Solar film

[GasGiant]

Im wanting to knock up a solar filter but unsure of the type/brand of material

Is this any good ? Can anyone 'shed any light' on this. Lol 🙂 

I have a 10" dob but I read somewhere that cranking the aperture down a lot will help and I should not use the full aperture?  To that end I will laser cut some smaller aperture discs in various sizes to experiment.

Then I just have to wait til the sun decides to come around again 🤣

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Solar-Filter-Telescopes-Binoculars-Cameras/dp/B00DS7SCBQ/?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_w=MDeqR&content-id=amzn1.sym.444ba109-cdf8-4a96-9f01-f73a5ebc80ca%3Aamzn1.symc.adba8a53-36db-43df-a081-77d28e1b71e6&pf_rd_p=444ba109-cdf8-4a96-9f01-f73a5ebc80ca&pf_rd_r=90Y7FZBT0E7K9P3NFTDE&pd_rd_wg=luyy4&pd_rd_r=15a78f20-790b-4228-8b99-85aeb100c405&ref_=pd_gw_ci_mcx_mr_hp_atf_m&th=1

[Carbon Brush]

IF it is the genuine product, then yes it is a good material.
However, an amazon marketplace seller, who is overseas, rings too many alarm bells for me.
I would always go straight to a UK astro retailer. FLO, RVO, 365, etc.
Viewing the sun you don't get a second chance if the material is dodgy.

Even after buying a sheet of material, you have to make a sturdy holder - cn't let it waft off in a gentle breeze.

Keeping a large aperture allows high magnification> But in the UK on sunny days, generally air stability limits magnification before aperture.
The end of your dob probably has a removeable cap - just the place to put a smaller piece of solar film.

HTH, David.

[GasGiant]

2 minutes ago, Carbon Brush said:

IF it is the genuine product, then yes it is a good material.
However, an amazon marketplace seller, who is overseas, rings too many alarm bells for me.
I would always go straight to a UK astro retailer. FLO, RVO, 365, etc.
Viewing the sun you don't get a second chance if the material is dodgy.

Even after buying a sheet of material, you have to make a sturdy holder - cn't let it waft off in a gentle breeze.

Keeping a large aperture allows high magnification> But in the UK on sunny days, generally air stability limits magnification before aperture.
The end of your dob probably has a removeable cap - just the place to put a smaller piece of solar film.

HTH, David.

Ah ok. I just noticed where it is coming from. Ill buy from a reputable seller! 

I can make a decent cover that wont come off as I have laser equipment. The end cover on my dob is just flat with no cap

[GrumpiusMaximus]

I wouldn't take any risks with a solar filter.  Buy from a proper astronomy supplier.

[GasGiant]

Just now, GrumpiusMaximus said:

I wouldn't take any risks with a solar filter.  Buy from a proper astronomy supplier.

Just noticed where its coming from 🙂 thank you

[Spile]

I used Baader film to build mine.

[Paz]

Those Thousand Oaks filters pass an orange colour, i.e. they filter out some wavelengths. They say this presents a "natural" orange colour but the sun is white not orange.

Orange does give some benefits though, it filters out blue and so filters out scatter from the atmosphere, and if you have any chromatic abberation going on for any reason it will reduce that also.

I prefer baader film that passes white light without any filtering of colour (at least not that I can observe) , so that I can filter to any colour myself if I want.

Neither is bbetters such, it's just something to consider.

[Steve Ward]

Baader is much better than TO if you are after fine detail either imaging-wise or for visual.