Nelson Posted May 8, 2015 Share Posted May 8, 2015 hello, I intend to sketch the Sun but before I do anything and possibly do damage to my scope I need to know how would I set my scope up. I have a solar filter but how do I project the image onto a sheet of paper or board? Just leave out the star diagonal to give me a straight through image or what. Can anyone please advise me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perkil8r Posted May 8, 2015 Share Posted May 8, 2015 Is it a solar filter that goes over the end of the objective end yes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nelson Posted May 8, 2015 Author Share Posted May 8, 2015 Hi thanks for your reply, yes the filter fits on the end of the scope. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smithysteve Posted May 8, 2015 Share Posted May 8, 2015 Hi Melvin, there will be several members who can help you far better than I, but before any advice can be given, we will need to know a bit more about your equipment... Firstly, a warning... I am not sure what your level experience is with a scope or with regards to sun observing etc. So I must warn you, Never look directly at the sun through a scope or binoculars etc without proper solar filters, permanent blindness can result! There is a solar warning in this sites 'solar observing' section, even if you know what you are doing it is worth brushing up on the dangers associated... Are you familiar with the warnings and dangers associated with solar observing? Ok Melvin,. What scope do you have? Is it on a goto mount? What type of solar filter do you have? What eyepieces do you have? With the right equipment and correct safety precautions it is possible to observe the sun through your scope but you need to be very careful... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perkil8r Posted May 8, 2015 Share Posted May 8, 2015 The advice above is good. For projection, as long as your scope is not huge or in the case of some small telescopes it does not have any plastic parts you do not need the solar filter. You just set it up as if you would to view it normally but instead of focusing it on your retina you focus it onto the paper instead. You might be able to do this without your diagonal depending on the amount of focus travel you have. It is advisable to keep watch on the temperature of your scope and to ensure nobody tries to look through the unfiltered telescope at the Sun. Try and keep unfiltered time to a minimum to avoid damage and risks. For sketching in any other manner obviously put the solar filter over the objective end but always check the filter for damage by holding it up and checking for any tiny holes. I have moved this to the Solar area of the forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nelson Posted May 8, 2015 Author Share Posted May 8, 2015 Hello Stephen to answer your questions; the scope is a cas-Mak 127. It is on a goto mount. The filter is a glass Orion solar filter. I have numerous ep's from a Baader Hyperion 5mm, Celestron Xperia 17mm, Celestron 32mm x-cel and some others that I do not use very often. I view the Sun quite often but am contemplating buying a dedicated solar scope either a Coronado solar ax 60 II or a Lunt 60, but not until my financiers improve. But in the meantime I want to sketch the Sun but as I say how do I project an image through the scope onto either paper or board? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perkil8r Posted May 8, 2015 Share Posted May 8, 2015 Ahhhh a cas-mak, I would not do as I stated above then. I would think the method should still work though as long as you use the solar filter. You will probably need to shield around the scope to cast a big shadow at the back and probably put the "screen" in a box to make it show up better. As for Coronado SM60 vs Lunt, hands down for the Lunt having tried both. The Coronado is more expensive and is not as good in my opinion. Smithysteve 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smithysteve Posted May 8, 2015 Share Posted May 8, 2015 (Cheers Mike! ) Hi Melvin, thanks for the info, it now seems obvious that you are an experienced observer etc. So forgive me for pressing the safety side, but it was not clear at the start... Like I said previously there are lots of people better experienced with solar observing than myself, (see Perkil8r Mike above etc), So I will bow out here and let them advise you further... I do do a bit of solar observing through my 10" SCT and a baader solar filter film over the objective end Etc. it is another interesting facet to our hobby. Good luck with your sketching and acquisition of future solar scopes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Ibbo Posted May 8, 2015 Share Posted May 8, 2015 I would not be tempted to try unfiltered projection with a Mak- Cass because of heat build up and I'm fairly sure that with your Orion solar filter it will be a very faint image so projection may be difficult I concour Lunt I would say is the better of the two Johnnyaardvark 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perkil8r Posted May 8, 2015 Share Posted May 8, 2015 Of course if you want to try projection you can use binoculars. Follow the same method as above for unfiltered projection and of course the same precautions. Leave the lens caps on one side and project using just one side. +Ibbo 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philjay Posted May 9, 2015 Share Posted May 9, 2015 (edited) Reflectors and solar projection = no, you will damage the secondary plus other nasty stuff. Reflector and full apeture solar filter/film = yes, for newts and compounds an off axis filter may be used Refractors and solar projection = yes, provided they arent oil spaced objectives these can get hot and may be damaged with prolonged observations. with any set up, take your finder scope off, it can do just as much damage If your doing visual only dont forget the new Lunt50, a good scope, excellent views, if you can get hold of one Edited May 9, 2015 by philjay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nelson Posted May 9, 2015 Author Share Posted May 9, 2015 Hi everyone and thanks for your replies. I think I may buy a dedicated solar telescope, when finances allow me to, but during my investigation I was looking at a Lunt 60 but I could not see how it would attach it to my eq3-2 mount, also I think it comes without a diagonal so would my Altair one do, it is a two inch diagonal. There are no stores or shops around Leicester for me to go and have a look at and through one so I'm relying on you all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perkil8r Posted May 9, 2015 Share Posted May 9, 2015 The Lunt comes with a blocking filter which is a diagonal. You can attach a short dovetail bar to the bottom of the clamshell with a couple of 1/4 UNC bolts so that's no great problem either. The Coronado fits in the same way and again has a blocking filter that is a diagonal. You can't use your own diagonal with them as it needs a lot of filtering which is done by the blocking filter and is attached in a diagonal its self. You say you have the eq3-2 mount, in which case the Lunt is a bit lighter than the Coronado too which will help you with this mount. If you are going to buy either the Coronado or Lunt buy one with the biggest blocking filter you can afford. The BF600 is small and will make any future imaging plans much harder to do, the BF1200 is much more suited for imaging and for visual it helps a lot too as the image is difficult to project onto your eye in the 600 but being twice the dia in the 1200 makes it a whole lot easier. It's a lot cheaper to buy it with the bigger blocking filter at the time than to buy a new bigger blocking filter after the event. The blocking filter makes up around a third of the cost of the scope, so as you can see, they are not cheap parts to buy as extras at a later point. Smithysteve 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philjay Posted May 9, 2015 Share Posted May 9, 2015 As Mike says the lunt has 1/4 unc holes in the clamshell, 3 of them so fitting a short dovetail bar is easy. However if your eq3 7s an early one without a dovetail clamp then you either need to modify it with a dovetail clamp or make a piece of flat bar that you can screw to the lunt and to your mount Smithysteve 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smithysteve Posted May 9, 2015 Share Posted May 9, 2015 Hi Melvin, lots of good advice pouring in now, (I must admit I have had a quick peek at the Lunt 50mm and 60 mm) and I have learnt from the good advice about the 600 and 1200 filters too... Etc. Don't forget you may also need some sun cream (factor 50?) and customary sun hat with neck flap...😊😎 lol. I've already got mine... Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Graham Posted May 9, 2015 Share Posted May 9, 2015 Hi Melvin, lots of good advice pouring in now, (I must admit I have had a quick peek at the Lunt 50mm and 60 mm) and I have learnt from the good advice about the 600 and 1200 filters too... Etc. Don't forget you may also need some sun cream (factor 50?) and customary sun hat with neck flap... lol. I've already got mine... Cheers! Not forgetting some SUN of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BAZ Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 If you go down the solar film route, you don't need to have all the aperture covered, you can stop it down and use a smaller diameter hole. This has two benefits. With a smaller aperture you will get better contrast, and the other is it saves some film for finder scopes and maybe another scope. I got two scopes covered out of my sheet of film, but the 127mm refractor was stopped down to 70mm and works just fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nelson Posted May 10, 2015 Author Share Posted May 10, 2015 Hi all of your replies are great and help me out a lot. I have been reading that the higher the number of bf the better, so I looked at a 1200 bf scope, not much difference in the price, if you shop around. What does amaze me is the price difference between UK shops and the USA. I know there are other costs you would insure but even so it still works out cheaper. Maybe the UK shops have to charge a higher price due to the price they paid !!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perkil8r Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 I have looked into it but by the time you add on the shipping, import duty and VAT the difference is quite small. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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