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Astro Filters off Ebay

JDWolf

By JDWolf
in Member Equipment Reviews

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JDWolf

JDWolf

Posted
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Last night was the first clear night I have had since mid Feb and so it allowed me to try out a few new bits and bobs I have for my scope. I recently took my focuser apart and re-greased it using white lithium grease. This is a vast improvement on the original grease and getting Saturn in focus is much, much easier! :)

What I really wanted to try out was some new Astro Filters I had bought off ebay. They are most likely towards the lower end of the quality scale, however I managed to get a moon filter (N96 0.9), a light blue (80A) and a dark yellow (21) all for £15 so I cant really complain. :lol:

So the first object I tried the filters on was Saturn. Screwing the filters into the bottom of the eyepiece was easy enough and soon I was looking at a slightly blue Saturn. This did not seem to show up much more detail than I could see without it. I then tried the yellow filter and found this showed up more detail on Saturn! With this in place I could easy some bands on the main body of Saturn and also I could make out the Cassi division :shock:. Saturn really does look more and more beautiful the more detail you see.

Next took the N96 filter and used it on the moon, unfortunately it didn’t cut out enough of the light from the half moon. The N96 filter might be usefully on thin slivers of moons but with my 8” scope I don’t think I will use it again by itself on the moon. I did however also stack the N96 filter with the yellow filter. This allowed comfortably views of the moon and showed up a great deal of detail along the edge of the moon. This is the first time I’ve looked at the moon and all I can say is WOW! :shock: Will defiantly been getting a better moon filter so I can explore more detail. Shame the focuser was pointing in an awkward direction so i was not comfortable viewing, otherwise i think i would have viewed the more for hours. :)

Only really problem I had with the filters was changing one filter for another filter. Un-screwing one filter form the eyepiece while trying not to drop the next one you want to put in was a little fun. Think I might have to get a tray or something and attach it to one of the tripod legs to keep my filters in. I can understand why people use filter wheels now!

Cant wait for to try out the filter on Jupiter when it comes out from behind the big tree in my back garden.

Overall I’m very please with my cheap filters and think I might invest in some more soon.

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Naz

Naz

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Good report Jon, there are some bargains to be had, and each filter will have its use.

I am sure the filter wheel will be useful, but it is all money. With everything we buy for this hobby, the more you discover you need to spend.

naz :lol:

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The Warthog

The Warthog

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I was browsing around yesterrday and found someone selling a dozen coloured filters for US$84 on Ebay. Looked like a good deal; with colour filters I don't think you can go too far wrong.

I put a little table near my scope, and put my eyepiece and filter kit on it, then I do one thing at a time. So far, I haven't dropped a filter. I also write the number and colour of the filter on the back of the case, as I can't read the little letters on the side of the filter by red torch. The Yellow filter is the one I use most often. I use an aperture mask on the moon, rather than a filter; it has the advantage of slightly improving your focus, too.

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JDWolf

JDWolf

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I never thought of that either! could just remove the smaller cap and use that to look at the moon, but saying that i think the smaller cap is only an inch diameter. Would that be enough to get some good detail on the moon? Or would i be better off investing / making a mask that knocks my 8 inch down to a 4 inch?

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Naz

Naz

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One to find out, try it and see how you get on. With the moon being so bright, I think you will find it ok. Works fine on my 120 frac.

The small aperature on my scope is only about 53mm, and I find this ok for normal use.

naz

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