Hydrogen alpha filters

[Guest]

So has anybody ever seen Hydrogen Alpha filters for binoculars?  I have regular white light filters for solar observation, but have yet to see or find a Hydrogen alpha for them.  

[vlaiv]

You won't find ready made Solar Ha filters for binoculars - optics of regular binoculars is incompatible with Solar Ha filters.

Maybe you could DIY solar Ha binoculars - much like people DIY larger binoculars out of refractors.

Maybe take two 70-80mm scopes and two quarks and then join them to make binoculars. Or purchase two lunt 40mm and join them to form binoculars. You'll probably have issues to focus both eyes for image to converge, and you'll have to operate tuning mechanism for each eye separately.

Another thing that you might do to get DIY binoculars is to take 35-40mm front mounted etalon and attach it to each objective of your binocular. Then you would need a way to add blocking filter before eyepieces of binoculars.

Most blocking filters are mounted in diagonals and it is hard to find suitable blocking filter to be mounted on binoculars.

Maybe easiest solution would be to take regular solar ha scope and add binoviewers?

[Guest]

Thank you for the reply.  I have come to that conclusion after spending a few hours searching the web today.  

[Paz]

I've not heard of Ha binoculars but I have heard of people using binoviewers with a Ha scope. It's not quite the same thing but it's a possibility.

[Stu]

47 minutes ago, Paz said:

I've not heard of Ha binoculars but I have heard of people using binoviewers with a Ha scope. It's not quite the same thing but it's a possibility.

Indeed, that’s exactly what I do 👍

Looks like people have done this though…

https://astromart.com/classifieds/astromart-classifieds/solar-filters/show/lunt-ls35-h-alpha-binoscope

A few web search images below. Looks like Markus Ludes added two filters to a pair of his binoculars.

[Peter Drew]

I made a Ha binocular using two PST's not long after they were introduced.  It worked very well and outperformed a 60mm single unit that I was planning to upgrade to.  I eventually went down the PST mod route as a relatively inexpensive method of obtaining a larger aperture and since achieved my "holy grail" of a binoviewer equipped 150mm one.  I have often considered a true Ha binocular telescope but even a medium sized one would cost far more than my 150 and have less performance.  If I did/win the Lottery maybe it would be a different matter.   🙂  

[Guest]

Thanks very much all.  I was hoping that someone made H alphas similar to the white light filters that I have that just clamp down on the objective end of my binoculars.  But that doesn't seem to be the case.  Thank you all for your time

[Merlin]

When using a binoviewer with a PST, is it necessary to use a Barlow to accommodate the folded beam in the binoviewer and thereby reach focus?

[Peter Drew]

Yes.    🙂

[Merlin]

Thanks Peter. There’s a wealth of detail to be seen on the Sun at the present time.