Thanks for the recommendation Stu!

I'll check it out...

Hi David, That's strange. I have the Grasshopper 3 you have - and a Chameleon USB 2 - and they both work fine in FireCapture. Do you have the small box checked next to the gamma setting: FireCapture 16012021 screen.jpg If either the Mode 7 issue Mark describes or checking the gamma setting box don't...

It all depends highly on the thickness of the spider vane materials. Wire spiders would be the best due to their high strength, low thermal mass, and relatively small diameter for their strength. Mark: also recall that rather than stopping down a refractor it might be just as beneficial for better C...

Thanks for the explanation Mark. Have you considered making a Newt? Here's what I'd consider doing (and may in the future): 150 mm fused quartz f6 to f10 primary mirror - non-aluminized or partially aluminized. Easy to get or make, thermally stable, relatively inexpensive compared to a refractor obj...

What about a high quality TeleVue Barlow/Powermate or Baader Telecentric? At 1200 mm you'd get an EFL of 4.8 meters with a 4 x unit... pretty dang long!

Thanks Dave and Terry ;-) Assembling some additional peripherals - a powered USB 3 hub, along with new TEC cooling components (going to try a simpler implementation than my Chameleon's). Marty Wise has talked me into building a small ITX desktop purposefully for my imaging system: " ... the hardware...

Thanks Mark!

Hi Mark, My pier(s) have 120 v AC at the pier, and the 12 v DC power supply is connected to this (lower arrow). This power supply (referenced in the above post) then feeds a 3 receptacle 12 v outlet near the mount (upper arrow), to which I can feed a 12 volt load, such as the telescope mount and cam...

Thanks Stu, Franco, & Mark! So it looks like we have something else in common Mark: Virgo's & rack.jpg Analog playback is a legacy Well Tempered Classic Turntable (bought new in the 80's.) Still have a ton of vinyl in my collection going back over 5 decades! Analog phono/preamp is the Audible Il...

Well, I finally had some sunshine through thin enough clouds to do some full disc imaging with the IMX253 1.1 inch CMOS FLIR Grasshopper 3 camera and my old laptop with improved RAM, SSD, and USB 3.0 expansion card. Seeing was about average even though the Sun was low in altitude: Grasshopper 3 FD t...

Hi Stu, I'm pretty sure the first filter (pointing at the Sun) blocks most wavelengths except for those close to 393 nm (this one appears blue) and the eyepiece filter passes all wavelengths except for those below about 393 nm (this one appears yellow as it is absorbing blue and passing green/red li...

There is no "magic distance." There is a very real correct distance. This distance for the negative collimator is for it to lie towards the objective the exact focal length of the collimator lens from the objective's focal plane. With a negative lens, the focal length is more difficult to determine ...

Hi Alexandra, Looks like you're back in business. I haven't yet had a chance to to try it, but the Baader K line filter has two elements; one tilted and the other not. You might try to disassemble the filter and use only the tilted element. From the little I have seen of this it will not significant...

Hi Alexandra, They do look pretty much the same, so I don't know why exactly one would be better than the other - other than perhaps 656 nm is less susceptible to tilt aberrations than 394 nm. It also could be there is a variable amount of misalignment as the pentaprism moves through its range of tr...

Hi Ken,

Thanks for all the links and additional information, and the very nice analysis of the etalons!

I would indeed be interested in obtaining a suitable slit mechanism, PM me when you have the time.

Happy New Year :-)

Hi Mark and Alexandra, I might be missing something, but have some concerns. "Thanks Mark, however, what about the eyepiece bit, surely that filter has a function and needs to be added?" If I'm not mistaken, the eyepiece holder objective-side filter is an ITF for IR blocking, and has obviously "rust...

Hi Ken, "but not sure at the moment as to how the results could be used by the "average Joe" to give him/her guidance in determining whether on not to buy a $10,000 air spaced etalon......" My thoughts are that right now the typical FWHM specification generically applied to etalons for solar filter ...

Hi Ken, That's a very good question. These procedures are more qualitative than quantitative. Right now I don't have the equipment that can derive the FWHM. It appears one would need a system such as the one linked below in order to determine the FWHM: https://www.holmarc.com/fabry_perot_interferome...

As Christian notes, a better methodology would be to use a Hydrogen lamp with a diffuser. See: https://solarchatforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=15443&start=50#p174440 As seen below, a well performing air-spaced etalon will have a small central ring surrounded by additional tightly focused interferenc...

Thanks Rainer for the SSD recommendations. So here's what I have for the computer mods: Upgrade from 6 to the maximum of 8 GB of 1066/1333 Crucial RAM. Replace 300 GB HDD with 1 TB MX500 Crucial SSD. Install StarTech 2-port USB 3.0 ExpressCard 54. Total expense: $175 USD. Nix on the GPU and processo...

Hi Alexandra. That appears to another case of peripheral filter deterioration in a secondary filter. Did you use the CaK for visual, imaging, or both? I'd be leery of using the scope visually with any DIY filter system replacements. You can salvage the crucial "yellow" filter which isolates the CaK ...

Thanks for that caution advisory Great Attractor :-) Well it looks like I have a pretty well regarded and very well-built laptop - the Dell Latitude E6420 circa 2011. I did a little internet searching and it appears it can be relatively easily upgraded with up to 8 GB of RAM, a (internal) 500 GB SSD...

Thanks for the input gentlemen! In the meantime I've decided to pull the trigger. https://www.flir.com/products/grasshopper3-usb3/?model=GS3-U3-123S6M-C For $275.00 USD "as new barely used" (versus new OEM $3250.00) with a 30 day return option, it's seems a pretty good a deal, and if doesn't work ou...

Thank you all for your input - and Merry Christmas! :D I'm still finding it a difficult decision. Some of these 2 year old cameras are showing up used for very reasonable prices - $200 - $300 USD versus their new cost of $2000 to $3000 USD. I'm mostly interested in this particular sensor because the...

I'm pretty behind the times when it comes to the newer sensors and the latest laptops. Has anyone used one of these for solar? It's the CMOS Pregius IMX253 1.i inch 12 MP with 3.45 um pixels? https://www.phase1vision.com/userfiles/product_files/imx253_255llr_lqr_flyer.pdf Thinking of going to this s...