LDW1

My points only, first the difference in cost between a wedge at $400+ C and a an excellent solar film filter at $100-$150 C is a differential that many won't bear, while still getting a great view ie the lack of need to. I upgraded to a 1.25" / 2" wedge only because I wanted to and didn't mind spending. Secondly I have never heard but would like to hear how many have, unfortunately, had a front filter fall off with the ensuing eye damage or maybe it is just a theoretical talk that it could happen ?? Nothing wrong with differences of opinion but ' the proof is in the pudding ' as it should be. I don't condem either methods having been there with both and there are probably thousands of excellent solar viewers, very experienced solar viewers out there that are more than happy with the film, its quite obvious. Lets hear of some actual happenings !

A wedge, my wedge is no safer, it just gives better performance but from my experience not much more. If a Baader solar film filter gets blown / knocked off its because it was sloppily instalted by a sloppy owner / operator, there is no other reason.

Used properly the Baader Film is as good, as safe as they get. Baader is considered the industry standard when it comes to WL the same as Garmin is with the GPS and Lowrance is with Sonars.

I had a couple of different sized Baader Solar Film filters that attached to the front of my refractors and velcroed a couple of solar finders to the tube. I ended up with a 2" Altair Astro solar wedge with the built in ND filter and sun finder. But the Baader was almost as good for a lot less price. I would definitely recommend the Baader filter.

But they seem to appear at the same time as the northern lites, most pictures of them show both. Whether they are directly related will have to be looked into a bit.

It was plain luck, it all happened pretty fast with a single 13 second exposure off my dock. They were pretty nice that nite.

Did you have a look at some of the online photos on various astro / aurora sites ? They are beautiful ! And it is spealt with all capitals.

Google it and view some of the online photos, its pretty interesting. Maybe a bit of a challenge ?

The main reason I started this post is to draw attention to these unique phenomena and who might have been lucky enough to have seen them.

Down here in my lower latitude of 46° in Canada, using my $99 Kodak point & shoot camera doing some short exposure ap I managed to catch a small, short Steve which I had never heard of before as the lights are pretty infrequent this far south. But this nite they were pretty bright and expansive. Up in the farther northern latitudes where they are common do the fortunate viewers / ap'ers of those skies see those wonderful Steve's quite often, are they quite common ?

My AZ5 with my 10lb 102mm refractor, I also use my 13lb NP101 and 20lb 127mm refractors on it as well. Solid as a rock, only at very high powers is there some shake time but not for long. That mount weighs about 21-22 lbs. I recommend it to anyone and everyone !

My latest 90mm, f5.5 acquisition, great views, pinpoint stars.

My 80mm and my new 90mm.

As I mentioned, they will both get their chance, side by side. I just received the 90mm yesterday am. Just waiting for a lack of clear skies in the last 2-3 months. By the way they are both achros.

I replaced my 80mm, f6 refractor with a 90mm, f5.5 refractor because the price was right and its my style to try new gear, its my love in everything I do. From a viewing experience will I see much difference between 80mm-90mm ? The math indicates I may not but the build quality, the lens tinting may say otherwise. Maybe my Morpheus eps will show a difference ? My 3 zooms are getting restless, lol. They will both get their chance ! PS. I will post pics asap.

One more question, when this damage occurs is there a noticeable degradation in the views or is a lot of it just cosmetic, its appearance ?

To all those who had the problem, what was the average length of time in months or years that the problem started to show up ? That way I can start to monitor mine, my scope is not yet a year old.

I haven't had any issues with mine yet. If you belong to CN in north america post your concerns in the solar forum, there are a huge number of experts on it that can probably address your concerns. Its just another great source of info, of help in conjunction with this site.

80mm, f3.8 with 31.5mm, 92° widefield focusable ep, on one of my Porta II's.

I will be using a half dozen Morpheus and a 24mm Panoptic with the cc / scope. And 3 Svbony zooms as a test.

In Canada thats how we spell Comma (Coma), lol. Just kidding ! PS. Punctuation ?

Is it really worth buying a Comma Corrector for my f4 reflector for strictly visual observing ? Hopefully others will get their similar thoughts answered.

Sorry I used the wrong words for sure, I meant the lower priced, they were still great eps but at that time I was building up my 2" collection. That was at least 10 yrs. ago and a lot of eyepieces have passed my eyes, I will have to think of what they were.

Luckily I am not a real lunar watcher but I will give it a look, with each scope.

I will probably try them / it with my 80mm, f6, 127mm, f6.6 and maybe my 80mm, f11.4 and of course my NP101, f5.4. And maybe a couple of others.