Pride comes before a fall!

[sallystar]

After reading up on how to make a solar filter and the various mistakes that can be made I was fairly confident with my finished filter.

I proudly demonstrated it to my two sons yesterday and there was lots of

admiration for my handy work. I was especially proud when I could actually use iton my telescope as its the family joke that I can never find anything I'm looking for. I even found sunspots which was a miracle for me!

Luckily I was on my own this afternoon when I got the filter back out of its box only to discover that I had made the mistake of leaving the sheet of clear film

On it!

What an idiot!

I must say that it works much better without the film!

[Qualia]

Love it, and thank you for the report, Sally. I don't think you're the first in making this mistake. Only recently I read someone doing a very similar thing when Venus made its transit. I think I will have to get into a little sun viewing but a little nervous of 1) messing up my telescope or EPs and 2) my eyes. Any advice would be great to see.

[leelee970]

Sally, I admit I did the same. It was only after I saw the off cuts that I notice the plastic film - -

[Bluey]

I take it you didn't mention it to the family

[JamesF]

What, mention something that never happened? It would only confuse them

James

[sallystar]

I think I will be keeping this one to myself! They laugh enough at me as it is as I have got a telescope I

can't carry and when I do manage to get someone to put it in the garden for me I can never find a thing!

[LeeB]

Understand the worry about eyes, made a solar filter for the tal,,,,,, so worried about it coming off in use that I drill and tapped two M6 bolt holes in the tube to hold it on, works a treat though. Word of caution store carefully if made from baader film as while tough it is easily marked. Also check for marks etc each use.

[Matt Scunthorpe]

My filter is on my 200P cap. before use i always check it over, by holding it upto the sun, i figure just holding the cap itself towards the sun will only hurt your eye if the filter is damaged in some way. And also using a light to spot little pin [removed word] holes in the filter.

Mine is holding up so far but with it being on the dust cap it makes the cap a bit fragile.

[JamesF]

Unless you have GOTO, finding things is just a matter of practice, Sally. After a while you get the knack of relating the directions in the sky to the directions on your star chart in stellarium/whatever, and of linking up little patterns of stars into "objects" so you can recognise where you are more easily. As you get to recognise the constellations and how they're related to each other you'll find that it's much easier to find the more common objects just by knowing their relative positions in the sky.

A red dot finder or telrad might help if you don't already have one. It looks like you have a 50mm optical finder from your avatar. They're great when you know what it is you have them pointing at, but not so helpful when you look through the eyepiece and think "I don't recognise any of this"

James

[sallystar]

My son made the frame for mine. It's as sturdy as the telescope and clips over the tube with four

Metal tabs so it can't fall off. The only bit I did was the film and that's the bit that went wrong! I keep mine stored in a large polystyrene box that I have sculpted out to fit the filter to keep it safe.

[sallystar]

Unless you have GOTO, finding things is just a matter of practice, Sally. After a while you get the knack of relating the directions in the sky to the directions on your star chart in stellarium/whatever, and of linking up little patterns of stars into "objects" so you can recognise where you are more easily. As you get to recognise the constellations and how they're related to each other you'll find that it's much easier to find the more common objects just by knowing their relative positions in the sky.

A red dot finder or telrad might help if you don't already have one. It looks like you have a 50mm optical finder from your avatar. They're great when you know what it is you have them pointing at, but not so helpful when you look through the eyepiece and think "I don't recognise any of this"

James

You are spot on there as that's exactly what happens! I decide what I want to see from my 'Turn Left At Orion', get one of my boys to carry my telescope into the garden, look through the finder and can't find a thing. Infact it's so bad that I'm thinking of calling it my cant-finder!

Would a red dot finder or telrad help out here as I could do with some advice on this?

[Astro Imp]

I don't know how you are using your finder but one of the things most of us do at first is squint through it with one eye and closing the other. After much frustration to start with some one on this great forum said that wasn't the best way but look with both eyes open and move the scope until both images coincide.

A Telrad is a great addition but I understand they are hard to come by at the present. If/when you get one use it with both eyes open as above.

Good luck.

[sallystar]

That's worth knowing as I do close one eye but will keep both eyes open tonight!

[JamesF]

A red dot finder works by effectively superimposing a red dot over your view of the sky so you can see where the telescope is pointing. It's quite low-tech, but if you know an object is "just down a bit" from a given star then it can really help. Quite a few times I've put the red dot where I believe an object should be and had it in the field of view straight away.

A telrad is similar, but superimposes a number of rings of known diameters on your view of the sky instead so you can gauge distance from an identifiable object as well. I don't have one, but I imagine they're easier to use than an RDF and lots of people swear by them which is probably why they're often hard to get hold of.

James

[Rwetherell]

Sally - if you decide a telrad is the way forward Telescope House have them in stock. I ordered one via Amazon - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Telrad-Red-Dot-Finder/dp/B0039ZVJSU/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1343231814&sr=8-2 and it arrived the next day. Cracking bit of kit and really helpful with finding (and learing) your way around.

[sallystar]

I have ordered a telrad as that sounds like the way forward. I might even find something other than the sun, moon and Saturn once it arrives!

[Qualia]

I have ordered a telrad as that sounds like the way forward. I might even find something other than the sun, moon and Saturn once it arrives!

+ 1 for the Telrad. When it arrives, you might find this link useful: Messier's 110 for Telrad. Moreover, if that is a pic of your set up, Sally, I reckon with the Telrad and a Sky Atlas, you're not going to have too many problems (weather permitting, of course).

Clear skies to you.

[Cartman]

Did you calibrate the finderscope? If you put the crosshair on your target and the calibration is wrong, you'll see something completely different through the eyepiece.

[Scott]

i'm using a 130 heritage while on hols and after struggling for months with my 200p finderscope, i can't believe how much easier the rdf on the heritage is to use. my telrad arrived the day after i left for hols so i haven't had a chance to use it yet. i will be leaving the finderscope on the 200p though as i find some objects such as m45 look better through it than the scope sometimes. hope this isn't too confusing.

Scott

[WaveSoarer]

Sally,

Cartman has a good point about making sure that the finder-scope is aligned with the main scope. This can be done during the day and I did mine by setting up the scope in the house and pointing it at the tv aerial of the house next door. I also made the mistake of not fitting the thin rubber ring into the finder-scope mount so that it would rattle and wasn't held properly. I worked out how to fit this myself as it wasn't mentioned in the instructions that SW supply. Even with the finder-scope well aligned I still find it tricky to point the finder at what I'm intending to once it's mounted on the telescope. A trick I learned is to crouch behind the scope and swing it until the tube is aligned with the object (usually a bright star near to the object or the planet, if that's what I'm looking for). The hinge, or the gap, in the mounting rings can be handy for this. Once I've managed to get my knees working and I'm standing up looking through the finder I move the scope by hand until the star is in the field of view. Then I lock the RA and DEC circles and align as best I can with the fine controls until the target star (or the planet) is on the finder cross-hair. The object should then be visible in the main scope. I then star hop using the finder. The main could also be used to star hop if the real object of interest is close enough. I do find the initial alignment onto the finder a bit frustrating and I expect that the telrad will help with this. I find that practice does help and even a quick survey of the area by using the finder hand-held will help you familiarise yourself with what you expect to see and will allow you to plan the star hop before doing it for real. I'll be interested to hear how you get on.

Incidentally, if you have a lap top or PC I suggest getting Stellarium as I've found this invaluable. Turn Left at Orion is excellent and will give you a good account of what you'll expect to see once you're on the object. However, for star hopping the sky can be much richer than the diagrams in the book imply. Stellarium has the faint stars that can really help you home-in on what you're after - we'll that's what I find anyway.

Have fun looking and please don't get down-hearted. You have a great setup which will reward you in spades once you're more confident about navigating your way around. Finding your first DSO is quite something and you'll be bouncing around the garden with delight and a sense of achievement once you've done it. Good luck.

Dave

[oobydooby]

I am a member of Dundee Astronomical Society. At an open session on telescopes and observing, whilst chatting to our secretary I mentioned that a letter in the Sky at Night magazine had made mention of how easy it was to leave the clear protective film on the filter when making one up. This gentleman was conversant with all aspects of solar observations, having been observing for many years.

"I read that article too," he replied, showing me the filter he had made a few years ago. "As soon as I read the article I realised that I had not removed the film either!"

Even experts are still learning, it seems.

[sallystar]

I am a member of Dundee Astronomical Society. At an open session on telescopes and observing, whilst chatting to our secretary I mentioned that a letter in the Sky at Night magazine had made mention of how easy it was to leave the clear protective film on the filter when making one up. This gentleman was conversant with all aspects of solar observations, having been observing for many years.

"I read that article too," he replied, showing me the filter he had made a few years ago. "As soon as I read the article I realised that I had not removed the film

Even experts are still learning, it seems.

I feel much better about it now!!