DayStar Solar Scout SS60-DS 60mm H-alpha Solar Telescope

[johninderby]

 

Daystar Solar Scout SS60-DS 60mm H-alpha Solar Telescope

Arrived late this aft from FLO along with the clouds. 😁

First impressions are it is really solidly built and beautifully finished. Looks and feels like a quality piece of kit. It isn’t actually double stack but it does deliver 0.5A so they call it double stack performance which seems fair enough.

I’ll be testing it out with a Baader prism and a dielectric diagonal to see if it makes any difference. Also will see what type of images it can deliver with a ZWO mono camera. Think it will need a focal reducer to capture a full,disk image. Hopefully won’t need a tilt adjuster but we’ll see.

I moved the finder over using the alternate mounting holes so it would be better positioned. The mounting foot is a Vixen type so fits any regular saddle and also has 1/4 photo tripod mounting holes in the bottom.

One minor thing to note that the 110/220v AC adatpter is an American type and will need a  US to UK adapter to plug in. Perhaps FLO should include one. Although not bothered myself as I’ll be using a battery.

Think the AZ-EQ5 GT mount will cope with the load. 🤔

Edited May 24, 2019 by johninderby

[johninderby]

[johninderby]

First few pages of the manual. Not much different to the manual for the older version available online.

[johninderby]

FLO isn’t kidding. 😁

[laudropb]

Looks very nice John. It will be very interesting to hear how it performs.

[AdeKing]

Also very interested to hear how it performs so am following the thread with interest. 

[johninderby]

Fingers crossed for tomorrow as forecast not looking too good for next week.

[omo]

It looks very nice, will read with interest how you get on with it.

I did ask for the MCC sticker inside the box once, it made no difference

[Davey-T]

3 hours ago, johninderby said:

One minor thing to note that the 110/220v AC adatpter is an American type and will need a  US to UK adapter to plug in

I think my Quark came with some sort of universal plug just had to clip the UK adapter in, surprised that the SS doesn't have one.

Dave

[johninderby]

Checked FLO and they show the following for the Solar Scout SS60

• Micro-USB power cable and US wall charger

But for the Quark eyepiece on it’s own have the following.

• Includes 90-240VAC wall adapter with international plug adapters.

So it looks like the UK adaptors aren’t included. 😕

Edited May 24, 2019 by johninderby

[johninderby]

Skyatnight review

https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/reviews/telescopes/daystar-solar-scout-ss60-ds-h-alpha-telescope-bundle-review/

[ollypenrice]

From the review: We achieved this using a 1600 ASI camera; changing to an imaging camera with a smaller sensor meant that the telescope was able to get quite close-up images too

Whoops. 

Will this instrument show proms or is it strictly for the disk? It does look very tasty and I'm following with interest.

Olly

Edited May 25, 2019 by ollypenrice

[johninderby]

From what I’ve read at 0.5A proms are good but not quite as good as an 0.7A  but a lot more disc detail. Having had a Lunt 60 before will give me something to compare it too.

The sun is behind a few tall trees at the moment but should be viewable before much longer and hardly any clouds so a first light is immenent 🙂

Edited May 25, 2019 by johninderby

[ollypenrice]

Argh, the suspense! I look forward to your comparison since I know the Lunt 60 quite well.

Olly

[Mark at Beaufort]

John I am very interested in your opinion on this Ha scope especially your view reference your Lunt 60 that you had. With my PST I can see Proms really well and when I add my Double Stack the surface detail is very good. I must admit I am a little concerned at the warm up time but I suppose you can set up the scope and go inside for a cup of tea.

Gary Palmer's review is comprehensive which is a plus in making a decision. My dilemma is it worth selling a double stack PST to buy this new scope.

Update observing report using PST and DS. On GONG the image shows a nice Prom on the NE and just below there is bright area 'Plage'. There are 3 very small filament dots in the North in a row. On the South/East right at the bottom is another small filament dot.. I can see all this using the Double Stack - what is your view @johninderby?

[JamesF]

I'm surprised by the US plug, I have to admit.  I thought the law now required that consumer electrical devices were either fitted with a UK plug or a conversion kit fitted by the vendor.  Perhaps it doesn't count as a "consumer" device   Or perhaps I'm just wrong.

James

[johninderby]

Getting somewhere with the scope now. Thought there was something wrong with it ar first as couldn’t see the sun at all, just pure black. Changed power leads and battery to no avail. However I had been trying it with a Baader prism but when I switched to a regular dielectric there was the sun!.  👍🏻

Very sharp image but not a lot of detail so a bit of tuning required. So it’s adjust the tuning and wait a few minutes for it to settle. Normal first use stuff. 

So the prism is useless with the Quark so back to the little Mak with it. 🙂

Edited May 25, 2019 by johninderby

[ollypenrice]

Exciting. Just a thought on the American plug, but US voltage is 120. Doesn't this cause a problem?

Olly

[johninderby]

It’s a 110v to 240v adapter. Surprised that they haven’t included the plug adapters as they do with the Quark eyepices.

Edited May 25, 2019 by johninderby

[johninderby]

Thin cloud has moved in now. 😕

Looks promising but the big problem is there just isn’t anything going on today and seeing has deteriorated as well. Oh well will try again a bit later.

[Davey-T]

1 hour ago, johninderby said:

It’s a 110v to 240v adapter. Surprised that they haven’t included the plug adapters as they do with the Quark eyepices.

Curiously the one in the S@N review has a UK plug.

Dave

[johninderby]

8 minutes ago, Davey-T said:

Curiously the one in the S@N review has a UK plug.

Dave

It seems that the bundle version has the adapters but not the regular one. Also it’s a different adapter. With all the bits I don’t need that come with the bundle that’s a lot to pay for a plug adapter. 🤔

Edited May 25, 2019 by johninderby

[Davey-T]

One thing that's a good idea is using a right angled USB  plug and strapping the cable to the Quark body to avoid strain on the teeny weeny socket.

Dave

Quark cable ( predictive text thinks it should be Clark Gable  )

[johninderby]

Good idea. I was just ordering a power bank and USB cable from Amazon. Small power bank can hang on tripod when scope used on my photo tripod. Also found a suitable case tor everything which should be here Thursday. 

Edited May 25, 2019 by johninderby

[Davey-T]

Reminds me I bought one of those bright red power packs once, damned if I can find it anywhere 

Dave