Gemineyes

And a final note before gazing again (windy/rainy the past few days since coating the tube, so all good to get those things finished. I decided before final use I'd retouch the prism and clean it. In situ, and I used special high grade lab lens paper I have to do so, both sides. I started with Zeiss lens wipes, on the lower section - EEW - may have been smoke residue from the recent fires in the area, not sure. But after two Zeiss wipe runs and then IPA (Isopropyl alcohol, 99%) on lens paper the base portion of the wedge plate came very clean. Then, same on both sides for the top business side of the prism; two (one for each side) left a significant residue, likely old from storage. Two careful hits with the lens paper with IPA, and clean as a whistle! So, now we are ready for the next sun day! Likely late tomorrow afternoon or Sunday - we have had T-storms coming through and lowering regional hazy smoke from the Jasper fires 400km away. Looking forward to running the final new/improved visual Brewster Wedge! Darren

Yes I did actually - Well, only 1 day. I posted today, but took these yesterday. I checked (left it in my garage at 33C overnight - total 30h actually) and no solvent smell at all. I am a chemist by trade/education and this paint is a quick dry type, but is not immune to solvent migration, so the extra time for curing is a good idea. However, the solvent is highly volatile petroleum based in this case. I chose it only since this is on the wedge EP side and I wanted extra temperature handling in case I ever use it on a larger scope - I am going on an astrofest with a few friends in two weeks, and one of them has a 10" scope. So if we use this on it, definitely want to use the better paint and I have a NIR block just in case. BTW great comments - I have used water-based acrylics to do general flat black recoating or repairs in the past so totally get your comment on that end. those DO take a bit more time to cure, due to water and the carrier co-solvent coming off. That IS an issue if not careful, as I remember many years ago getting a foggy film on one of my dielectrics after touching up something internally w/water-acrylics and not allowing it to air out enough. You get that "acryl smell" for a time before curing is complete on those. I was able to remove the residual film off the diagonal, but had I waited about 1-2 more days with that acrylic paint, I'd have been better off! 😵‍💫 So...UPDATE: I am happy to report the job is done! The 4mm M54-M48 ring fit the Baader OD3.0 on the front end and fit into the (now) re-blackened front of the tube. The depth was maybe... 0.1mm beyond the tube (?) Almost flush. Putting it into the wedge, fit like a glove with ~0.4mm of body thread to spare before being fully through the body of the wedge. Perfect fit! With the Baader M54a Q-L on it, I get 35mm+10mm = 45mm internal clearance (to the ring, which acts as an internal stop) and an extra 4mm for 49-50mm depth to the filter rear surface. If I use my 1.25"-2" Q-L on top that gives an extra 9mm. Basically, the new tube is 1.5mm shorter (actually 1mm after measuring) than the ZWO 16.5mm tube, but now, where a stop would be in the ZWO tube (actually a bit lower than that stop by ~1mm now), I have the OD3.0 in the diagonal below it. So, the wedge will now be able to be used with the OD3.0 for visual installed. No extra checks on the OD3.0 in the filter chain. It basically is like stock, but with better EP mount fittings on it now. I just never liked the screw mounts and rotator assembly that came on it. Would leave my EPs hanging off of it. This just works and looks better, IMO. This gives me a lot of extra room, for longer 1.25" EPs, several of my 2" zooms; I may also use my custom made (did it up in 2015 made it from a 37mm unmounted into a 48mm adapter cell) my He-D line 8nm filter w/90%T as well. That one is around 7mm deep, and with the polarizer on front, will allow me to use it also, just as I can when wishing to in the Baader Herschel Wedge. Shows plage and some details like a Ca-filter but it is yellow, obviously. Will be interesting to play later with that! Thanks for reading and following. CS and good sun-gazing! Darren

Ring is DONE! I will let it finish curing overnight, and then assemble the ND3 onto the wedge! The TREMCLAD high temperature BBQ Flat paint worked very well. I masked the tube where no paint was to go, and gave it one light hit, waited 10-15mins, and a second main coat. Left for 1h then removed mask to leave overnight. Came out very well: Darren

Okay! Process for fixing the ND3.0 filter in the wedge to begin! TS Optics M54 15mm extension ring arrived - the last one they had until mid-August - phew! Only issue with mine is it is UNcoated at the nose inside end. Likely due to a mistake or that they feel a focal reducer will be used there, so no issue. It likely is minor, but I just do not want any glints, or residual likely reflections at all when using this. I am a bit of a perfectionist at times and pretty picky when it comes to this sort of thing, so before mounting the filter in it, I will mask it off and hit the bare metal insides of the nose piece of this ring with BBQ matte paint. That will avoid ANY issues, and will be able to handle the heat internally without issue. The paint is rated to 550-600C, plenty for the scopes I am using. 😎 Two light paint coat hits, and then overnight dry/curing, then installing. I'll grab some shots of the task as I do it when the paint and masking arrives tomorrow. Also will (may as well!) touch up the prism topside with IPA and a Sensor cleaning swab. Then its mint and ready to go! I will shoot before and after shots of the job for those wanting it as an idea or reference, if okay with everyone here... 😊 Darren

I should have my TS Optics 15mm extension tube July 22. Crossing fingers! Meanwhile, I decided to take out my ST120 (don't laugh!) f/5 Achromat for a jaunt today (July 21) on Sol. Temps here in Edmonton were in the mid 30s C and a bit of smoke haze from N. Canadian forest fires have been plaguing us a bit lately. Today was pretty good - best day in the past 3-4 for sure. I did have some fun mid-morning, around 10:00 local (16:00UT), but the REAL fun came later in the day- the skies cleared a bit more, we had a nice light breeze, and WOW... I am still processing what I saw - esp. mid-disk: I have included a few shots of the setup today, again with TR3 and AZ5 head. What a fun combination for getting setup and observing - I live in a condo, so that is a nice way to go! 😎 Now - I KNOW this is NO Apo. But I have to say that my sample of this scope is very, VERY sharp optically. Maybe I got lucky with my sample (?)... Only major mod on the ST120 is to changeout the focuser from stock to a 2-speed TS Optics Monorail. It is a good focuser for this scope, but a tiny bit finicky on heavier loads, like the Lac-2s, but I can achieve perfect focus on any object, and use an APM 2" prism diagonal and some custom MV filtering for lunar/planetary and it does a dandy job, when I am not using one of my Apos. Also, ultrafine details on the sun with it seem routinely visible with no worries. It is not a fancy scope, but I think it is very nifty one when executed carefully with additions, and an incredibly fun scope to play with sometimes! Well, today was one of those days! As most folks know a non-Apo scope is a bit more susceptible to seeing conditions, and afternoon had arc second level stability. My setup was the ST120 f/5, with Lac-2s, and internally I had the ND3.0 (Baader), a Baader SA (semi-Apo) filter, stacked, and used my TS UWAN 13mm (46.1X) with a Celestron Linear 1.25" Polarizer, one of the Vixen types from pre-2000, which were made in Japan. To fit the UWAN barrel and polarizer on it, I had a 10mm extension tube to allow clearance in the 1.25" Click lock adapter (inside my 2" Click lock on the wedge), so I could rotate the EP for brightness and contrast tuning. I have included some Helioviewer images during the time I did my observations; from 23:00 to 00:20 UT was my observing time - had to cool off before inner here, and that heat was pretty demanding, and took lots of "shady breaks" as well... Nonetheless, it was worth every second at the EP! Referring to the images below, in the ST120 at 46X, once optimized for contrast (not at all difficult in the Lac-2s!), I was seeing (refer to full disk view first) VERY close to this level of detail in the EP. I am not embellishing! The views were THAT good. Only difference between the Helioviewer photo and my optical system during the best seeing was a very pale straw-yellow tint to the disk, with a very thin sliver of blue on the limb when not centered on that portion. It disappears if one centers their eye over the limb - gone. Some field curvature (expected) is present due to the short f-ratio, but it is easy to compensate for once you get used to it. Using any of my binocular telescopes or refractors with the Baader wedge in the past, I have used a technique I call "holding focus"; this is just that - sort of locking your eye focus deliberately while panning about a region. What it resembles is sort of a screen magnifier effect in a way - though not by adding bigger size to the view, but what I can only describe as an ultrafine "window" which moves with one's eye. It is hard to explain ideally and I hope some of our more seasoned observers know what I mean - it is a way to concentrate very fine details as you pan about. With most general targets, like the moon, and planets it is not as big a deal, as your eye grabs a detail by autofocusing again when going to another area of the object. But in solar continuum observing, some of the details are very subtle contrast and brightness variants, which to the less experienced, may go unnoticed in general. I hope that I do not sound like a wing-nut here! 😵‍💫 50+ years at the eyepiece has allowed me to develop, practice and verify this over the years. I am fortunate to have very good visual acuity still, being just shy of 60! Anyway I digress, sorry... Other regions throughout the disk had deep plage well into the disk - especially the eastern edge to the western edge through the lone group in the northern portion of the solar disk - it was VERY visible as an almost "Valles Marineris" type feature, with tendrils of plage and snaking directions as seen in the HMI SOD shot from helioviewer. It was hard to not see it this afternoon, to be honest. Lots of micropores popping up, and visible, many seen in the HV photos below. I estimate at least 1 arsec seeing this afternoon at my location, and estimate even at 46X, I was in the 1.5" regime for sure. The main two really nice treats were the big group in the central southern portion with the "Aleutian island" appearance - wow - so many spots!! I lost count several times. The other more interesting one for me was the lone central spot group, which I have zoomed in on for reference. Just off the bigger spot was a squared "horseshoe" feature that actually grew, darkened, and then changed shape slightly with extensions to it toward the upper portion of the big spot. It changed from 23:38-23:52UT - I could see changes over minutes - during 1 minute runs at the EP, followed by 1-2 minute breaks to absorb the detail in my eye-brain system, shading and micropores came and went, in real time. I have seen this before many times on other features, but this was a bit different: I THINK that the feature was a transition between hot solar photospheric plasma and cooler material, and I have included the 1700A channel off the SDO at the same time showing this where the edge was. It may have been a photospheric mini-flare, I am checking into this. Not sure. I added the scales as they offer interesting insight to detail size. Today during my session, Sol was 1888(.32)" across, and using its diameter, I calculate 737.3km/arcsec. So even if I'm at ~1.5" range most of the time today, that's ~1100km features (at 46x no less!) detectable on the sun. Holy Smokes. The scale can be divided by 40 for 1100km size range, or 20 for the more zoomed in one showing 22000km. That is why I included them. 😉 The long and short of it is that this was a VERY fun session... I was very tempted to up the magnification (probably should have!), but my experience when seeing this level of fine detail has taught me to not fix something not broken. Seeing on occasion for 10-30s at times went a bit turbulent, but only a bit - maybe a slight undulation of the limb edge once in a while. I think this Lac-2s can definitely hold its own against pretty much any good wedge - I am seeing just a bit deeper contrast in it I think, than the Baader. As mentioned before it is close. I think part of the benefit of having unipolarized views during smoke aerosol haze helped me DIG into the image a but more effectively, providing consistent details. I was tempted to change out the wedges, but man, I just could not tear myself away long enough to do that, especially in the heat! Oh! one final thing: even with the +35C temperatures, the backside of the heat baffle/radiator plate was maybe (?) a warm cup of coffee. I could easily hold my back side of my hand to it with no issues. Excellent heat control, IMO. Clear Skies, thanks for reading, and I hope that you all have excellent solar views! Darren

OH! BTW gang - I'll post revised photos of my fully complete moded wedge once that extension tube arrives.

Hi Paz! thanks for the kind comments, and I have to second that build comment! I think that the Lacerta units are VERY well made! I have the older (Mark I - I think?) Baader wedge - similar optically with the 23 degree prism. Mine has the older baffle set up where the rear of the wedge's window waste heat hits a flat black aluminum baffle, and the wedge has a rear opening to allow radiative cooling for the unit. It gets warm as well, but only a bit, even when using it with my 152mm RFT scope. My Lac-2 prism/window housing is pretty much sealed insofar as bug and flies are concerned. I would think the heat would repel them anyway 😉 From what I see with mine, the Brewster Window looks to be around maybe 10-12mm thick, and has a housing around it to hold the window at the correct angle. there ARE some set screws which likely allow one to manually adjust the angle over a small range, but mine is fine, so I won't be doing anything with it! I suppose a small ant, or something like it, COULD crawl into the scope via the underside, but I'd have had this happen years ago on the Baader MK I Wedge, and never have seen this yet. The opening in the Lac-2s is larger, but mine seems fine - I MAY look into making a cover as I think it would be nice to have something to cover it for general protection when not using it.... I usually lay it on a clean MF cloth for now, but I just got it. Lacerta should have included a case with the unit - APM does on their wedge (have that too), and it would have been nice. Do you know of a way to contact Lacerta? I tried the website email links (hate social media platforms for contacting!) and both bounce back as undeliverable - both Linz and Vienna. Very odd. I had a few technical queries I was curious about mostly, and no joy so far. If you know whether they filter outside of the EU, that would explain it. Only issue so far with them is the lack of contacting options - I know that I could phone, but I don't have a plan to Europe, and my cell would cost lots! And, if the answering person was non-English speaking, even worse. _________________________________ Getting back to the techno-chat portion, I was amazed how well this wedge worked the past two days with upper level forest fire smoke haze we just got plagued with form fires in NE British Columbia and Northern Alberta and Saskatchewan. WOW - almost like a sunset though haze, but overhead! I could still make out significant plage and granulation details, even in my ST120 I tried it out on today - I was using my 90mm Apo, but wanted to give this a go with the fast f/5 achromat! Did superbly, BTW. I am running the ST120 with a TS Optics focuser, which gives me more than the previous stock focuser's in-focus distance (good for wedges and so on! lol), and on the wedge, I had several EPs in use, but mainly my Baader Mk III Zoom with the following configuration: Wedge>>ND3->Polarizer->SA filter->Zoom EP. The EP had the filters stacked on it, and my extension tube had JUST enough to allow this. Once my TS Optics 15mm Tube comes in tomorrow (Sunday or Monday, TBD), I'll be putting the ND3.0 on it and only need 1-2 filters dep. on scope, so way more internal clearance for many EPs and visual configurations . So even with heavy haze aloft, the Achromat was able to pull in (with setting the brightness optimally) pretty deep plage to the eastern limb edge into ~35%-40% in the disk center. Like a sort of "river of plage". NICE! While the SA (semi-Apo) filter does not fully curtail CA in the ST120 on solar, it is pretty good - leaves a pale "straw" color to Sol, much less yellow than those glass filters some use, and looks nice, actually - I do have some filtering which cuts CA better and balances the tint on Sol to pretty neutral, but I can't fit that stack in until I finish the mods. Even so, today with the haze, it'd have had a tint regardless of the scope used; CA is a thin medium-faint blue ring off axis and zero tint on, with a very pale yellow inside disk off axis (eye placement oblique to view). The SA filter also has integrated NIR cut profile, to at least 2um and should be fine in the wedge for this and my 152 f/5.9RFT on solar. My other Apos are all 4.1" or smaller, so not needed there, anyway. CS and good views! Darren

I have several wedges, the most recent one as of last week is the new Lacerta 2s Brewster angle version. Just got it, as mentioned above. I'm going to add hopefully some useful physics and math - However, the math is pretty easy. It is easiest to use OD (optical density) addition and subtraction for these types of calculations as they are logarithmic: OD = -log(T); where OD is the optical density, and T is the transmission. So, if I have 10% T, or 0.10 T, I have OD=1.0, and the larger the OD, the dimmer the image. Ideally, one should be in the OD5.0 regime for safe visual use. One can employ an additional ND filter after the ND3.0 (in leu of a polarizer) to reach safe levels, and I'll discuss this later below. There are some significant differences between a "standard" Herschel Wedge and the Lactera Brewster Window type of solar filter. We will start by discussing the differences between the way these two reflect light: https://rmico.com/re...-light-tutorial Has an excellent succinct coverage of this topic. Especially the reflection/polarization "depth"; I include the picture of the graph here for illustration (will be relevant in a moment): As can be seen in this graphs, we get a noticeable difference in the S-polarization off the surface. at 45 degrees, there is a difference as well, but only PARTIALLY - thus when using a polarizing filter, we cannot totally cross-polarize to nearly null out the light. this is why standard (Baader/Lunt/APM etc.) Herschel wedges have a narrower range of brightness control, and also why they have a lower reflective transmission (OD ~1.35-1.40, or 4.5% approx.) off the wedge's surface. (not including the OD3.0 post-filter) A Brewster Wedge or plate, being at the Brewster angle, effectively nulls out one polarization, and reflects the other - also, at this angle, the S-pol light is reflected better, and hence why a Brewster Solar wedge (like the Lacerta units) pass closer to 8.5%, or OD ~1.07. (again, sans ND3.0 post-filter). Given the above, this explains why the Lacerta Brewster Wedge has a much wider brightness range; one can go from VERY bright (WAY too much/unsafe for visual!!) to below what might be available for a standard Herschel Wedge system. Okay - now... can one just employ a ND filter after the Wedge/Plate + ND3.0? Absolutely! so long as you keep in mind you want to be in the OD ~4.9-5.5 range, all safe and good. (so, this is approximately achieved in a Herschel wedge (OD~4.3 to 4.4 with post filter) using a ND0.6 (25%T filter, like a standard one) or a ND0.9 will give in the OD5.3 regime. For a Lacerta Brewster Wedge (OD~4.07), you need a ND0.9 (12.5% T) minimum to be in the regime closest to, say a Baader AS film level for visual. BTW, a polarizing filter (single) gives an ND(effective) of 0.35, or ~45%T. Stacked in line for max transmission, two are about ND0.4, or 39% (approx.). One could co-rotate a preset dual polarizing filter in lieu of a single if one wished to use that on a Wedge, but I find I prefer a single myself. One final note: most currently available polarizers are circular/elliptically polarized units; in the "old days", say pre-2000 for sure, polarizers were exclusively linear. In general, I prefer LINEAR polarizers with wedges since the polarity passing is mostly linear, esp. on a Lacerta Brewster Wedge. I get better nulling depth and control without any chromatic shifts (I have seen some of this when using other filters, also in-line, like a Baader SA filter on an achromat with a wedge) nearer the nulling minima, with circular polarizing filter models. (acting like wave-plates) I also find that using polarizers in general with both wedges and AS-film equipped scopes shows better detail overall - in the wedge case it is both a brightness/contrast optimization for the conditions, and some solar magnetic details, being polarized magnetically, also polarize light coming off the continuum - same also in the AS-film case. In both cases these cut light haze MUCH better, too. Anyway, I hope that this addition to the topic was useful and informative. More set up and testing work to be done on the Lacerta, as I just got it. I will be adding a ZWO M54 (2mm M54-M48 adapter ring for internal ND3.0 mounting); essentially an adapter ring for the OD3.0 filter internally, and I have currently installed a M54i Baader click lock to be used in lieu of the stock LAC-2s setup, with a TS Optics 15mm M54 extension tube w/51mm clear aperture for 2" FILTER CLEARANCE. I'll post some info later on this here and in another separate post shortly once I get the finalized configured system up and running next week. CS, and safe solar! Darren

Okay: Update.... I have added a TS Optics M54 (15mm) extension tube, which has an open aperture of 51mm. This allows with my Baader Clicklock (M54i like Victor's) to have extra clearance in the Wedge housing. Allows up to 3 for sure, and possibly 4 x2" stacked filters. Not that I will do THAT, but it is possible. I will be using the ND3.0->2"Polarizer->2" Baader SA for my ST120 and TSO 152RFT (Achromats), and the ND3.0->2"Polarizer in my Apos. I can opt for using my 8nm 34mm D-line filter in line as it is a bit thicker, but have not checked fit yet on that (8mm thick housing) - gives an image similar to Ca-K, but Yellow (in D-line Na/He light) Here's my first run on Sol using only the Baader M54 on it... worked amazingly well before I got the extra kit for it! Visual setup was a Stellarvue SV90BVT f/7 APO, using the Lacerta Brewster Wedge, Baader ND3.0+Hoya L-Pol filter, with a TS Optics UWAN 13mm EP (48.5X): I am thinking that this solar continuum system works on par, or IMO slightly better (by a hair) than my Baader Herschel Wedge. VERY close, but I just feel that it is has a bit more contrast - certainly both do, but the Plage and depth of granulation seems just a bit more prominent. Just when I thought I'd hit a wall, this unit comes along! LOL. Darren

I wish to thank Victor for his SUPER idea with the Baader M54i click lock! I recently got a Lacerta LAC-2s, and first tests were SUPERB!! I have a ZWO M54 (12.5mm extra spacing) and M54-M48 insert ring coming later in the week. This will effectively give me more spacing for use in the wedge. I can then rotate the collar to tune brightness as well. I plan to use my spare Baader 2" ND3.0 for now but may remove the Lacerta ND3.0 out of the housing and put into a new empty cell. I find the Lac2S has more travel for me right now, compared to the Baader Wedge I have also, so I can easily accommodate 12.5-15mm and still have more in-focus travel in most of my scopes. NICE. See below why, but sometimes I stack an additional filter with achromats. My scope test was with my Stellarvue 90mm BVT APO (f/7, 630mm f.l.) - mounted on a Skywatcher AZ5 on a Oberwerk TR3 Maple tripod - SUPER setup for general solar/lunar! Anyway, I was using my Baader wedge this past weekend, at about the same time, and just got the LAC-2s yesterday. It was overcast until lunchtime, and then wow! What a view! I used my insert in the C-L adapter with an APM 15mm UFF (65 degree, 42X in this scope)... Granulation and plage REALLY pop in the Brewster wedge! I think - more work to do, but think - there's more detail in the Lac2s versus the Baader due to the more complete polarization. WOW! Just awesome. I plan to use this with several APOs (80/90/TMB105), and my ST120 (which does amazingly well with a SA filter behind the polarizer in the wedges I have) and my TSO 152RFT, which also is AMAZING on Sol, at least in the Baader wedge. (with exceedingly low chromatic levels - read: faint sliver of blue/mauve, off axis, and nearly none on-axis). More to come! Darren H Edmonton, AB Canada

I am arriving pretty late to this party! I just got a TS152 RFT for myself as a Christmas gift, and am having a ball with this slick refractor! I have been playing with this quite a bit until just after new years, our weather here in NW Central Canada went south with an arctic front plaguing us for now... will do some more shortly. 50+ years at the eyepiece, and have both APO and achromats. About 18-20 years ago, when the 80-100mm, f/6-f/9 achromats were much more common, I designed a novel (at the time, and IMO still a superior solution) filter for CA control. What makes this one unique is its method of color balancing. While Baader didn't do a bad job, theirs still either heavily tint an image, or kill WAY too much color information for planetary use. IMO. I designed one for Stellarvue, and they offered it as their XLCR-1 filter. It does a VERY good job as a CA filter, though more color-laden scopes still need a bit more to trim the residual, and this varies with scope design, observer tolerance, etc. In the RFT, the semi-Apo Baader is not bad, but due to the combined curve, it "flattens" the subtle tints on planets like Jupiter. The Fringe Killer gets the CA out, but at the cost of intensity of image. So, as expected, always a tradeoff. My 2", SV-prototype XLCR I still have, and used it on this scope (and my ST120 f/5, which also works well with it). It did need a touch more, to trim the mauve on the deep red CA side, so I added the Astronomik L-3 (and also tried with the Baader UV/IR-CMOS cut) both pass ~420-680nm, I think my samples of the Baader is closer to 670-675nm red cutoff, and so is the L-3. This is needed as the SV curve sloped past 700nm, cutting around 720nm. Without the red cut, more mauve is present. I will post some shots of this combination, and my scope with CW rail, on the SV-M2C mount on TR3 tripod with Berlebach 3kg CW system shortly. I will also post another "RFT" type potential filter system I am playing with on this scope for wider field sky sweeps: It is an Optlong L-Pro with Baader FK filter. Passes all relevant critical bands: H-beta, O-III, SWAN C2 cometary, H-a, and is pretty well color balanced with just a hint of pale bluish hue. But also does pretty well (better than Semi-APO) on Jupiter and Saturn, though the XCLR filter allows more peach tint of Saturn to show. The FK/L_Pro combination is a bit more useful than the SA filter, IMO, as the curves of the L-Pro are in slightly different areas and allow more orange color information to be retained. Also, passing the green more offers some advantages also. Still, some work to be done. I am also trying a Hoya-Y1 (Y44 equivalent) I got on eBay and has yet to arrive (winter storms here anyway so no loss yet! lol), and with the L-Pro may also be interesting to play with. Stay tuned on that. SCOPE Setup this "Boxing week" after Christmas photos attached. Also note the L-PRO curve: with the FK killing to ~455nm, and a bit off the red end, this acts as a good color-balanced stack for general DSO/cometary! Finally: IF I can get my SV XCLR curve to be augmented for more colorful scopes, would a version available to the general astronomy populous with achromats be of interest? If it took say 95% CA out and color balanced for planetary, but did not kill too much light (my current version is like a ND0.1 filter, or 78-79%T). Something worth having? CS all and happy 2024! Darren

I've been doing solar observing (continuum) for over 30 years. While it has become pretty much "routine", I ALWAYS remember that this is a risky endeavor, and remember safety first!!! Whatever the kit I use, I always make sure everything is a "go" before deployment. I use routinely (depending upon instrument) either Baader AS film-equipped full aperture solar filters, or when employing refractors, my Wedges. For those that have not experienced the sun in a 120mm SD binocular, it is truly stunning, I assure you! I almost always also employ a polarizing filter on the rear end of the AS film filters on the eyepiece side. I find granulation and subtle plage structures show much more vividly using these. I have an Intes Wedge (2"), a Baader (2" Vis/Photo vintage ~2004) wedge, and an APM 2" Wedge. I use these on my Stellarvue/TMB 105 APO, my SV90T APO, and SV80ED (80mm f/7 ED doublet). I also have had a hoot playing with my Skywatcher ST120 (120mm f/5 Fraunhofer doublet achromat). While the APOs show a bit more detail, that ST120 is NO slouch! When used with my Baader FK filter (FK=fringe killer) and sometimes my IDAS P2 filter (really color balances the image!) or my Stellarvue Chroma filter (MV2, which I designed for Vic Maris), the Achromat does pretty well indeed! Whether wedge or Baader AS-equipped, I find I personally prefer using NO 538nm green filter, and prefer the whitish image more. I also have employed a 589nm/10nm FWHM filter I procured and mounted in a custom filter cell, and use it sometimes in with the polarizer in the wedge, or aft of the film. The image is yellow, but some of the Na D-lines show in this filter, and it shows details more like a Ca-K filter - plage really stands out in that filter! Anyway, so long as you CHECK a front filter before aiming Sol-ward, you will be fine. Just keep little ones with sticks in their hands away from the instrument! Is one better than the other? Well, the wedge should edge out by a bit the Baader AS film, but with proper mounting and care in fitting the front filter, you can get very close - the big plus with the wedge is being able to tune the brightness with magnification. That is a huge advantage. Another way to achieve this with a Baader AS filter is to employ the ND3.8 photo film and use variable polarizers, or a ND4 (25%T) filter and a polarizer, or a 12.5%T (ND8) neutral filter to achieve the appropriate image brightness. By using crossed variable polarizers, one can also tune image brightness. Is a wedge worth it? IMO, yes, but make sure that your optics are sort of "worthy" of the investment. A poorly make refractor using a wedge is not getting the full advantage it should. One can get pretty close using a properly made/crafted (not cardboard or elastic bands!!!) filter system which minimizes strain on the film mount system. Then the Baader AS film shows it capabilities. There are several AS film filters that do this. APM sells Solar EMC filters, which are superbly made! The Kendrick classic style is very nice, but sometimes they get a dud produced. Baader also has their ASTF line of filters which are also superb. I witnessed this past month (October 14, 2023) from Edmonton AB Canada the solar eclipse - it was partial there, not annular like in the continental US. However, using a APM 120-45SD binocular telescope at 47X using twin 14mm ES82s and polarizers (the 120s were equipped with my Solar EMC 120mm binocular filters), the views were actually surreal. We have been eclipse "poor" in North America in general and this was the first eclipse I have viewed in a bino-telescope. Well, I can tell you that the experience was superb! 3D perception of the moon "over" the sun was possible, as was pulling out fine limb edge details of the moon during the event (along with the spots, granulation, plage, etc.)!! A LOT of fun. My favorite solar setup I use and used during the Eclipse in October: APM 120mm, 45-degree SD APO binos with 14mm ES82s/polarizers: Here is my most recent acquisition, my APM Wedge (mounted on my SV90T APO - 90mm f/7 LZOS triplet - using my Skywatcher AZ5 on an Oberwerk TR3 maple tripod and mini-pier): For either, Wedge or AS Film, I highly recommend using the best filtering you can get: Baader, B+W, APM, and Hoya are all superb choices. (for polarizers, and first two for ND3 (0.1%T) filters. Clear skies and loads of sunpots! Darren

Great reports guys! I just recently got the AZ5 for my Manfrotto 028 mount. The cranking column easily handles this load (tested before on other heads). I find that I get some backlash with the mount... When in standard lower configuration with my SW120 Star Traveler (which I primarily got it for). I can also mount this with the 8" extension on my wooden Oberwerk tripod, which I may use it with eventually most of the time, but the MF028 is just SO stable, convenient and light it is hard to beat. Very stable too! I Tried the scope in the upper position but the tube cannot come to near zenith with the 120. Only about 70 degrees and then I risk hitting my focus knobs. So I will likely HAVE to run on the lower position for the head. Motion is smooth and I note some backlash in both axes, but mainly the Az axis. Is this at all adjustable? I just got this so it has some workout to be had before I can fully evaluate it, but it is a very nice utility head for quick viewing and general field observing. the FLO folks were GREAT! Shipped and packed VERY quickly and excellent communication during transit and POP as well. I really enjoy these folks - a great vendor to buy from. Anyway Clear skies all! More to come later as I finish evaluating it. Darren

I know that I am coming in a bit late here on this topic One Option is a binotelescope and use a pair or UWA eyepieces. The pricetag will be significant, dep. on budget and available resources in the near future. The Vixen models are pretty nice from what I understand, though the lower priced models are NOT sealed against moisture incursion. At least on the outside prism side. I got a pair of APM 82mm SD APO 45 degree binos around 20 months ago and that is a while lot of fun, I must say! Not inexpensive either, esp. when adding twin EPs to the mix. Using a set of ES82 8.5mm EPs, Jupiter looks pretty nice at 55x. My favorite is the ES82 14mm pair of EPs. They give me ~2.5 degrees at 33.5x - dig deep, and nothing but stars across the FOV!!! Wonderful experience! I have the 25x100ED APMs and love them too, but an earlier comment is correct, in order to use this kind of heavier instrument effectively, you need either a good parallelogram and tripod, or a good solid cradle or fork mount on a good tripod. Does limit super quick setups, but worth it when skies are really nice. I used to leave the 25x100IFs on my tripod with an eLLe single fork mount, and was able to grab it in a flash to do backyard fun. Having said ALL that, as with anything optical, the larger the magnification, the narrower the true field. Immersive effects can be had by larger apparent fields of the oculars, but there is a trade off optically (and physically w/our brain) that becomes counter productive in a way: I find 60-70 AFOV to be the sweet spot for me, but do enjoy the 82 and even on occasion 100 degree apparent fields. Realistically though, our eyes have best resolution in the +/- 30 or so degree range, and our retinal cone density drops off significantly beyond that. We only see peripherally and most sensitive to motion way beyond that range. So I guess the big question for those wanting MAX fields is WHY? To have an explosion of stars in the view almost overwhelming the observer? Or is it for the ability to see lots and extended objects more easily in an optical system? Just throwing that out there... CS all - FYI, Usually widest TRUE fields I have enjoyed are in the 8-9 true field range with smaller wide angle binos - tons of fun! Satellites and meteors crossing all over... lots of enjoyment, esp. in a darker site. GeminEyes (Darren)

I recently got a Sky-Watcher 120mm f/5 for rich field observing also. I paired it with a TS Optics 2" Crayford, and an APM erecting prism diagonal. So far, in two brief checks, the APM prism is doing a bang up job. We have had very heavy smoke/haze lately plus moonglow recently - I used a 24mm TV Panoptic and star images at near the lower end of the useful magnification range are very nice. very small diffraction spikes, and field is in focus, with a touch of curvature, nearer the outer 8-10% or so of the field, which is compensated by observing slightly off axis and then they are crisp to maybe the last 1% or so. Totally so far very happy. I will do more testing but the combination is a winner and chroma on this doublet achromat seems so far to be very well controlled using this prism. I currently plan to use it mostly on my Porta II head on a Manfrotto 028 tripod - Excellent field-ready setup! Darren