quimby44 Posted April 19, 2015 Share Posted April 19, 2015 hi there all you star gazeing chums this might be a stupid question but other day i was progecting the suns image onto my bedroom wall as i did not have a solar filter i was watching the image and when i looked at my telescope there was smoke coming out and i could smell plastic burning since then i cannot get a sharpe image when i looked at my 1.5x erecting lens it looks like it has been melted around the lens could i have done any damage to anything else will post some pictures tomorrow during daytime cheers a very disapointed stargazing stephen Ps good job i did not look through it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quimby44 Posted April 19, 2015 Author Share Posted April 19, 2015 sorry projecting we need spell checker on here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted April 19, 2015 Share Posted April 19, 2015 The point where the Sun's rays came to focus in your scope, which would have been the eyepiece, would have got really, really hot. I suspect your erecting eyepiece has some plastic in it's construction and some of that will have melted.Eyepiece projection should be done with no plastic in the light path, no diagonal and only a simple, non-achromatic eyepiece.You can see now why it's incredibly dangerous to view the Sun unfiltered. The filter should be up the top end of the scope so that the Suns light is reduced by 99.9% before it even enters the scope. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quimby44 Posted April 19, 2015 Author Share Posted April 19, 2015 Hi john yes i do its a lesson well learned well my errecting lens and eps are replacable eyesight is not cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronin Posted April 19, 2015 Share Posted April 19, 2015 You will have cooked the eyepiece, could be worse.I recall someone doing the same to their camera (DSLR), now that was expensive.Time to go buy a sheet of ND 5 Baader film I suspect, it does make life a lot easier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quimby44 Posted April 19, 2015 Author Share Posted April 19, 2015 You will have cooked the eyepiece, could be worse.I recall someone doing the same to their camera (DSLR), now that was expensive.Time to go buy a sheet of ND 5 Baader film I suspect, it does make life a lot easier.yep ordering some tomorow from rother vally optics and a new lens and erecting lens to, a lesson well learned hope people read this post Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Scunthorpe Posted April 20, 2015 Share Posted April 20, 2015 Your not alone in doing this so don't worry, I have seen a few posts of melted eyepieces and damaged cameras.Just goes to show the power of the Sun and that it should not be underestimated.Matt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quimby44 Posted April 20, 2015 Author Share Posted April 20, 2015 Your not alone in doing this so don't worry, I have seen a few posts of melted eyepieces and damaged cameras.Just goes to show the power of the Sun and that it should not be underestimated.Matt.i never underestimate the power of the sun never have never will its a powerfull thing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Scunthorpe Posted April 20, 2015 Share Posted April 20, 2015 Well you clearly have as your now the owner of a melted erecting lens Not to worry.Matt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted April 20, 2015 Share Posted April 20, 2015 yep ordering some tomorow from rother vally optics and a new lens and erecting lens to, a lesson well learned hope people read this postDo you really need an erecting lens ?I think for astronomy, a regular eyepiece and inverted views (which are the norm for reflecting scopes) will give you better images. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quimby44 Posted April 20, 2015 Author Share Posted April 20, 2015 Do you really need an erecting lens ?I think for astronomy, a regular eyepiece and inverted views (which are the norm for reflecting scopes) will give you better images.hi john i have never tried without the erecting lens i thought you needed a erecting lens as it reverses the image will try it without see what its like Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted April 20, 2015 Share Posted April 20, 2015 hi john i have never tried without the erecting lens i thought you needed a erecting lens as it reverses the image......Only for terrestrial viewing. The traditional astronomical newtonian view is upside down. You do get used to it and in space "up" and "down" have no meaning anyway. The additional lenses needed to put the image the right way up use a bit of light and add some abberations both of which are undesireable for astronomy viewing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lonestar70 Posted April 20, 2015 Share Posted April 20, 2015 The only use for an erecting lens would be for terrestrial use (wildlife etc)... there is no UP in space so a standard eyepiece will be just fine... you just need to get used to inverted and reversed directions.Take great care when viewing the sun... ALWAYS use a FULL sun filter over the front of the scope... and also the finder scope.Keep happy and safe.Best regards.Sandy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonathan Posted April 20, 2015 Share Posted April 20, 2015 One other thing to always pay attention to is the integrity of the solar film - hold up the solar film filter to the light to check that there are no tiny holes as this could still be very dangerous through a telescope.If you're wanting to project an image of the sun then how about making a pinhole solar projector - I have a long carpet roll tube that I'm planning on turning into one, it's about 8' tall so should give quite a good image. These are very safe optically as there is no magnification, you just need to still avoid looking directly at the sun when aiming (and also try not to drop it on someone!) I made one for the partial eclipse out of a long cardboard box (about 3' long, fitted over my head nicely). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quimby44 Posted April 20, 2015 Author Share Posted April 20, 2015 Well you clearly have as your now the owner of a melted erecting lens Not to worry.Matt.think we should give an award for funnyest thing done in a week i will start of with melted lens Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goose35 Posted April 20, 2015 Share Posted April 20, 2015 Both my ep's that came with scope are mostly plastic.i use my binoculars for projecting as the ones i have are all metal, also i limit time to 3 or 4 mins then give them a breakjust ordered some baader solar film from flo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quimby44 Posted April 20, 2015 Author Share Posted April 20, 2015 just ben outside and my H20 ep is ok not as good as it was but not damaged but getting a new set as i need them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quimby44 Posted April 20, 2015 Author Share Posted April 20, 2015 whoops i cant get a clear image in the centre of my H20 lens but on the outer edge is crisp and clear is my lens cooked due to my mistake the outher day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russ.will Posted April 21, 2015 Share Posted April 21, 2015 Have a look on Astroboot.co.uk. Plenty of cheap and cheerful (and sometimes, quite good) EPs and diagonals on there.Russell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quimby44 Posted April 21, 2015 Author Share Posted April 21, 2015 Have a look on Astroboot.co.uk. Plenty of cheap and cheerful (and sometimes, quite good) EPs and diagonals on there.Russellcheers for the link russell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quimby44 Posted April 21, 2015 Author Share Posted April 21, 2015 cheers for the link russelljust been on and spent some well earned money found a push pull bar for my telescope so off with the rubber bands tomoroww 4mm plossil ep 15 mm kellner ep 2x barlow so iam getting there slowley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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