I have included a UHC filter also - unsure of the brand for that as I no longer have the box for it. I do hope they are compatible with the Nautilus - let me know.

Regards,

John.

[Poita]

I received them today, and the bad news is that they foul the nautilus - just.

The do fit the manual Atik 5 position wheel I have though.
So I can't swap unfortunately, but I might have a quick go at imaging with them tonight if you don't mind?
Otherwise I'll pop them back in the post this afternoon.

-P

[JohnH]

Oh B!

By all means have a play with them. Send 'em back when you are done - and thanks for trying!

John

[Bassnut]

I had fouling with a CFW10 too, with a couple of filter brands, just. Grind the holders down a bit, won't take much. After that the Cfw10 was ultra reliable.. Don't screw the filters in too tight though, another lesson learnt, you'll never get them out.

[JohnH]

I assume this is done with the filters out of the holders did you use a grinding wheel or by hand? Not something I am very happy doing. Would rather use filters that fit still not in a rush t osplash another $450 though so best advice on how-to appreciated.

I have had issues with AL threads binding when done up too tight - not sure what the best solution is for filters - I have used PTFE tape on larger items.

[Bassnut]

Yes, with filters out of the cfw10. I used a grinding wheel and a file by hand, both were ok. I wasn't happy doing that either, another way is to make a spacer gasket for the back plate which I also did, but it was a pain to fit, so many screws for it to catch on.

I've heard many stories like this with many filter wheels, it's common unforch, there's no standard. Just be fanatically careful.

[Bassnut]

I think is temperature change that makes them bind. I used instant freeze on (only) the filter holder and they then unbound.

[JohnH]

Just had a thought - perhaps I can remount the filters in low profile holders - if I can find some cheap, plain, 1.25" coloured filters with suitable holders to canibalise...

[Poita]

I was thinking the same thing. You could pick up a cheap set from Andrews perhaps, I'll take a look at the filters tonight and see if it looks feasible.

[JohnH]

Any luck?

[Poita]

I'll post some pictures tonight, I think it may be doable.

[Poita]

Okay, it should work, there is an anodised ring that holds each colour in place, it is a standard thread as it is the same as the thread on the filter wheel/eyepiece, so any low profile filters would work as a donor set I would think.
I'm sure there are plenty of old unused filters out there for donors, or you could get a cheap set from Andrews ($15 each, you'd need to check the height) or similar. I'll see if I have any old ones I don't want in the cupboard.

[JohnH]

Hi Peter,

Can you return the filters please? I will see if I can re-mount them, if not I will try to sell them.

John

[Poita]

I'll pop them in the post today, please PM me your return address as I no longer have it.
Remounting them should not be an issue.

[JohnH]

Address PMd. Sorry for dealy have been out of contact for the last week or so.