PLEASE READ THIS POST!!!!! FRIED CAMERA!!

[Glen]

Doh! good to see it was just the camera Roger, like many have said it can be replaced.

Was it on live view or just 'ready'. I see you mention the sensor has been affected and was thinking if it could be just a new floppy bit (not the technical name for it) that need replacement. Or is it bricked

Looking at it the welded bit would cause the mechanism to fail as you said, might be worth getting the scalpel out and taking it off?

[Bizibilder]

The camera wasn't even switched on. I'm hoping the damage is solely to the mirror mechanism - we shall see.

[Islander]

If the camera wasn't on then the sensor wouldn't have been exposed at the time. As long as the plastic hasn't melted onto the shutter blades, you may be able to recover something from it by removing the mirror itself and just using it as an astro camera.

If it's on the shutter blades then you might be able to remove it without damaging them but it'll need a great deal of care.

[steelfixer]

Roger what camera is it.

I have a Canon 350 d here that I managed to blow up the circuit board doing the ir filter mod.

If you need a sensor or shutter you are more than welcome to raid this one for bits.

Graham

[Bizibilder]

It's an 1100D. (Or should that say Was an 1100D??).

[x6gas]

Oh blast; feel for you.

It's soooo easy to have a lapse like this... even when you have a well drilled routine.

Some time ago I managed to forget to move my 10" newt to the counterweights down position before removing the OTA. (What can I say, tired after a long night etc). The mount clutches couldn't cope and the counterweights came swinging around bashing into the OTA. Fortunately, the fact that I was holding the OTA at the time dampened the blow and the tube took the hit high enough up not to damage the mirror. No real harm done but as I say I know exactly how easy it is to do something like this.

Glad no damage to biological systems!

[Merlin66]

I'm really sad to hear of your misfortune!

It would be great if the mirror was the only damage and can be repaired.

Observing the sun can be dangerous - caution at all times.

[Bigeye]

Could it be covered on your household contents insurance?

[jgs001]

Sorry to hear about this Roger, and, whilst it may cost, at least it was only the camera and not something more important and irreplaceable. Good luck on getting it sorted.

[661-pete]

Sympathies. I reckon you're tired of all the comments "better your camera than your eyes" so I won't add to them .... oops! I just have!

Some time ago I managed to forget to move my 10" newt to the counterweights down position before removing the OTA. (What can I say, tired after a long night etc). The mount clutches couldn't cope and the counterweights came swinging around bashing into the OTA.

Interesting, that. I have a well-rehearsed technique for setting up. It is:

1. Put the counterweights on at the extreme inner end of the bar, where they exert the least torque. Make sure the safety screw is on.
   
2. Mount the OTA in the dovetail.
   
3. Move the counterweights to the correct position which is near the outer end of the bar.
   

Disassembly is of course the exact reverse of the above. But if I'm tired, or forget.....

If I do it right, the clutch will hold at each step. But if it doesn't ... why does this remind me of Gerard Hoffnung's celebrated Bricklayer's Lament?

[obscura]

Take heart, none of us humans are perfect.

I suspect that household contents insurance will have an excess charge that will make any claim not worthwhile. (they may even have a unique clause specific to giving cameras a suntan!)

I seem to recall that Gina has a bad 1100D - maybe??

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Sorry indeed to hear this.

I take it you were using one of the small fracs. If you use an SCT for solar like I do you would have shattered your secondary or eyepieces. Your 200P would have a similar devastating effect.

I always set up the SCT facing due north to Polaris, mount the filter, check it two or three times, check the caps are on the finder, mount the diagonal and EP (capped!) check the filter and caps on the finder again, and only then swing the scope sunwards. Once the scope is pointing to the sun, then I uncap the EP.

And then I still worry I might forget something.

Paranoid? Perhaps. Sensible? Absolutely!

[Macavity]

Easily done, I'm afraid. I was once leaning over a (vaguely) sunward-pointing ST102, testing "home-brew" solar finders? Via the diagonal, no eyepiece present, I caught a (thankfully!) brief, peripheral glimpse of "the flash" - Felt the HEAT on my cheek?

Beginning to think I might KEEP my "much modified" MAK127 plus Thousand Oak glass filter. There is some merit in the TIME taken to *press* the (DIY black-felt-packed, Aluminium!) filter cell onto the MAK127's corrector cell? <G> I might just leave it there, as a dedicated "White Light" scope though.

[rfdesigner]

ouch!.. you have my sympathy.

Camera repairability wise, I think you're in with a shot. If the camera was off then neither the shutter nor the mirror SHOULD have been permanently damaged. Shutters can be repaired and the pentaprism is another drop in.

Thought:

Gina broke a DSLR recently.. it might have been the same camera, do you have the parts between you for one good one?

Derek

[George]

You can see what has happened here: Nice bit of welding

Very unlucky!

Looks to me like it could be pared off with a very sharp knife/scalpel, I take it the shutter wont close?

[reddoss]

I have a friend who is ohpthalmologist, he is very well known in his field of research. Just before ths solar eclipse of 1999 we went out side to have a look, he decided to test his video camera on the 'full' sun in between gaps in the clouds, and thus fried the sensor chip!

[E621Keith]

Sorry to hear what happen. May be this thread should be made into sticky in the solar sections to warn people of the risk of solar observation without proper filter.

[sologuitarist61]

Thank goodness you didn't try to look through it, you can always get another camera - eye are more difficult to come by!!

[Bizibilder]

Thanks folks - my house insurance excess makes a claim hardly worth while - so I've dug deep into next years pocket money (with permission from SWMBO) and have a new camera on the way.

If I can think of a genuinely foolproof way of ensuring the filter is on before the camera I will let you know.