Thinking of getting Solarscope

[Abernus]

Hi all,

Well things have not been going well for the moment. I recently moved house (Out of Gateshead and into a darker area south of Durham) The house I bought is part of a 20 house building project. What I didn't know is that on a night they have 2 LARGE arc lights lighting up the place and stopping me doing any decent observing I have asked how long they will be there and the responce.... about 2 years:eek:

So I have been thinking of putting my telescope to one side and buying a solar scope. I have enjoyed looking at the sun in white light with Baader Solar Filter. I am still new to this and have a lot to learn, but I have a lot of time as from what I have seen solar scopes are not cheap (so will take me a while to save up)

From reading it seems my options are a PST or Lunt. Now this is where I get a bit lost. Some poeople say PST's are better and other say Lunt's are better. Can anyone help me. Also can both of these do both Cak and HA as I want to get the most out of what I buy.

Thanks

[brianb]

Some poeople say PST's are better and other say Lunt's are better. Can anyone help me. Also can both of these do both Cak and HA as I want to get the most out of what I buy.

If you want to do both .... buy a Lunt Ha 60mm scope and a CaK diagonal. The cheaper scopes are not modular.

Not a lot of difference between Lunt & Coronado at the same price point. Lunt seem to be more available these days. Just about the only Coronado product you can actually buy is the basic Ha PST.

[Solar B]

Its a tough one to call between the LS35 and PST.

I guess either would be a great intro into the HA world.

Wonder how long until the Mad Modders chip in

PST Mods are just so Passe

Brian

[NGC 1502]

Hi, There is a comparison review between the Lunt 35 & the PST in the review section here at SGL, Ed.

[Abernus]

Thanks for the info so far. I think I am going to go down the Lunt route. New or secondhand I am not sure yet.

As has been pointed out to do both CaK and HA you need two diagonals (I assume these are the wedge shaped bits at the end of the scope. Do I have to get ones that are made specifically for the Lunt model I go for?

Also would I need any special equipment to take photos, I have a Canon EOS 10D, a happy snap camera and a Cheap webcam. Could I just hook these up or is modding required?

Sorry for all the questions

[NGC 1502]

Hi, re the two arc lights, why not ask about getting them turned off at night ? There was a building project near me some years ago, with similar bright lighting at night, and when I asked nicely, they turned them off each night after the builders went home. Worth a try I think, Ed.

[Abernus]

Hi, re the two arc lights, why not ask about getting them turned off at night ? There was a building project near me some years ago, with similar bright lighting at night, and when I asked nicely, they turned them off each night after the builders went home. Worth a try I think, Ed.

I went down this route but they told me they have to have them on all night for security and insurance reasons (or so they say) But to thier credit they did help out where they could. One of the lights was directly outside my house with a light pointing in my back garden. When I asked them about turning them off they did say they would move one, 1 week later it was moved to the other side of the site. So I do have a little darker back garden but no where near enough to see much with.

[brianb]

As has been pointed out to do both CaK and HA you need two diagonals (I assume these are the wedge shaped bits at the end of the scope. Do I have to get ones that are made specifically for the Lunt model I go for?

The Lunt CaK diagonal fits any refractor with a 2" focuser and enough free space inside the drawtube to accept the long nosepiece (it's about 3" long). Anything up to 4" aperture is acceptable, above that you should use a aperture stop to prevent dangerous heat buildup.

Also would I need any special equipment to take photos, I have a Canon EOS 10D, a happy snap camera and a Cheap webcam. Could I just hook these up or is modding required?

Some people use an unmodified DSLR with some success. But solar imaging - especially in Ha & CaK - is essentially monochrome, a colour camera is something of a handicap because of the light loss in the Bayer filter matrix and the fact that you're only using one in four of the photo sites (red for Ha, blue for CaK). The cheap webcam would probably work reasonably well.

[Abernus]

Some people use an unmodified DSLR with some success. But solar imaging - especially in Ha & CaK - is essentially monochrome, a colour camera is something of a handicap because of the light loss in the Bayer filter matrix and the fact that you're only using one in four of the photo sites (red for Ha, blue for CaK). The cheap webcam would probably work reasonably well.

Thanks for the info, I am soo glad I kept hold of the webcam, I was going to bin it as I don't use it and it only cost me £5

I have been looking on astro Buy and Sell at the price of a second hand Lunt and some go quite chep (relatively speking)

I am not getting quite excited about getting one, the only problem is cash. Going to have a look round to se what I can sell on eBay