Coronado PST ?

[NickH]

[quote name=

I attach a photo showing my set up of the AZ3 mount with slow motion controls, an AE sun shield which fits into a dovetail adapter on the mount. I also have a AE sun/light pollution cloth which fits over the sun shield to enhance the view.

Mark

You know it's a good day when the EP is worth more than the scope...

nice pic!

[Macavity]

Well, wisely or not, I've just bought a PST (from RVO). It does bother me that (apparently!) you have to "phone a friend" (or Ten) to decide if it's an OK one. <G> On limited budget, I'm not sure if I fall into the "pioneering" or foolish category. I have been rather lucky with my "quirky" purchases before though...

Of course, this is now (currently!) ANOTHER source of cloud-frustration...

[John]

Well, wisely or not, I've just bought a PST (from RVO). It does bother me that (apparently!) you have to "phone a friend" (or Ten) to decide if it's an OK one. <G> On limited budget, I'm not sure if I fall into the "pioneering" or foolish category. I have been rather lucky with my "quirky" purchases before though...

Of course, this is now (currently!) ANOTHER source of cloud-frustration...

Congratulations Chris

I'll be keen to know what you think of it.

[Stardust]

I've had a pst for a couple of years now, came from FLO and I really enjoy it and have a very nice one too. I've tried to look through other scopes and to be fair conditions haven't always been good, but it was only this year at Kelling that I found something that was a great improvement, a Lunt60 with pressure tuning. I haven't looked through many alternatives but those I have really haven't made me want to sell up and upgrade. Infact a solarview 50 I thought was terrible. I have since added a SM40 to double stack which is very nice but I'm still happy with the basic unit and for the price it's great value.

Eyepiece wise I have the cemax's but ortho's works well along with a vixen LV9mm witch lives in the case.

[Andrew*]

Regarding eyepieces, I've used all manner of different eyepieces in my modified PST and can't see any advantage when using simple eyepieces. I don't know whether it's different with just the bare PST, but I can't think why it would be. Your Ethoi might be a bit on the heavy side for such a small scope, but I think that would be the only downside to using them...

[NickH]

Best one for me so far has been the 9mm Skywatcher Wide field, but that's just personal taste I guess

[dogfish]

I bought a 2nd hand PST this year. The Kellner has way too narrow a field of view, particularly annoying when you're not using a driven mount. I tried my 12mm Nagler and couldn't achieve focus with it. So, I've bought a 12.5mm UO Ortho, which works a treat and complements my BGO 7mm. I know have a driven mount for it so field of view is less important, but if you don't then I guess you won't go far wrong with your 13mm Ethos.

Martin

[John]

Thanks very much for all the feedback folks

The overwheming message I'm getting is that an H-alpha solar scope is going to be a really good addition to my equipment.

I guess because there seem to be more out there (at least within SGL's members) and I've seen the results with my own eyes, albeit briefly, I'm more drawn towards a PST at the moment.

I'm not rushing this though so any further thoughts are welcomed

[Peter Drew]

I used a pair of really good PST's set up as a binocular, they regularly outperformed similar size much more expensive units. Both have now been modded to stage2 and mounted of larger scopes giving even better performance. The ability to do this easily with a PST is, IMO the best reason for buying one of these.

[michael8554]

Best accessory I got was a budget 8-24mm zoom eyepiece.

The sun is big, and a zoom eyepiece allows you to scan the circumference and face for large and small interesting phenomena without a lot of swapping of eyepieces.

Of course, once you find something you can slip in a better eyepiece for best viewing.

I also mounted mine on a EQ-1 equatorial mount driven in RA that I had lying around.

Particularly useful when imaging as it keeps the sun in the FOV while you're messing around with the camera and the tuning.

I just plonk the tripod down on a couple of marks in the ground that give a rough polar alignment and that seems to be good enough.

Which ever solar scope you get you'll be well pleased.

Cheers

Michael

[Macavity]

OK, John et al. Half hidden by CLOUDS - Single image from mono Watec Camera.

Excuses... Excuses... But I reckon it shows promise?

Visually it *is* much better... and the colour is "correct" unlike the random-ish choice above.

A passing non-expert spotted the "moving flames"(!) around the edge too...

More things to twiddle. But I am happy it's doing most of (more than) what I expected.

[Andrew*]

Nice bit of activity, and tjat single semi-clouded frame shows enormous promise!

[NickH]

I'll say, that's a belter!

[Macavity]

Thanks guys. And from the perspective of a complete solar scope novice.

The PST was (for me) a rather expensive thing, but I think well worth it. Initial impressions: Nice (solid) contruction - Bigger than I had imagined! I found it very much "plug and play" - though the threaded hole attachments required a bit of ingenuity with the (Ioptron) mount. I may make (buy) a new bracket, but viewing "sideways" (at right angles to the sun) might even be advantageous. Doubtless there is room for experimentation with the (interacting) tuning / focus settings, but I could see all the solar features described in typical (e.g. Aug 2010 S@N) magazine reviews.

I think one would graduate rapidly from the included 20mm Kelner eyepiece. <wink> I sense I do not have an ideal eyepiece (for a PST!) at the moment, but used a "free" 9mm "LET" from Skywatcher (included with their Pro range) for first views. Might have been a job for my now lamented (sold) Vixen Lanthanums...

A driven mount seems rather desirable - As is a black cloth. The image was BRIGHTER than I had anticipated though and easy enough to view. As others have noted, you need a "short" nose-piece for most imaging purposes. For any Watec users, the image (full-moon?) brightness was JUST about tame-able with judicious (hard & soft) gain reduction! Again, one senses experiments are needed, to come up to the stunning standards of SGL's solar imagers.

FWIW (re. "rust" anxiety etc.) this PST (from RVO) is obviously

a "new" (boxed) one - S/N. 106812, Dated 19.07.2010 etc.

[brianb]

the threaded hole attachments required a bit of ingenuity with the (Ioptron) mount.

The sensible thing to do is to get one of the dovetail doodahs designed for mounting a camera ... the threaded holes in the base of the PST have standard (1/4") camera tripod threads.