How do you Guy's make your Baader Solar filter?

[OXO]

Not to worry Jaffa we all have and had to learn these terms so don't feel bad i should of explained better in truth..

It's easy to do but with an 8" scope id be very carefull, it's a simple process of projecting the suns image onto a Card(ensure your finder scope is removed or well covered). Cover everything on the scope front dust caps/shield finder scope and sight your tube so its pointing at the sun so you have a rough alignment make sure your eyepiece/foccusser isnt pointing at you(best to have it so it's faceing the ground) remove all caps and covers and carefully with a large piece of thick card place it about 2 ft to 1 and a half feet away in front of the focusser.eyepiece holder(Dont insert an eyepiece whatever you do this will heat up and prob crack it). adjust your focusser until in focus if you find you cant focus then move the card away or closer to the scope. If using your 8" reflector you will only really need to move the card back and forth from the focusser to focus the other way is for refractors..

James

[Jaffa007]

James

Thanks a lot! 8)

James F. (Jaffa)

[The Warthog]

I have used a piece of Thousand Oaks solar filter in just the way you describe, successfully. It gives a nice, orange image of the sun.

I have also projected the image of the sun onto my notebook when I haven't had the solar film handy. This also works for a quick look.

[Kaptain Klevtsov]

James, I think I'm having a thick morning. If you have no EP in place, what effect does moving the focuser have, or did I miss something?

Captain Chaos

[OXO]

No i was

[Jaffa007]

OK, so no eyepiece? I take it that to focus you move the white board to focus the image? :scratch:

James F.

[daz]

Yep

[Jaffa007]

Crystal 8)

[Astroman]

You CAN use an EP to do "Eyepiece Projection" of the Sun onto cardboard or something more robust, but it's best to stop the scope down to something small, say 3", and don't leave the image visible for very long, no more than a minute or two at a time. This way, you DO use the focuser to bring the projected image to focus. Short amount of time, AND small aperture works.

As a side note, I've been doing experiments with EP projection for the spectrohelioscope I'm designing, using the uncoated solar scopes I have on hand. They work great so far, as I've projected a crystal clear solar image over a meter across with the 5" F/14 scope and a 25mm EP. Sadly, there isn't enough light throughput to then put the image on a diffraction grating and select an absorption line for observing. I'll need to coat the mirror, and that will introduce a whole new set of heat dissipation considerations. Why are these things never simple?

[OXO]

Using an Eyepiece isn't good pratice as this can take life off your eyepiece or eyepieces the coatings are exposed to heat for which there not designed to take. I would go for Solar Projection with an eyepiece imho.

[FLO]

Why are these things never simple?

If it were easy, everybody would be doing it

[The Warthog]

You CAN use an EP to do "Eyepiece Projection" of the Sun onto cardboard or something more robust, but it's best to stop the scope down to something small, say 3", and don't leave the image visible for very long, no more than a minute or two at a time. This way, you DO use the focuser to bring the projected image to focus. Short amount of time, AND small aperture works.

Exactly! I have used an aperture mask with a flap rigged up so I could close it off, and projected usually for less than half a minute at a time. I don't use my favorite ep for this job, either.

[Astroman]

Excellent system, WH. I hardly ever do EP projection any more, but when I did, I'd block it off while not actually viewing or sketching.