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Solarscope - amazing views of the sun

Tiny

By Tiny
in Member Equipment Reviews

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Tiny

Tiny

Posted
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We had PSTs and found them incredible value for view. We added a double stack piece and things got even better with prominances and loads of surface detail too.

Then we had a small legacy and wondered what to do with it.

It is said that one sun scope gets as much use as 2 or three night scopes and the sun - even when not doing much - is still varied enough to keep you staring as it changes almost by the minute. And change it does - often when others get bad weather and we get a gap we see an effect that never appears or seems to get noticed and remarked on even in sunny countries. It will be there for a few minutes and then disperse and is just ours.

Anyway we had always facied a better sun scope but they were expensive. Were they worth the money?. We plucked up the courage, counted our pennies and ordered a 60mm Solarscope SV60 - double stacked of course. It took some time for Ken to put the kit together as he is a perfectionist. He had to do the job twice as the delivery lot managed to smash the first attempt up badley enough to stop it working even single stacked. Back it went and we got replaced for free.

The second one arrived in working order and one look - even through the single stacked beast - showed what a near perfect sunscope could show. Even single stacked the scope showed a lot of surface detail and the image was equally clear across the whole field. In our imperfect atmosphere the best viewing images were produced if you kept the magnification at or below 60 though you could double that but then tended to lose brightness.

That was single stacked. Screwing in the double stack was a whole new ballgame. A less bright image but one with oudles of detail and clear across the whole of the eyepiece. After a few peeks we wanted to both look so blew the rest of the dosh on a 60mm double stack filter set to screw into the front of an old Pronto scope.

This time the deliverer got it to us OK and it all worked perfectly. The image was brighter than the SV60 scopes and so Ken was contacted and changed the eyepiece filter on the SV to give the same bright image as the SF which we prefered.

This means both setups work to produce near identical results and those results are truely amazing for the detail. Suddenly the sun becomes a ball rather than a flat surface with stuff happening on the surface and above it. The nearer the limb the more you get the 3D effect - the trick is to get the eye and brain to work out what you are seeing.

Like all scopes you have to learn the tricks - for example Ken sets and personally tests the settings and leaves them in the ideal spot so its best to mark that or just not touch the adjust on each etalon set at all. On double stack because of the way the two sets of etalons reflect images you get multi suns The one on the end of the line is the one you want and once the finder is set you get that one but its always worth remembering that just two sun widths to the right of the good image is another one not as good so if there is not a cloud in the sky and the sun you look at shows little detail are you on the right sun. (The PST does the same multi sun trick but as the finder is built in you tend to only ever see the good one with the next one a few sun widths out of sight.) In fact the Televue finder supplied with the solar scope works very well once set up and once centred you can peep through the eyepiece and stare at the great orange ball which is nicely centred.

Having spent a lot of time experimenting with loads of eyepiece combinations with the scopes we prefer a click-stop 8-24 zoom and actally have them permanently in position and focused even when the scopes are not in use. The scopes sit on Equ 3-2 mounts as these give a nice high positions for no bending viewing. As we carry the whole setup in and out through narrow doors we leave off the tray supplied with the mount so the legs can be folded in for travel and the pulled out for use or in the scope storage position. We have reversed certain screws in the mount so it is not an equitorial but an azimuth mount as this allows a nice high viewing position and the sun does not move very quickly across the eye piece - even at 60x. By doing all this we can have the scopes out a in use in a couple of minutes - a thing we always loved about the PST too!

Is the Solarscope worth the price. We think it is for us. Solarman uses a Solarscope filter for his images which must be another vote for the quality of Ken's product. Of course he is a very good imager too!! We are always going to image (or rather video) the sun but once we start looking... Normally on the rare sunny day it clouds over where we live in the late morning and our poor eyeballs (both) need the rest by then from just staring.

The bottom line of this is if you win the lottery (we didn't!) then if you want the ultimate quality view of the sun a few thousand invested in a Solarscope would be money well spent. Us old forgies recommend it. It works for us.

:eek:

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NickH

NickH

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Having reviewed the SV series and SF series, I don't want to say i told you all so...but I did...they are simply the best ones available (Daystar and Solar Spectrum are very good, but different type of product)..

As for anything else... a modded PST for the money is superb, and knocks everything else I have used/seen from (ahem)...into a cocked hat, only issue there is sweet spot, which the SF/SV's don't have. I do like the Coronado 60/90's and if you find one of them at a good price, it's worth a punt..

No need to review the L Brian... I think if it's CaK you're fine...anything else... the images say a thousand words already

At the SGL Imaging day I will be bringing my SV50/PST mod and possibly one or two more interesting bits for people to play with...

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hunterknox

hunterknox

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Fantastic review of what are simply the best HA filters.

I could offer an alternative review of the worst by L...

Still if as you say my numbers ever came up (but then i don,t do the

lottery) i know where i would be heading,the Isle of Man.

Solar B it would be useful to hear your experiences with Lunts. I know Solarscopes are a thing of beauty, and have seen what they can do for myself, but they're way out of my price range. I'm trying to decide between modding my PST or going for the Lunt and would like to be able to make an informed choice, which is hard to do if people only publish positive reviews.

Tiny - an excellent review. Glad you're pleased with it. I would imagine Ken could count the number of dissatisfied customers he's got on the fingers of no hands.

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brianb

brianb

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I'm trying to decide between modding my PST or going for the Lunt and would like to be able to make an informed choice, which is hard to do if people only publish positive reviews.

Well you'll not catch me posting a non-positive review of my Solarscope ... "I wish it was bigger" is the only criticism it's possible to make.

Lunt seem to have supply & QA issues, judging by the comments on other forums. Also my impression (from the visibility of disk details) is that a single stacked Solarscope has about the same bandwidth as a double stacked Lunt; factoring this in really cuts the extra expense down to size. And, by the time you add the (very desirable) pressure tuning module to the Lunt setup, the initial price tag is starting to look irrelevant ...

Modding a PST does not improve the bandwidth nor eliminate the "sweet spot". More aperture will get you more resolution, though.

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johninderby

johninderby

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Well you'll not catch me posting a non-positive review of my Solarscope ... "I wish it was bigger" is the only criticism it's possible to make.

Lunt seem to have supply & QA issues, judging by the comments on other forums. Also my impression (from the visibility of disk details) is that a single stacked Solarscope has about the same bandwidth as a double stacked Lunt; factoring this in really cuts the extra expense down to size. And, by the time you add the (very desirable) pressure tuning module to the Lunt setup, the initial price tag is starting to look irrelevant ...

Modding a PST does not improve the bandwidth nor eliminate the "sweet spot". More aperture will get you more resolution, though.

Having recently purchased a Lunt 60Ha B1200 I can give some initial impressions. Delivery was 10 days, quality control issues zero. This really is a beautifully put together scope with flawless fit and finish. and surprisingly heavy for it's size. Don't know if there were any quality control issues previously, but if there were they've certainly sorted them out now.

While it's of course far, far better than a PST, I found it was also much better than a PST with the 80mm mod, but using the PST box (the PST mod definitely needs a B1200). Great surface detail, but I'm most impressed by the amount of prom detail. It also doesn't seem to have any sweet spot. I had considered the pressure tuner but have now changed my mind as it works so well as it is. I get great surface and prom detail at the same tuning position so I don't need to re-tune during an observing session.

Sure the SolarScope is a great piece of kit (and who wouldn't want one), but at over three times the price it should be! You can pick up a new Lunt 60Ha B1200 for about £1,000.00 if you shop around.

John

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Solar B

Solar B

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Hunterknox best of luck with your choice (when you decide)

i do not think that anyone can advise as a solar filter upgrade

is an extremely difficult and expensive decision.

John i was waiting for you to chip in :( the QA issues with L... were not so much build as their Bandwidth and as you are aware perhaps

more than most you do indeed get .... ... ... ...

Having said that i did have one Lunt 50mm filter that did stack well

(which had been tinkered with) should have kept that one :)

Brian

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NickH

NickH

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PST80 with a BF10, the three Lunts I tried , were all blown away at high mag...full disc is not the mod's forte... my PST mod is 0.7A though...(4 etalons to get that one)

Solarscope took them all the pieces...SF70 in particular...but the images I hope I posted show what a PST mod can do..

I did like the Daystar that Rich Winter had though, that was superb

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rcwinter

rcwinter

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I just love Ken's kit, the Solarscopes he produces are superb bits of engineering,, The late Dell Woods had a saying that the making of these filters are more a "work of art than exact science", and I must say that there are some fine products out there.

The Sun is just so Dynamic its a joy to see it change from day to day, never a dull moment.

Just for interest, and Nick may be aware, last summer I made up a purpose built solar scope to run with ether my Daystar or Solarspectrum, I managed to find a len's made by the late and great optical engineer, David Sinden, which is based on a singlet plano convex design and is a ground ERF plate, creating a 4" f22.5 refractor which, was the only len's that David made of this design before he died, so its a little unique,,

I have nicknamed the scope "Little Frank" as its a bit of a monster, it had its first light at Kelling last summer and will be taken to Salisbury SSP this year, so anyone coming along is more than welcome to have a good long view through it, the views were just stunning, Linton G had a quick look between the clouds last summer.

If anyone is around the Southampton area on a nice sunny day you are always welcome to come around and have a go, a litle notice is all I need.

Best to all

Richard

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  • 1 month later...
NickH

NickH

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I just googled for LS100 Images...nothing impressed me at all...ditto LS60....

LS50's seem to give quite good results with the B1200

Try a google for PST mod images... or SF70 images... different ballgame

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  • 3 weeks later...
Takahashi

Takahashi

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Richard, that is one monster 'frac you have there, with what appears to be a Moonlite focuser... but is that some kind of modification to the right-side of the focuser, or part of a motor-focus?

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