Help! A Little Unsure of Solar Telescope or Filter to Buy

[cshahar]

Hi Everyone:

Well in the last two days I have been vacillating regarding what solar telescope or filter to buy. I decided within an hour not to buy a Coronado scope (no offense intended to anyone) because for a few hundred dollars more Lunt has superior quality. I then was taken by the Lunt 60mm H-alpha Telescope BF1200 double stacked. It offers great views and potential images of the full disk of the sun and even half the disk. But since I want to eventually do imaging, I thought it would be fantastic to do some close-up views of the surface as well. So I looked at the Daystar Quantum filters, and the prices rise drastically out of my price range, particularly beyond 0.7 angstrom (I would also have to buy a quality refractor). Finally, I checked the Solarscope site, but Ken does not list any prices, and I have a feeling they are hefty.

So, I want to do some observing, but ultimately mostly imaging. I want sharp views / images of solar disc but also details of the surface. I guess I want my cake and want to eat it too. Any suggestions?

Thanks,
-Charles

My astronomy website:
http://www.lightfigures.com/DSS2/index.htm

[Pete Presland]

i have a Coronado PST and use it for visual and imaging. it is very capable of delvering good visual views and some very nice images. the Lunt 60mm H-alpha Telescope BF1200 double stacked, i would imagine is hugely more expensive. it depends on your budget,as new PST £600,  Lunt 60mm H-alpha Telescope BF1200 double stacked £2,000 +

[Montana]

Hi Charles, a very warm welcome :)

We need to gauge how big your budget is and how serious you want to get into this? Have you ever looked down an h alpha scope before and did you like the views? The reason for this is that most of us started small, practiced, then realised what we most wanted out of the scope. There is never a one size fits all and you will notice most of us have a range of different scope for different conditions. Like bunnygod suggests above I would go for a PST first. This will give great visual views and will allow you to get used to tuning etc and imaging. Once you feel you have got the most out of it and get aperture fever then you can either mod it onto a bigger refractor, this will give you great close up views and you can change it back to native for full disc views again if you require. If that is too advanced for you then you can think about getting a bigger integrated scope like a Lunt 60, or personally I think the Lunt 80 is the best for not giving you the aperture fever again later. However if you like taking  full discs the Lunts will be excellent, if you want high res of the surface maybe you should be thinking of a Daystar Quark, or the more expensive but better quality Solarspectrum. The Solarscopes are getting to be a good all rounder but not quite. I have most of the prices but they are from about 3 or 4 years ago but I don't think they will have changed much. The 100mm gives great full discs and not bad close ups, however if I were richer still, I would add a 0.2A Solarspectrum to my collection for high res. 

It all depends on what you want really this hobby ain't cheap, trying to short cut will always cost more in the long run.

Alexandra

[cshahar]

Alexandra, these are indeed words of wisdom and I appreciate them. I have been going by some of the solar images I have seen from the various equipment sources. Indeed, I need more direct experience visually. I will be going to my local astronomy shop to take a look at some options, and see how they perform visually. Everything you say makes perfect sense. Thank you!

-Charles