Filter wheels

BrightStar Manual Filter Wheel (5 x 1.25") - £99.99

This high quality manual filter wheel allows you to switch between 5 x 1.25" filters without removing the camera. At the same time the filters are always safely stored and protected against dew. The filter wheel is suited to both imaging and visual use and is the most robust low profile filter wheel available at this price. The wheel has female T threads at both ends and is supplied with a 1.25" nosepiece, a lockable & rotatable male T thread adapter and 1.25" visual back.

BrightStar Manual Filter Wheel (4 x 2") - from £119

Modern Astronomy is proud to bring you a 2" filter wheel that doesn't break the bank! Priced from only £119 this filter wheel makes the transition to 2" filters less painful, without compromising quality. The wheel has female M48 threads at both ends and is supplied with a 2" nosepiece and M48 to T thread drop down adapter, for attachment to a scope. A male T thread adapter with locking ring is supplied for camera attachment. Holds 4 x 2" filters.

Now available in Red, Blue and Gold, as well as original Black.

Quantum Electronic Filter Wheel (7 x 1.25") - £299

A precision electronic filter wheel from BrightStar. BrightStar, or BS-Astro as they used to be known, have made filter wheels for Atik in the past and Orion USA nowadays.

Only 21mm thick and comes with T-Threads to attach to camera and scope. Just unscrew the face plate and insert filters. A supplied USB cable connects the wheel to your PC with no need for an external power supply. Fully ASCOM compatible so can be used with popular acquisition software such as MAXIM, Nebulosity and others. A manual control program is also supplied to change filters without using ASCOM.

Compares very favourably to the Starlight Xpress and Orion Nautilus wheels.

Quantum Electronic Filter Wheel (7 x 2") - £429

A new electronic wheel from BrightStar!

Available now, information to follow.

QHY 2" Electric Filter Wheel - £289

Stepper motor driven
Accepts 5 x 2" mounted or 5 x unmounted filters up to D=50.8mm
M54/0.75 thread for 35mm full size CCD
High precision linear sensor for initial position
Standard RS232 interface
Optical communication with QHY9 CCD camera

Only 18.5mm thick!

ASCOM support
12V DC input, Wheel has a 12V output for accessories like a focuser.
Only 370g, not including the interface

Starlight Xpress Filter Wheel - from £299

The USB filter wheel is a new product for 2009 and introduces many new features to a useful imaging accessory. It is unique in that it does not require a separate power supply when used with USB control - the high performance DC gearmotor runs entirely from the USB supply and consumes less than 100mA. It is also capable of operation from a serial input, or from a switched hand controller, both of which power the wheel from a small dry battery.

The wheel is light and slim, with an easy change system of thumbscrews to swap filter disks without tools. A variety of threaded adaptors is available - T thread, SCT thread and Takahashi 72mm thread at the moment. The adaptors can be swapped by using a small screwdriver to release three stainless screws and lifting off the adaptor flange. Each flange can be rotated to any angle before locking down, so that you can orient the wheel and camera into the optimum position.

The wheel is quiet in operation and the Hall-Effect 3 bit encoded positioning gives absolute filter locations (not serially sequential) so you can easily swap between any filters without accidentally losing the wheel position.

True-Technology Super Slim Filter Wheel - from £385

Universal serial filter wheel able to accept carousels for different filter sizes.