Rusted

Absolutely amazing! You are a bit of a genius to have constructed that lot!

"Warning!!! Never use the Solar wedge without the supplied narrowband filter and the polarizing filter. Otherwise irreparable eye damage can result!!! TS." I routinely use a Baader SC in my 2" Lacerta prism along with a single rotatable polarising filter and the fixed ND3. The polarising filter is really valuable for adjusting a pure white image to a comfortable level. Note that you only need a single polariser to dim against the polarising effect of the prism. I have a rotatable collar, but with a 1.25" TS you'd need to move the polariser to each new eyepiece. Then rotate the eyepiece for comfortable brightness before locking the thumb screws of the receptacle. Not such a chore in bright daylight compared with fiddling with filters in the dark. Do we know if the TS "narrowband" filter is green? Any owners present?

John, If you read the TS blurb they do state quite clearly that the narrowband filter must not be removed. It sounds as if they are relying on the unnamed narrowband filter to further reduce the risk. Genuine Baader SC filters are very pricey even in 1.25". This would seriously raise the retail price of the TS solar prism if provided as standard. Suggesting, perhaps, that this may not be a Baader SC filter but something similar. This matters to TS solar prism buyers. At least those with a chromatic phobia. So greater clarity is highly desirable. IMO.

I should have a lie down first. You'll be exhausted after clearing all that snow off the tube!

You can use the SAFELY FILTERED Sun [or the Moon] to align in SharpCap. The Sun would need an approved solar filter [Baader Foil?] covering the front of the telescope. I used the sun because I wanted to do the alignment in daylight. I have a very heavy mounting and use a length of scaffolding pole to turn my telescope mounting horizontally. The idea is to align the camera's axis against a vertical crosshair first. A must do! You move the camera's image up and down, parallel to the vertical line on the screen. You do this by rotating the camera in the eyepiece holder as you rock the telescope tube gently up and down. Then you can watch as the sun or moon drift up or down, or left and right, on the screen against the crosshairs. Any drifting has to be reduced by moving the entire mounting horizontally. Or by raising or lowering the Polar Axis of the mounting according to the rules provided in the video. I used SharpCap to enlarge [Zoom] the filtered sun's image to fill my laptop screen to make it easier to see any drifting. If you write down or print out the rules for changes to the mounting's orientation it will be easier than trying to remember them. It all sounds horribly complicated but is actually very easy if you just follow the rules in the video below.

I use a Lecerta 2" wedge with my 180mm [7"] f/12 and often have it tracking the sun for many hours at a time. [iStar R35 achromat.] The hot, light cone should fall just inside the baffles and pass straight though the deliberately oversized focuser drawtube. The baffles at the "hot end" of the light cone and focuser should be shielded by the earlier baffles even when the sun is slightly off axis. Only grazing incidence over a short arc should occur in the earlier baffles and block access to the later baffles. I ought to check this myself with the sun off axis. Though I know the baffles are thin aluminium, painted matt black, because I made them. My 150mm, 6" f/8 H-alpha scope suffers from refocused light reflected off the internal Baader D-ERF. This is a very hot conical beam focused on and refocused sharply by the objective itself. Again this instrument points at the sun all day long on most sunny days. The post D-ERF beam is still hot near focus. Which is a bit of a worry for the etalon group and later filters. I rely on more experienced solar observers having used even larger apertures with an internal Baader D-ERF and standard PST etalon/filtration.

Please don't post direct links to Forbes. Forbes will release no content unless I close my ad blockers and allow unspecified, possibly lifetime, trackers of my online behaviour and that of any contact I might have had, might have or might ever have. Information over which I have absolutely no control over their behaviour. Or that of any services, organisations or any foreign governments onto whom they might sell my information for profit.

Question: Is there anything empty, tubular and removable from the system? I've looked at the images online but can't see whether anything is easily removable. Can you take off the complete helical focuser and attach the diagonal directly to something else on the rear of the tuner? T2 thread size? You can get nice compression band, eyepiece receptacles to fit on that. Male and female via gender changing threaded rings. Some have focusing via bodily rotation. I have one on both my H-a and Vixen 90. Or you can use push-pull focusing on the camera nosepiece and grip it in the EP compression band. I've done all this at a push.

Vin, I just tried focusing my 120MC and my 174MM in the same telescope. Vixen 90/11, 1000mm focal length. Both cameras focus at exactly the same point of focuser travel. It seems that ZWO thought it through a made the relative sensor position the same for different cameras. Which seems obvious for those swapping between cameras not to have to search for focus each time. The sensor positions look very different in the bodies but are NOT changed relative to the 1.25" nosepiece. Adding a 2x WO Barlow NOSE to the nosepiece of the 120 moved focus outwards by 25mm. I was careful to seat the camera and Barlow right into the focuser to stop at the camera face. Next I removed the camera and Barlow NOSE and popped a 26mm Meade 4000 Plossl into the focuser. This needed 22mm of outward travel to reach focus on the same target. Which suggests you need to move your camera 22mm inwards from your eyepiece focal point too. Or, add a 2x Barlow NOSE to the camera nosepiece to achieve a very similar focus position to the eyepiece. +/- a couple of millimetres. I like the William Optics 2x Barlow NOSE because it is affordable and doubles as a GPC for binoviewers. Moreover, it has a 1.25" filter thread to fit on the camera nosepiece. Hope this helps?

You can use an internal Baader D-ERF. I used a 90mm half way down the tube on my 150/8. This has a similar reduction effect to an external, full aperture filter. BUT! It has some very serious downsides: The internal filter reflects and focuses a red hot, burning beam just outside the objective! Which is a very serious safety issue if there are other people or children about. I actually set fire to a forgotten, cardboard aperture stop ring I had fitted inside the dewshield. It warped between imaging sessions and drooped into the hot beam! FIRE! Internal filtration doesn't protect the whole instrument from heat like an external, full aperture filter. The layout may be thermally inferior due to internal tube currents. The red, focused beam coming from the empty focuser is still hot! Somewhere safe and perfectly stable has to be found for the internal D-ERF to sit. I used an original baffle for support inside my old CR150/8. Which meant removing the objective cell from the main tube for access. Then moving all the original baffles around to suit. Some baffles are welded or glued into the tube so wont move easily. Besides, you'll ruin any flocking or matt paint inside the tube. Doing any of this will instantly void any guarantee on a new instrument. I didn't care due to the age and "untidy" condition of my [very] secondhand refractor. I'd strongly recommend you dig deeper for a full aperture, external D-ERF filter.

My own impression of the Solar Continuum green filter is that it removes glare. It is much more comfortable to view with than dealing with a bright, white solar disk. I have always found the TS accessories to be of good quality and nicely finished. Their 1.25" star diagonal is rather posh. No doubt their solar prism will be rather posh too.

Hi Nigella, It seems I did not make myself clear enough. Absolutely no criticism was intended. I used a ASI120MC [colour] camera myself until very recently. The ZWO colour camera replaced a Neximage5 colour camera. My own feeling on the subject is that a colour camera will offer far more fun and many more instant rewards for a newcomer to solar imaging. The picture of the sun on the monitor is far more interesting in white light [or H-alpha] when fed by a colour camera. The colour camera also be used for lots of other things. Like watching wildlife, birds or for security. The human eye is far more comfortable with colour images and video. It still has a strong survival factor. The mono camera may be the weapon of choice for more advanced imagers but often has a much higher expenditure in accessories and far more demanding processing. It also has a steeper learning curve for the apprentice imager. They badly need all the self-encouragement they can get. Without facing increasingly steep technical hurdles and expense. Vin is a self-confessed newcomer to imaging. He already has an excellent camera. With no need to rush off for some half-promised improvement from Mono. This is only my personal opinion but the "beginner" doesn't really know the "whys" of "upgrading." Further expenditure is often unnecessary while getting a feel for the hobby and one's place in it. Almost every amateur has a collection of expensive "stuff" which rarely ever gets used. The same holds true for solar prisms versus far more affordable foil. The beginner thinks they MUST HAVE a prism because it is "more serious." The differences are subtle and not worth the expenditure for most casual solar observers and imagers. The view of the sun through a telescope fitted with solar foil is truly amazing to those who have never seen the sun that way before. The same holds true on the monitoring screen for imaging. I keep going back to cycling examples because it has so many parallels. Accessory obsessive behaviour is absolutely rife! Newcomers to cycling spend a fortune on accessories when all they really need is to cycle more. The same holds true for astronomy. Become proficient and experienced first. Then you will gain the most from [supposed] upgrades. The race to own the most toys is already won. By those who can easily afford the most toys! Never buy anything just to impress others! It doesn't make you a better astronomer. Nor a better cyclist.

Vin, Glad we're making progress. You don't need a ZWO extender. Nor a mini mono camera. Use what you have now and enjoy it. All the astro dealers have T2 x 20mm extenders. FLO has amazingly quick and helpful service in my own experience. Despite living on the Continent I now shop at FLO. They charge less for international postage than Germany. Which is only "next door" to Denmark but daylight robbers on postage. But you say you live in Gravely Blighted anyway. So burn that plastic and get imaging! Or words to that effect. Baader T2 Extension Tube | First Light Optics

Which solar prism? I bought the 2" Lacerta which as an odd 67° Brewster angled eyepiece. This works fine in winter. Or in the early mornings and evenings. But, it means you are looking upwards in summer when the sun is high. Looking upwards demands a higher tripod, or pier, unless you are going to sit on the ground. Most solar prisms are 90 degree. You may find this more comfortable at all times of the year. Some prisms have an exposed heat sink which gets very hot. This could burn curious, little fingers. Never leave a solar telescope unattended! While other prisms throw a hot beam of light out of the bottom. More rarely these days, but once commonplace. You don't want a hot beam on a telescope anywhere near children. It places them at the perfect height to look upwards into the blinding beam! Hopefully you will keep your prism for a very long time. They are rather too expensive to buy several, just to try. So choose your prism carefully.

Hi again Vin, Love the colourful description of your efforts! We seem to have established your have "orange peel." So your telescope is working as intended. They say when all else fails: Google it: The Lunt 50PT website and others talk about a visual B400 and an imaging B600 diagonal for the 50PT. The B400 is described as perfectly adequate for your size of telescope without any caveats about failing to produce an image on a camera. First Question: Which diagonal do you have? The websites all show lots of pretty pictures of the Sun in H-alpha. Presumably these were taken through a 50PT or it would be "a bit naughty." Next question: Have you tried your ASI178 with any other telescope? Does it produce a sharp image? I also found you had an echo in another SGL forum and in "another place" [CN] Third question: How did the 20mm spacer go? Are we having three times as much fun yet? BTW: You can safely ignore the CN comment about needing a mono camera.

One must always be prepared.

It would be enough to drive me to the Bortle were I still haunted by the hideous glow. Darkness only has true value when all false light has fled. For it doth burn the retinas of men and stir their souls to "mourning." Rage, rage against the coming of the light. Do not go gentle into that good night. Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay, Rage, rage against the coming of the light. Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight, And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way, Do not go gentle into that good night. Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay, Rage, rage against the coming of the light. And you, my father, there on the sad height, Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray. Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the coming of the light. [With all due apologies to Dylan Thomas]

"Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men's blood and probably themselves will not be realized. Make big plans; aim high in hope and work, remembering that a noble, logical diagram once recorded will never die, but long after we are gone be a living thing, asserting itself with ever-growing insistency."

Do I see a green observatory in your stars? They can be completely invisible until you are actually standing inside it.

I built my two story observatory at the age of 70 working entirely alone. Except for the time my diminutive wife helped me move 25 tons of gravel in a couple of days. She'd have your "garden" cleared in a couple of hours with her bare hands. Consider if raising your obs would improve the view. Sometimes it doesn't need much. Devon is a great place for exploring the coast and countryside.

Thanks Dave. Thin, high cloud is being a nuisance here. Cloud is forecast for after lunch. Here's the same image with a more extreme iMPPG makeover to bring out a 3D effect.

Hi, We have weak sunshine and 41F, this Sunday morning, with a cold wind. I have been struggling to process my SharpCap videos. The Registax processing box goes white during Align. AS!3 is pushing the processed image right out of the "box." Yet, no obvious problem with guiding in the videos despite the occasional gusts. Proms are modestly sized or dim this morning. A disturbed area in the central, southern hemisphere providing the most interest. I have been trying AS!3 and iMPPG to get some practice. Not with a great deal of success. See attached "splodge." 150/8 x 1.125GPC, D-ERF, PST mods, ASI174mm.

There is always the danger that those who struggle against the odds will come to the conclusion that they will never be able to compete and give up. Which is precisely why I post my solar "daubs" here. I openly laugh at my results with my post titles to encourage others to post. If that "bumbling idiot" is willing to publicly humiliate himself than why not "me too?" Which is why it is so vitally important to encourage others who do have the courage to post their efforts. Almost every hobby and pastime has its entry level investment in equipment. Beyond that the sky is often the limit. There are always those who can and will invest in "power" shortcuts to achieve admiration. Others are just naturals with special gifts. The vast majority lie midway in skill level, ability and investment but have no desire to win any races. It is the activity itself and pleasure of ownership of nice equipment which satisfies them. They may like a narrow speciality that appeals. Remember that there are tens thousands of amateurs around the globe with fine equipment but without the will or desire to compete. With astrophotography and imaging you do at least have the chance to compete on the software side. You can really develop your processing skills to compete at a level to satisfy your own investment in time and building competence. You can and must use "best practice" with your more limited equipment to have any chance of competing. Or you can make everything you possibly can within your skill level, tools and budget. A "slapdash" or DIY approach, like my own, will take far longer to rise through the ranks to achieve even modest success. Set your own sites carefully and know where you are going. Do not go into debt just to satisfy your cravings for recognition. The cyclist with the most expensive bike rarely wins. It is the thoughtful and [probably] OCD rider who trains and trains. They study and practice and exercise every aspect to hone their abilities, stamina and fitness well above the average. Their investment is in time and effort. Not spending huge sums on "trinkets."

Thanks Dave. It was extremely active to the SW of the "spot." Almost a "bubbles" effect. Or inverted "hollows?" I believe AR2752 has now been downgraded as inactive.