Unable to see any detail at all

[matt_baker]

I've been given access to a Lunt LS60THa/B600 and since it was very clear today, I decided to try it out.

I aligned and found the sun easily and focused the scope with a 12mm EP but found no details at all.

I rotated the tuner all the way to the left and to the right.

The Sun just appeared as a red blob.

Can anyone help?

[Astrosharkey]

It is at the moment (red blob), there aren't any spots or proms (at least when I last checked)

[matt_baker]

1 minute ago, Astrosharkey said:

It is at the moment (red blob), there aren't any spots or proms (at least when I last checked)

Surely you can see filaments? Or is that not the case?

[Astrosharkey]

There was a tiny one (hardly visible) last time I looked just a red disk

[matt_baker]

1 minute ago, Astrosharkey said:

There was a tiny one (hardly visible) last time I looked just a red disk

I guess if I hook up a mono camera and stack, that'll give out filaments when tuned properly?

[matt_baker]

I think I've misunderstood the premise of observing through a solar scope aha

[Davey-T]

 

18 minutes ago, matt_baker said:

I think I've misunderstood the premise of observing through a solar scope

You should be able to see proms today, just been imaging one with the Quark, haven't tried the LS60DS today as I've been out and the Sun is rapidly disappearing behind the roof tops.

Will do a comparison tomorrow if the Sun shines.

Dave

[OnceWaser]

46 minutes ago, matt_baker said:

I've been given access to a Lunt LS60THa/B600 and since it was very clear today, I decided to try it out.

I aligned and found the sun easily and focused the scope with a 12mm EP but found no details at all.

I rotated the tuner all the way to the left and to the right.

The Sun just appeared as a red blob.

Can anyone help?

Sounds like you are using a tilt tuned telescope? Its true that the sun doesnt have a ton of crazy phenomena happening at the moment- but you should be able to at least see good surface detail and proms on most days!

If it is a tilt tuned, make sure you are not just spinning the wheel in its free zone where the internal etalon is not actually being adjusted- i have done this myself and thought i was tuning the telescope but as it turns out i hadnt gone far enough on the wheel to actually engage any tilt and hadnt been tuning at all! This may not be the case for you but thought i would mention it. You should feel some resistance in one direction once you actually start tuning.

[John]

I was observing with a Lunt 100 at 8,000 feet altitude recently in the USA and found precious little detail to see on the solar disk. There were one or two small prominences and that was it. I was quite pleased that it was not my  £7K plus scope given the amount of detail visible

[matt_baker]

1 hour ago, OnceWaser said:

Sounds like you are using a tilt tuned telescope? Its true that the sun doesnt have a ton of crazy phenomena happening at the moment- but you should be able to at least see good surface detail and proms on most days!

If it is a tilt tuned, make sure you are not just spinning the wheel in its free zone where the internal etalon is not actually being adjusted- i have done this myself and thought i was tuning the telescope but as it turns out i hadnt gone far enough on the wheel to actually engage any tilt and hadnt been tuning at all! This may not be the case for you but thought i would mention it. You should feel some resistance in one direction once you actually start tuning.

Yes, it is a tilt tuned scope. I'm pretty sure it was working, since the disk was getting brighter and dimmer as I kept turning

[Highburymark]

There was a beautiful prom on view today - if you check on ‘Gong H Alpha Network’ you can still see it. It often takes a few sessions to get to grips with a solar scope so hope you see more next time

[Davey-T]

1 hour ago, Highburymark said:

There was a beautiful prom on view today

And here it is using a Quark though.

Dave

[Peter Drew]

Today's lovely prom will look fairly faint in a 60mm Ha scope. Try covering your head with something light proof, this will increase the contrast.    😀

[Davey-T]

As per Peter, I've got the LS60 without the double stack and the prom is quite visible once located but easy to miss.

As above a covering over your head / eyepiece helps a lot.

Dave

[Rusted]

In my early days with DIY, solar, H-a visual [last year] the surface detail would suddenly "pop out" of nowhere as I tuned the PST etalon.
I likened it to suddenly seeing the coals in a well established fire bed. Later on, the coals were always visible. Familiarity breeds contempt?
Slowly educated eye or ongoing mods? Who knows? I really tormented myself over my poor, early results but went on to almost constant delight.
My PST etalon had a distinct, ring like, sweet spot at first.  Later it focused evenly across the entire surface and showed the proms at the same tuning spot.
Will patience be rewarded for others? I would certainly hope so. Particularly given the considerable investment involved in a complete, commercial, H-a, solar instrument. 
I'd strongly suggest becoming completely familiar with your own instrument. It sounds as if some telescopes are a little recalcitrant to show what they really have to offer.
The entire sun should look evenly but finely textured. Like a big bonfire which has finally burnt down to a flat bed of coals.
Proms were clearly visible [yesterday] around much of the limb. Even during this quiet stage in sometime truly awful seeing conditions.

[matt_baker]

Update, I looked at the blocking filter and found it was foggy. Is this bad?

[Rusted]

Rusted!

Regards,

Rusted

[Davey-T]

39 minutes ago, matt_baker said:

Update, I looked at the blocking filter and found it was foggy. Is this bad?

Yep, not good, there is a thread on this subject somewhere on here where folk have simply taken them out and cleaned and replaced them, worth a try as it can't make it worse.

Dave

[matt_baker]

I presume this is why my view is hindered?

[Rusted]

My PST IBF was just the same. No detail visible through the scope. Bought a new one from the US: Maier.

optical filters, neutral density filters, bandpass filters

Views transformed!

[Moonshane]

I had a similar issue 

but could always see a reasonable amount of detail which was improved by changing the ITF as above. Not the end of the world and it's a consumable item (although the  Meier one is a lot longer lived I understand).

[OnceWaser]

2 hours ago, matt_baker said:

Update, I looked at the blocking filter and found it was foggy. Is this bad?

Yea thatll do it! People have had success in cleaning them with certain products and lunt offers replacements for them as well if you dont happen to clean it up

[Highburymark]

15 hours ago, Davey-T said:

And here it is using a Quark though.

Dave

That’s the fella - lovely image Dave

[Highburymark]

3 hours ago, Rusted said:

In my early days with DIY, solar, H-a visual [last year] the surface detail would suddenly "pop out" of nowhere as I tuned the PST etalon.
I likened it to suddenly seeing the coals in a well established fire bed. Later on, the coals were always visible. Familiarity breeds contempt?
Slowly educated eye or ongoing mods? Who knows? I really tormented myself over my poor, early results but went on to almost constant delight.
My PST etalon had a distinct, ring like, sweet spot at first.  Later it focused evenly across the entire surface and showed the proms at the same tuning spot.
Will patience be rewarded for others? I would certainly hope so. Particularly given the considerable investment involved in a complete, commercial, H-a, solar instrument. 
I'd strongly suggest becoming completely familiar with your own instrument. It sounds as if some telescopes are a little recalcitrant to show what they really have to offer.
The entire sun should look evenly but finely textured. Like a big bonfire which has finally burnt down to a flat bed of coals.
Proms were clearly visible [yesterday] around much of the limb. Even during this quiet stage in sometime truly awful seeing conditions.

Excellent post Rusted. Much is made of an experienced eye seeing more detail on night targets. It’s also true for solar, I think, though more down to really knowing how to get the most out of your equipment.

[Solar B]

Truth be told it actually does take your brain (seriously)

some time to get used to this single wavelength 

656.28nm ... from memory Coronado reckoned it could 

be up to 6months (California) so UK ... my estimate 

was always about 2yrs ... again no joke 🌞

Brian