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Finally made my own Solar Scope as cheap as I could afford!


astrorg

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Hello
I have been away from this forum from possibly July - I never find a lot of time to do anything these days, same to be able to relax reading and interacting Astronomy forums.
I asked here a few ideas about making a solar scope or modifying whatever I had and I was recommended to also see Solar Chat Forums and I did.

Thanks to solarchatforums I have been able to do something decent and here is what I have done so far - very slowly!

1. I purchased a second hand PST and replaced its ITF with Maier one from the US and it finally had a clear image coming through + moved Etalon screw to third position - all the usual thing everybody does [after I researched it]!

2. used a new SCT screw-on short focuser [used once or twice on a LX200 R Classic] and using Teflon tape I screwed the PST Etalon to the focuser and purchased a 2" adaptor to fit on Etalon.

3. then used a Chinese 2" to 1.25 and modified the 2" side socket taking internal ring off and making 3x 120° threaded holes and 3x nylon thumb screws and used that as an adaptor to fit the original PST eyepiece holder - strangely enough at present this adaptor is also used as a tilter ... until I buy a proper camera tilter

4. then fit the above eyepiece holder into the SCT focuser with 2" to 1.252 adaptor in it and screwed the whole Gold PST tube with Etalon in it and made a BETTER PST - see image

5. I also initially tried a 2.2x DSLR camera Lens magnifier in front of PST and it decently works too - so PST will be fine for full solar disk mainly and without the 0.5 angstrom - not forcibly needed, I am probably around 0.7 as it is!

6. more importantly, I decided to make my own 90mm solar scope using the above bits and pieces.

7. with the help of Solar Chat Forums [great guys with a lot of knowledge, some are professional - i.e. they know the optics mathematical details - which helps] I purchased a cheap Bresser AR90/900

8. the ONLY usable thing there ... is the main tube, a nice and thick tube - the rest is ALL plastic!!!
I dismounted all parts and saw tube shorter ... a bit too much ! - I could have saved ~6cm really as I went with original ideas, but forgot I was using a different telescope from my initial thoughts - silly me!
So, I added a 6cm extension - no problems there to reach the 20cm inward needed for the PST Etalon which has ~20cm FL

9. initially I used a Tuna Fish 100g tin to adapt the SCT focuser onto my AR152 and fit Etalon inside the focuser to get near the 20cm needed- lets call it Quark unit - which it is really!
It worked well, so I decided to add a second focuser to tune the Etalon ... getting back to AR90/900 ...

10. I was trying to avoid overspending, I could not afford to spend too much - then I remembered I had a unused AR102SX which in my mind I guessed ... the focuser should over AR90/900 and it did!
It just fits perfectly - then drilled three holes for the holding screws et-voila'

11. I purchased a second hand 75mn Baader D-ERF and fit it INSIDE the AR90 tube at about 20cm inside from the front air-spaced doublet lenses, as there are the usual internal rings soldered in and just sit on it and I have about 70mm aperture  - i.e 70mm width from the D-ERF for photons to get through.
At that ~20cm distance from front lenses the beam is still very large - probably about 60-65mm - there is no heat in between - no need for air-escaping holes

12. when I have the time I will make a solar finder scope and fit it on the tube - not that is really needed - I usually use CDC to get there almost over The Sun [having an almost exact spot on the yard!] - then use my eye without eyepiece and look thourgh the PST eyepiece holder for solar shinging and centre the telescope over The Sun.

Well, it works well after tuning Etalon focuser correctly and then focusing/tuning Etalon etc. - the usual.

See some images - still learning imaging/processing and a lot more to learn about Solar ... a lot!

I will probably need to get a Power-mate 2.5x when I can afford it!

 

 

PST_FocuserMod.jpg.cdd0f9075de9f2a0e55d62c5ff1df719.jpg

1st mod - without the original black box - it works so much better - better focusing and sharper viewing too.


AR90-900AR102focuserMod.jpg.2d45486b40bad974546f7a4a4b96f1ce.jpg

This is the AR90/900 shorten tube with AR102SX focuser and adaptors to test it normally

 

AR90AR102andSCTfocusersPSTmod.jpg.0dc53cbc454945b29bba38436f2867ff.jpg

 

This is complete with the Quark Unit on the right side

Since this image there have been some changing - do not use the revelation adaptor any more and added a 6cm 2" extension.

 

Here are some images:

2019SEP09SUNBiSo1XF.jpg.8787965cdf56ee2ec7fbcfea59d488fb.jpg

 

 

 

2019SEP08SUNBiSoSbx2XF.jpg.7a830dd8c8cadd99e5337ad6040b6750.jpg

 

 

Edited by astrorg
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  • 2 weeks later...

Looking good and very decent images with both surface and proms simultaneously. Endless practice will further hone your skills.
Your skills at ATM and adaptation are a lesson to us all. :thumbsup:

You might eventually enjoy using an inexpensive Omegon 2" helical focuser. The Omegon has a nice long range of smooth travel.
Allowing Barlows to be fitted and removed from the camera and still reach focus.
TS do a nice 50mm threaded adapter for the Omegon tail end which can house the ITF and BF5.
Followed by a nice, T2 to 1.25 adaptor [again by TS] with a proper compression ring. To safely hold eyepieces, cameras and binoviewers.

Good point about daytime astronomy. My wife happily jokes I am going off to work in the observatory with my laptop case in the mornings.
Not nearly so forgiving of evening and night time shifts. :unsure:
 

 

P1390704 rsz.JPG

Edited by Rusted
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