Solar setup questions

[Littleguy80]

10 minutes ago, johninderby said:

He posted yesterday that his TS wedge had arrived.

As far as I’m aware the TS wedge body is all metal? 🤔

Good choice! Just checked mine and it appears to be all metal. 

[Ags]

Not the back plate on mine. At first glance it is metal, but it aint. As the purpose of the back plate is to prevent touching the metal surface that takes the full solar force, it doesn't need to be metal and it actually makes sense it is not very thermally conductive. The rest is all metal of course.

I could only tell the backplate wasn't metal by tapping it and judging the sound. It also doesn't have the cold (thermally conductive) feel of metal.

- Agnes

Edited June 6, 2019 by Ags

[Littleguy80]

3 hours ago, Ags said:

Not the back plate on mine. At first glance it is metal, but it aint. As the purpose of the back plate is to prevent touching the metal surface that takes the full solar force, it doesn't need to be metal and it actually makes sense it is not very thermally conductive. The rest is all metal of course.

I could only tell the backplate wasn't metal by tapping it and judging the sound. It also doesn't have the cold (thermally conductive) feel of metal.

- Agnes

I wonder if the design has changed. The whole body on mine feels metal to me. I'd understood the back section to be a heat sink so you'd want it all to be metal and exposed to allow the heat to escape. I would think anything plastic back there is likely to melt.

[johninderby]

The back plate is a heat sink with fins on the inside to help cooling so would sound different from the rest of the body if tapped. Also a heat sink is never made from plastic.

Just feels / sounds different is all.

Edited June 6, 2019 by johninderby

[Ags]

Looked again and it still seems plastic to me. I asked a friend and they said metal, so I am outvoted three to one so far.

As I have a Chemistry degree, surely I am an expert? 🤔

Edited June 6, 2019 by Ags

[Ags]

I had a brief chance today to try out the wedge today. Very windy and mostly cloudy, but sometimes a clear patch scudded by. It gives a very clear image - I am quite hopeful it will work out. Nothing to see, although I did see a bit of texture on the sun's surface. But too much cloud and wind to really say. I did not find the polarizing filter useful - the image seemed about the right brightness and the polarizer didn't dim the image much anyway.

[johninderby]

Glad you got sort of a chance to try out the new wedge.

Bit confused by your comment on the polarising filter though. Should make a big difference as it is rotated.

[Ags]

I will try again - perhaps the filter snagged and wasn't rotating.

[david_taurus83]

Would very much doubt the back plate is plastic. It's supposed to conduct heat. If you have access to a digital multi tester with continuity function you could put the probes on it and listen for a beep.

 

On my Lunt wedge, it doesn't even get warm on my 71mm scope but it does get hot on my 102mm!

[Ags]

Had a longer session today, but it seems there is absolutely nothing to see. I'm pleased with the setup and the green doesn't bother me.

I tried a different polarizer today - a low profile one that let's the eyepiece sit deeper and more squarely in the barrel, and is also much less likely to snag as the eyepiece is turned. I had much better results, but the brightness range seems to go from just right to too dim, so I don't know how frequently I will use the polarizer. Maybe on a brighter day.

Here is my setup in action. Check out the awesome solar finder!

 

[Littleguy80]

24 minutes ago, Ags said:

 

Had a longer session today, but it seems there is absolutely nothing to see. I'm pleased with the setup and the green doesn't bother me.

I tried a different polarizer today - a low profile one that let's the eyepiece sit deeper and more squarely in the barrel, and is also much less likely to snag as the eyepiece is turned. I had much better results, but the brightness range seems to go from just right to too dim, so I don't know how frequently I will use the polarizer. Maybe on a brighter day.

Here is my setup in action. Check out the awesome solar finder!

 

 

Looking good! Could you detect variations in the contrast at higher magnifications? I believe this is called macro granulation. It’s easier to spot this with the continuum filter giving you the green colour. I tend to go for maximum brightness with the polariser too. 

[Ags]

Highest magnification I can reach is 60x. I need some new eyepieces... I think I can see granulation, but it is marginal at 60x.

[Littleguy80]

26 minutes ago, Ags said:

Highest magnification I can reach is 60x. I need some new eyepieces... I think I can see granulation, but it is marginal at 60x.

The figure normally quoted is 100x for granulation. I can definitely pick out the larger contrast changes but haven’t got down to seeing the individual cells. That seems to be much more difficult. 

[Ags]

I've heard 100x too - I think I can see something at 60x, but it's at the limit and maybe I am just seeing what I want to see.

My "plastic" backplate hasn't melted yet 😀 Guess it must be metal, as all logic and common sense demands it to be...

Overall happy with the ES 6.7mm as a solar eyepiece - it gives a nice big sun, but enough black sky to make locating easy and gives me plenty of drift time in the eyepiece. The green filter really seems to sharpen up the ST80 optics!

Edited June 9, 2019 by Ags

[johninderby]

About 80x to 90x when seeing is good. Best seeing is usualy early morning before buildings and the ground heat up.

Worth a read on the subject.

https://www.aavso.org/sites/default/files/publications_files/solar_guide/SolarObservingGuide-V1.1.pdf

[Stu]

1 hour ago, johninderby said:

About 80x to 90x when seeing is good. Best seeing is usualy early morning before buildings and the ground heat up.

Worth a read on the subject.

https://www.aavso.org/sites/default/files/publications_files/solar_guide/SolarObservingGuide-V1.1.pdf

I do go up to x200 plus when seeing is excellent, that really pops open the granulation cells