Full aperture film filters for big dobsonians

[Paz]

Does anyone have experience of solar observing with a big reflector and a full aperture filter.

I was wondering about options for improving the white light views I gan get compared to my st120/Herschel wedge which is currently my best white light set up. Swapping the st120 for an apo may happen at some point but a full aperture mask for my dobsonian would be only £130 or so, or I could make an off axis for just the cost of a square of film - £20.

The detail I can see on the moon with my VX14 far exceeds what any of my other scopes can do, even with an aperture mask so I got to thinking about using it for solar.

I'd be interested to hear any comments or experiences.

[Peter Drew]

Unless you can provide an off axis mask for your 14" larger than 120mm I doubt that you would see much of an improvement. I have a 8.5" refractor on which I use a 8" aperture filter and it gives better detail than my smaller refractors if the seeing is good enough to support the aperture. Your best upgrade would probably be a better refractor and a Herschel Wedge.  Oh, and a more active period of the solar cycle!     😀

[Paz]

23 hours ago, Peter Drew said:

Unless you can provide an off axis mask for your 14" larger than 120mm I doubt that you would see much of an improvement. I have a 8.5" refractor on which I use a 8" aperture filter and it gives better detail than my smaller refractors if the seeing is good enough to support the aperture. Your best upgrade would probably be a better refractor and a Herschel Wedge.  Oh, and a more active period of the solar cycle!     😀

I've got an off axis mask I often use, mostly for  lunar and doubles at low to mid magnification. That is 137mm so I could get a full aperture filter and use it full aperture or use it with my existing aperture mask and have both options for the price of one.

[Nyctimene]

You might go up to really large apertures....

Dr. Erhard Hänssgens DIY Dobsonian, here shown with it's full aperture of 42".

Here's the full read:

http://www.cruxis.com/scope/scope1070.htm

Stephan

 

Edited September 11, 2019 by Nyctimene

[Paz]

45 minutes ago, Nyctimene said:

You might go up to really large apertures....

Dr. Erhard Hänssgens DIY Dobsonian, here shown with it's full aperture of 42".

Here's the full read:

http://www.cruxis.com/scope/scope1070.htm

Stephan

 

That is big! I think it would take nine of my 14" scopes combined to gather the same amount of light!