baader solar film on ST80

[paul101]

hi all

my son and i are thinking of getting some baader film and making a filter for the st80. my questions are, is this an ideal scope for this purpose? the second question is:- will it be better to make a filter the same size as the full 80mm diameter, or take of the small cap within the normal dust cap and make a filter for that?

hopefully this will be a good scope for looking at the sun, plus its a great grab and go.

thanks again for all your help on this forum

paul

[Merlin66]

yes, the ST80 is OK

Make the filter the full aperture, will give best performance. Don't forget the finder!

[paul101]

hi

thanks for the info, i was going to take the finder off the scope for safety, the sun is easy to find afterall.

cheers

paul

[damnut]

Hi Paul101,

As above with merlin, Sun is so close small apperture is ok!!. Make sure you test the filter EACH time before use by holding up to a decent light source. This will show up any small pinprick holes.

Only one set of MK1 eyeballs.. :-)

Cheers

[jgs001]

It's also worth considering putting some way of attaching the filter to the OTA... I've got a filter cell with thumb screws... I taped a length of string around the end of the dew shield, and make sure the screws tighten onto the tape behind the string... then give a gentle tug to make sure the filter cell is not gonna come loose/off.

[paul101]

i got the film today and made a nice secure structure so it fits snugly on the end of my st80, just need the clouds to ****** off so i can use it.

thanks for the advice all

paul