Please, whatever you do, do NOT buy one of these

[David Smith]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/125-317mm-Sun-Optical-Filter-Astronomical-Telescope-AdapterTracking-/131413385671

Pay £4 and you can loose an eye. I've reported the item as dangerous so hopefully it will get removed soon.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Agreed, these are seriously dangerous. For just a few tenners you can get a safe alternative in the form of solar film.

[ghostdance]

"Viewing time from 30 seconds to 60 seconds, not long look, otherwise there is a risk of explosion lenses"

...and going blind in one or two seconds. Guaranteed.

Well done for reporting.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Always follow the warnings in the solar observations section: http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/149596-imagingobserving-the-sun-a-warning/

[DaveS]

Ye Gods!

Those things should be banned forthwith!

[John]

I've sent a message to the vendor including a link to this sobering video made by a member of this forum:

Hopefully the ad will be taken down soon.

[Astro_Baby]

Scary stuff......I hope they take the ad down. Well done for alerting ebay to this.

[Vince1963]

This is bad...It just shows you get what you pay for, Mind you i wouldn't want to pay that price with my sight.

[John]

Even a really expensive filter in that position would be a danger.

[Mr Spock]

Wow, I thought these were illegal. They certainly wouldn't meet any heath and safety regs.

Dangerous.

[bingevader]

Great video John, my first thought was, "I wonder how long one of those would last!?" 

[Dave In Vermont]

Wow, I thought these were illegal. They certainly wouldn't meet any heath and safety regs.

Dangerous.

It's coming from China. This same outfit has done this before, and refuse to take complaints. I'm trying to contact eBay, but it's not letting me report and item I haven't bought!

Idiots!

Dave

[Dave Lloyd]

They might change their tune when some blinded person sues them for a million quid.

[Dave Lloyd]

When you can set fire to the inside of an eyepiece during solar projection it doesn't bear thinking about the potential damage to an eye.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Agreed, a true menace, these filters.

[NickK]

It's coming from China. This same outfit has done this before, and refuse to take complaints. I'm trying to contact eBay, but it's not letting me report and item I haven't bought!

Idiots!

Dave

Easy way to solve this is to go to their legal department. Nothing makes a PR and legal bod move quicker than the story of blinded customers filing a lawsuit..

[NickK]

I've pinged  their press office.. so fingers crossed they'll investigate..

[LittleSkink]

any chance of folks sharing (or PMing) contact details ti get this taken down?

I cant report it to ebay as haven't bought either (doh!) it but willing to create some noise here if it prevents something horrendous happening

[ampleamp]

well for the sake of £4 i decided to buy one so that I can (and have) reported this to Ebay,

when it arrives I will send it on to Stephen and he can use it in public somewhere and continue to educate

[Dave In Vermont]

I found a work-around and reported these to eBay also. In no uncertain terms. And without buying one - which I thought of, but opted not to. I felt that buying one would be like giving a dog a puppy-treat for defecating on the carpet.

Clear Skies,

Dave

[Astronigel]

terrible terrible item ..Im sure we all prob know we can never trust a solar screen at the eyepiece,,, crazy idea... good to see ou put it in to be banned/deleted.

I mean... how does the eyepiece know how much light/heat it will be looking at...

[gooseholla]

These are as stupid and dangerous as a suggestion I read in an old astronomy book to only observe the sun in thick fog.

[ampleamp]

Dave in Vermont, hahahaha, yes there is a bit of that but circumventing ebay's reporting isn't that easy. At least this way one is removed from circulation as they will sell anyway and the education can continue, but I do take your point about reward [emoji106].

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

An even more cunning plan would be to buy one, let it shatter in an educational way and then demand a refund (and damages)

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

You can also contact the seller by asking a question. I sent them this "question"

As a long term solar observer, I know these items are very dangerous. They can shatter within seconds and cause lasting damage to the eyepiece used and (more worryingly) cause permanent damage to the eyes of the observer due to UV/IR exposure. Selling these could leave you open to lawsuits. The only safe use is behind a Herschel wedge as I see it (and then ONLY if they reject UV/IR)

Kind regards,

Michael Wilkinson