Three great solar mysteries to ponder:

Why is the corona so hot?
Why is there a new solar cycle every 11 years?
Why isn’t the Meade Herschel Wedge badged Coronado?

Really excellent website you have - together with some great telescopes. I shall add it to my ever growing list of online solar resources. And good luck with the blocking filter.

Are you based in Europe? Presuming Italy? As Rainer says, I’m sure if you contact Lunt Europe (via Bresser in Germany) they will either fix it or provide a replacement.

Thanks everyone for your comments! The last official count of London parakeets was almost ten years ago, when there were 32,000 recorded. Estimates are that this has grown to a minimum of 50,000 today, and probably a lot more. They seem unconcerned by other large birds like crows and magpies, though...

Super images Brian. Such a sweet set up to double stack the LS80 with the LS75Fha.

Yes - it’s just the polarisation feature that distinguishes the Lacerta wedges. They are very solidly made too.

Yes the Baader wedge is expensive here. That’s one reason I opted for the Altair wedge. I have been really satisfied with it. Doubt anyone could see any difference between the two. I saw a small improvement in views, particularly at high magnification, when I moved from Baader film to the wedge. Bu...

I’m blown away by the great images on this forum. I’ve never ventured into Sunlit Earth before, but it will now become part of my daily visit to Solarchat. One of the very few positives to come out of lockdown has been working from home and watching the seasons pass by. At the start of 2020 I bought...

Now we’re talking about white light James, I was surprised to see how expensive the Baader wedge is in the States - almost as much as a Lunt 50 and more than a PST!!
While you get cheaper Lunt and Coronado prices, we get cheaper Baader and Solarscope prices.

Thanks for posting Terry. Thought yesterday that brief burst of activity over the south east limb was quickly diminishing. Shame as looks like there will be clear skies for many in the UK tomorrow - still, a couple of nice filaments to enjoy

What are the ep's you are using there Mark? They’re Panoptic 24s Mark. For years I bleated on about only needing TV Plossls and orthos for solar (and the Pentax XF zoom - such a great solar eyepiece). But after getting some wider binoviewers, I bought a second Panoptic 24 in the summer, and they ar...

Yes, the focuser needs to be reasonably good for binoviewing. I believe the TV85 focuser is a Starlight (though this was denied by David Nagler at the last ‘Astrofest’ in London - I think he was protecting the supremacy of the TeleVue name - lovely guy though). Something I haven’t tried yet is to us...

Yes - straight through James. It’s a neat system but it adds another 35mm to the light path which I could do without - the blocking filter has the blue tape around it

I'm in the process of working towards a new (mod/setup?) for this year that for my visual work will involve the Baader T2 prism diagonal, I think it will be a couple of months maybe before I get one (other bits to trickle in first), but I think will work just fine. The reason I am going this route ...

Thanks guys. I shall happily continue using my current Baader diagonal and not fret further. That Takahashi prism seems to be highly rated. As an owner of two Takahashi scopes, I can’t work out why the prism is the only Tak accessory that doesn’t require a second mortgage. In fact it’s a positive ba...

This is perhaps a rather technical question, but one that’s been on my mind for a while, so am hoping someone on the forum might be able to answer. Are there any advantages to using a prism or mirror diagonal for solar observing? With conventional night astronomy, the general advice is that prisms a...

Very nice image indeed considering this is currently the lowest priced Ha scope on the market, at least here in the UK. Suggestion from the few reports I’ve read is it seems to be more of an imaging scope than visual?

One other thing Simon - to see fine detail around Sunspots and granulation, it’s best to crank up the magnification. And that requires well corrected eyepieces in fast scopes like the F/5.5 Esprit, otherwise you can get softer views, particularly towards the edge of the fov. Hyperions can struggle w...

It’s all perfectly safe - if you just follow the instructions. You can find the Baader Coolwedge manual online if you want to do some reading ahead of taking delivery. No reason for any nervousness ahead of your first observation! Just relax and enjoy it. It will probably take some time to find out ...

Ingenious.
I struggle to reach the DS tuning control on my Ha scope.

Merry Christmas to everyone - from a sunny London!

Very nice detail Alexandra - and Happy Christmas!

Ah - ok. So it is specifically a DS filter. Should work well hopefully.

Re-reading the original post, Coronado appears to be the only manufacturer which does not specify single stack and double stack etalons. Presume that’s because of the way they are tuned??
Hope the new filter is a success - will be interested to see how it performs

As a long-time Lunt and now Solarscope owner, I wish Coronado nothing but the best. All us enthusiasts need a strong Coronado to compete with Lunt and innovate. I have no knowledge of Meade’s business but I wouldn’t be surprised if Coronado were the only profitable part of the company. It just needs...