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Show us your Solar Observing Equipment

paulastro

By paulastro
in Observing - Solar

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John

John

Posted
Posted (edited)

I don't do much solar observing but I have to admit that the Sun looked good this afternoon with 2 complex sunspot areas visible on the disk. 150x gave very sharp, detailed and well defined views with the Tak FC-100DL and the Lunt Herschel Wedge :icon_biggrin:

A nice, relaxed, warm couple of hours after mowing the lawns :thumbright:

 

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Rhushikesh-Canisminor
Rhushikesh-Canisminor

And here is mine. Nothing fancy compared to others, but I am in love with it! Also, my refractor is my favourite to put up a projected image of the sun. Had good response during mercury transit e

Stu
Stu

Need some better pictures of this but this is my solar kit which I'm delighted with. Tak FC-100 with Baader Cool Wedge, Mark IV Binoviewers Vixen 102mm PST Mod with Antares Binoviewers. In f

Merlin66
Merlin66

Here's my TS102 set-up.... The rear cell is interchangeable to allow the PST Stage 2 mod or the Baader Cool wedge to be fitted. I also have the original SM60 external etalon mounted on an ED80. The 10

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John

John

Posted
Posted

Hi John,

The tripod came with the spreader fitted. It's the same spreader that Skywatcher use on their aluminium tripods (ie: plastic) but despite my initial reservations it does a decent job. I have a tray to fit it but I rarely use that.

 

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Highburymark

Highburymark

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Am moving up from my much loved Lunt LS50 DS to an LS60 DS. Have put in order for 60mm double stack unit - so now have to decide whether to go for the tilt tuned or pressure tuned LS60. Should have new set up to post here on SGL in time for that most sun-drenched of months in the UK, November ?. But the LS50 has been a fantastic scope and I will miss it.

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tooth_dr

tooth_dr

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Spotted these on Amazon US for £24 so decided worth a punt. With Next day Amazon Prime delivery to the holiday villa, they arrived today. Can't say I've had much time to use them as the postman arrived as we were heading out, but a fleeting glance clearly showed a sunspot in the middle of the sun. Should be really handy for quick views of the sun, and a lot safer than home made filters when I let the kids use them. 

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AdeKing

AdeKing

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Here is my humble White Light setup comprising a Skywatcher ST102 and 2" Lacerta Herschel Wedge mounted on an EQ5.

More often than not its on a Skytee II along with a Coronado PST that I've borrowed from the local Astro Society, but not when I want to sketch, which is where the EQ5 really comes into its own, even if it does take me ages to set it up (I'm a new EQ convert).

Here its set up at a viewpoint over Chesil Beach in Portland, Dorset.  Sadly, I can't afford to have a view like this from my garden :sad:.

 

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DRT

DRT

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7 hours ago, AdeKing said:

Here is my humble White Light setup comprising a Skywatcher ST102 and 2" Lacerta Herschel Wedge mounted on an EQ5.

More often than not its on a Skytee II along with a Coronado PST that I've borrowed from the local Astro Society, but not when I want to sketch, which is where the EQ5 really comes into its own, even if it does take me ages to set it up (I'm a new EQ convert).

Here its set up at a viewpoint over Chesil Beach in Portland, Dorset.  Sadly, I can't afford to have a view like this from my garden :sad:.

That looks excellent, Ade. How do you find the ST102 for CA? I had one a couple of years ago and I think it was a dud as there was always a big multi-coloured ring around almost everything I looked at. It would be good to know for sure that mine was at the bad end of the spectrum (pub intended :lol: ) as I do fancy something around that size for travelling.

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AdeKing

AdeKing

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@DRT I don't find the CA to be too obtrusive to be honest.  There is always a faint, yellow ring around the limb of the moon, but using a variable polariser to dim the view slightly tends to remove that. I don't notice anything in solar as 95% of the time I'm using a solar continuum filter.

I met up with @Grumpy Martian last Friday and he was quite impressed with how little CA there was.

I'll pay a bit more attention for you next time I use it.  There is definitely a little CA there, but not so much that it annoys me.

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Highburymark

Highburymark

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Lovely new scope arrived yesterday. Lunt LS60 pressure tuned with B1200 blocking filter. A 60mm double stack filter on its way. Sold 3 scopes and several TeleVue EPs to pay for it - but based as I am in the middle of London, I do far more solar than night observing, so the reshuffle makes sense. Will also allow me to binoview - couldn't do that with my last scope.

By the way - if anyone on the forum is looking to buy a Lunt, worth checking out Astrograph (in UK) where I bought the LS60 - competitive prices. Elsewhere all Lunt prices appear to be the same - full rrp.

One more thing. I had the pleasure of meeting fellow SGL member Slimpaling (Mike) yesterday at Kings Cross station - he was buying my LS50. I think he got a bit of a surprise when he met me - because he was expecting me to be my avatar - i.e. George Harrison circa 1970 with waist length hair - and not a lanky middle aged bloke in a suit ?. 

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Floater

Floater

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Looking good, Mark. I'd be very interested to hear about your binoviewing experience with the new set-up. I'm currently battling with my Lunt 60 and WO Optics BVs. I'm strongly attracted to the idea of binoviewing and spurred on by those who rave about it. But focus is an issue (2x Barlow or PowerMate only), balance can be challenging and trying to find EPs which don't produce unmanageable magnifications is ongoing. ? (Bought a couple of cheap 30mm Plossls but a complete waste of time!)

I'm also aware that some folks say they just don't get on with binoviewers. I'm trying to stay out of that group ... ??

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Highburymark

Highburymark

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7 minutes ago, Floater said:

Looking good, Mark. I'd be very interested to hear about your binoviewing experience with the new set-up. I'm currently battling with my Lunt 60 and WO Optics BVs. I'm strongly attracted to the idea of binoviewing and spurred on by those who rave about it. But focus is an issue (2x Barlow or PowerMate only), balance can be challenging and trying to find EPs which don't produce unmanageable magnifications is ongoing. ? (Bought a couple of cheap 30mm Plossls but a complete waste of time!)

I'm also aware that some folks say they just don't get on with binoviewers. I'm trying to stay out of that group ... ??

Ok - interesting Floater - I have WO binoviewer too. Only have the WO 20mm and TV plossl 15mm pairs. From reading the forums was expecting the WO to reach focus with the LS60. If it's not possible then one option is to sell the WOs and buy a Baader Maxbright pair (with a Steeltrack focuser) which should be better. But need to do a bit more research. Will report back when I make progress.

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niallk

niallk

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Congrats Mark - beautiful scope.  I've looked through a double stacked Lunt 60 - and the views were absolutely awe inspiring... and that was with the LS50F DS etalon! I had the pleasure of looking through a TV BinoVue with 20mm TV plossls - simply exquisite kit ;)

Enjoy!!!

I adore my newly acquired LS50THA - and had hoped against the odds that I'd find a way of using my Maxbright BV with it, but to no avail!  Oh well ;)

 

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Floater

Floater

Posted
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45 minutes ago, Highburymark said:

Ok - interesting Floater - I have WO binoviewer too. Only have the WO 20mm and TV plossl 15mm pairs. From reading the forums was expecting the WO to reach focus with the LS60. If it's not possible then one option is to sell the WOs and buy a Baader Maxbright pair (with a Steeltrack focuser) which should be better. But need to do a bit more research. Will report back when I make progress.

I can reach focus with the WO 20mm using 2x Barlow or 2.5x PM but not with the 1.6x Barlow provided with the BV. But still enjoying the hunt with the Lunt ... ??

Sorry! Couldn't resist.

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Highburymark

Highburymark

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23 minutes ago, niallk said:

Congrats Mark - beautiful scope.  I've looked through a double stacked Lunt 60 - and the views were absolutely awe inspiring... and that was with the LS50F DS etalon! I had the pleasure of looking through a TV BinoVue with 20mm TV plossls - simply exquisite kit ;)

Enjoy!!!

I adore my newly acquired LS50THA - and had hoped against the odds that I'd find a way of using my Maxbright BV with it, but to no avail!  Oh well ;)

 

Thanks! Does your LS50 have a B400 blocking filter? The 600 should make binoviewing possible.

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Hadron

Hadron

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Ooohhh. That's nice, very very nice. I keep looking at the Lunt scopes but can't really justify the cost to myself (read the wife would kill me if I took the plunge). Maybe one day but for now this is my humble collection. :icon_biggrin:

 

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tooth_dr

tooth_dr

Posted
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1 hour ago, Highburymark said:

Ok - interesting Floater - I have WO binoviewer too. Only have the WO 20mm and TV plossl 15mm pairs. From reading the forums was expecting the WO to reach focus with the LS60. If it's not possible then one option is to sell the WOs and buy a Baader Maxbright pair (with a Steeltrack focuser) which should be better. But need to do a bit more research. Will report back when I make progress.

Congratulations on your purchase. I've had good success with mine using a skywatcher binoviewer, with the included 2x Barlow lens, and a pair of 26mm Meade plossls.  This gives a nice full disc view.  Ignore the different versions of the 26mm. Even though it worked ok I now have a matching set!

 

 

 

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Highburymark

Highburymark

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30 minutes ago, tooth_dr said:

Congratulations on your purchase. I've had good success with mine using a skywatcher binoviewer, with the included 2x Barlow lens, and a pair of 26mm Meade plossls.  This gives a nice full disc view.  Ignore the different versions of the 26mm. Even though it worked ok I now have a matching set!

 

 

 

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Thanks - very nice set up - I think the Skywatcher/WO/Revelation binoviewers are all the same. So the key addition seems to be a 2x Barlow

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