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Solar scopes and filters.

kerrylewis

By kerrylewis
in Observing - Solar

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kerrylewis

kerrylewis

Posted
Posted

Having just looked at the sun in white light it makes me think again about solar scopes.

For white light I use my WO 66mm with a Thousand Oaks filter and it always seems to me to be a waste that I seem to have to buy a complete new scope to view prominences etc. I think I am right that you can buy filters to fit to existing scopes but they seem to be just as expensive as the full scopes. I suppose that the actual optics are a small part of the cost of a smallish solar scope?

If I then look at scopes the range seems to be very wide and the costs vary enormously too. What would people recommend to start with? Do the small 'starter' scopes yield good results, or is it worth going for something a bit less basic? I've only quickly looked through a couple of solar scopes before and the larger one did seem to give benefits in detail and definition.

There are a few makes too - I've seen mixed reports on Coronado but Lunt always seem to be popular.

Any comments would be appreciated.  

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JB80

JB80

Posted
Posted

The Coronado PST is a great starter scope although they have jumped considerably in price. I doubt anyone would be disappointed with one unless they are used to looking through the high end models first.

The best bit with the PST is once you want more out of it you can upgrade/mod it to having a larger aperture, it requires a bit of DIY and some extra purchases but if done right and you can source the parts secondhand it will work out cheaper than the alternatives.

Since I got my modded PST the improvement is excellent, very hard to go back.

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trazor

trazor

Posted
Posted

I have the Lunt LS60Tha pressure tuned, and the LS50F second etalon.
The views are very detailed, and prominences now wrap around onto the disc giving a 3D appearance.
Lots of Wow moments.
Expensive equipment, yes, But last year I spent more time Solar observing, than on the night sky.
If I had to choose, it would be a difficult choice.

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Luke

Luke

Posted
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I've only owned one aperture, 60mm, so can't really comment much on other sizes. Except to say that, before we got our scope, we had looked through a few solar scopes including PST's and enjoyed the view in all of them.

We have the SolarMax 60. I would probably have gone for the Lunt based on reading a lot of opinions from owners of both scopes, but at the time, the SolarMax cost significantly less, so that swayed it. Overall I am happy enough with it, I am not tempted to sell it and get a Lunt at extra cost, as it does the job.

The main thing I don't like about the SM60 is the helical focuser. It has a bit of backlash that makes focusing a bit fiddly.

If I was buying from scratch right now, I would consider this 6 month old Lunt 60 at Telescope Outlet:

http://telescopeoutlet.co.uk/index.php/lunt-ls60-tha-b1200-pressure-tuner-solar-telescope.html

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Fish

Fish

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Posted

I have a small Lunt and every time I use it its a joy... If you are used to white light or projection I think you will be satisfied with any Ha scope . The small scopes are so easy to transport and the detail that you can see will keep you entertained for a long time.

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