Solarscope SF70DS incoming

Use this section to discuss "standard" Baader/Coronado/ Lunt SolarView/ Daystar, etc… filters, cameras and scopes. No mods, just questions/ answers and reviews.
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Re: Solarscope SF70DS incoming

Post by Highbury Mark »

DeepSolar64 wrote: Sun Jul 12, 2020 12:39 am HM,
I have been doing white light for many years but I am very new to Ha. Only a year and a half! I almost bought a PST back in 2013 but my budget at that time was too tight to comfortably afford one. I do now wish I would have taken the dive then. I am 55 so our ages are pretty close.

James
Being relatively late starters just means we have a lot of catching up to do. Like you I’m out at every available opportunity. I spent 30 minutes today staring at a near blank solar disk. With binoviewer and 32mm Plossls, was getting around 50x. One tiny filament, couple of minute proms, but it was beautiful - still lots of surface detail to appreciate


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Re: Solarscope SF70DS incoming

Post by DeepSolar64 »

Highbury Mark wrote: Thu Jul 16, 2020 4:04 pm
DeepSolar64 wrote: Sun Jul 12, 2020 12:39 am HM,
I have been doing white light for many years but I am very new to Ha. Only a year and a half! I almost bought a PST back in 2013 but my budget at that time was too tight to comfortably afford one. I do now wish I would have taken the dive then. I am 55 so our ages are pretty close.

James
Being relatively late starters just means we have a lot of catching up to do. Like you I’m out at every available opportunity. I spent 30 minutes today staring at a near blank solar disk. With binoviewer and 32mm Plossls, was getting around 50x. One tiny filament, couple of minute proms, but it was beautiful - still lots of surface detail to appreciate
Having a relatively blank disk just gives us more of a challenge. We can hone our skills during solar minimum and then when solar max comes we will be polished and will be able to see features most would require lucky imaging to see! And by waiting as long as we did, equipment has became more affordable. 15-20 years ago a 90mm Ha scope would have cost as much as a lower end new car!


Lunt 8x32 SUNoculars
Orion 70mm Solar Telescope
Celestron AstroMaster Alt/Az Mount
Meade Coronado SolarMax II 60 DS
Meade Coronado SolarMax II 90 DS
Meade Coronado AZS Alt/Az Mount
Astro-Tech AT72EDII with Altair solar wedge
Celestron NexStar 102GT with Altair solar wedge
Losmandy AZ8 Alt/Az Mount
Sky-Watcher AZGTI Alt-Az GoTo mount
Cameras: ZWO ASI178MM, PGR Grasshopper, PGR Flea
Lunt, Coronado, TeleVue, Orion and Meade eyepieces

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Re: Solarscope SF70DS incoming

Post by Highbury Mark »

DeepSolar64 wrote: Thu Jul 16, 2020 6:09 pm
Highbury Mark wrote: Thu Jul 16, 2020 4:04 pm
DeepSolar64 wrote: Sun Jul 12, 2020 12:39 am HM,
I have been doing white light for many years but I am very new to Ha. Only a year and a half! I almost bought a PST back in 2013 but my budget at that time was too tight to comfortably afford one. I do now wish I would have taken the dive then. I am 55 so our ages are pretty close.

James


Being relatively late starters just means we have a lot of catching up to do. Like you I’m out at every available opportunity. I spent 30 minutes today staring at a near blank solar disk. With binoviewer and 32mm Plossls, was getting around 50x. One tiny filament, couple of minute proms, but it was beautiful - still lots of surface detail to appreciate
Having a relatively blank disk just gives us more of a challenge. We can hone our skills during solar minimum and then when solar max comes we will be polished and will be able to see features most would require lucky imaging to see! And by waiting as long as we did, equipment has became more affordable. 15-20 years ago a 90mm Ha scope would have cost as much as a lower end new car!

Definitely James. It’s fascinating the way the market has developed. Was reading about the ‘Baader Coronagraph‘ today (there’s a great piece about restoring one by Alexandra on her website solarnutcase) - a relatively rudimentary device for observing proms - very wideband compared to today’s scopes. And that was selling for about $2,300 in the States in the 1990s, not that long ago. Wonder how much a double stacked SM90 was at launch?


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Re: Solarscope SF70DS incoming

Post by DeepSolar64 »

Highbury Mark wrote: Fri Jul 17, 2020 9:58 am
DeepSolar64 wrote: Thu Jul 16, 2020 6:09 pm
Highbury Mark wrote: Thu Jul 16, 2020 4:04 pm



Being relatively late starters just means we have a lot of catching up to do. Like you I’m out at every available opportunity. I spent 30 minutes today staring at a near blank solar disk. With binoviewer and 32mm Plossls, was getting around 50x. One tiny filament, couple of minute proms, but it was beautiful - still lots of surface detail to appreciate
Having a relatively blank disk just gives us more of a challenge. We can hone our skills during solar minimum and then when solar max comes we will be polished and will be able to see features most would require lucky imaging to see! And by waiting as long as we did, equipment has became more affordable. 15-20 years ago a 90mm Ha scope would have cost as much as a lower end new car!

Definitely James. It’s fascinating the way the market has developed. Was reading about the ‘Baader Coronagraph‘ today (there’s a great piece about restoring one by Alexandra on her website solarnutcase) - a relatively rudimentary device for observing proms - very wideband compared to today’s scopes. And that was selling for about $2,300 in the States in the 1990s, not that long ago. Wonder how much a double stacked SM90 was at launch?

According to Stephen Ramsden a SM90 at launch back in the mid-late 1990s was about 14.000 dollars! I don't know whether this is a double-stacked or single-stack version. And to think I bought a DS version for 3.500. That's quite a reduction!


Lunt 8x32 SUNoculars
Orion 70mm Solar Telescope
Celestron AstroMaster Alt/Az Mount
Meade Coronado SolarMax II 60 DS
Meade Coronado SolarMax II 90 DS
Meade Coronado AZS Alt/Az Mount
Astro-Tech AT72EDII with Altair solar wedge
Celestron NexStar 102GT with Altair solar wedge
Losmandy AZ8 Alt/Az Mount
Sky-Watcher AZGTI Alt-Az GoTo mount
Cameras: ZWO ASI178MM, PGR Grasshopper, PGR Flea
Lunt, Coronado, TeleVue, Orion and Meade eyepieces

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Re: Solarscope SF70DS incoming

Post by george9 »

If I remember correctly, the Coronado AS1-90 was around $5500 in 2000, or $11,000 double stacked. I don't remember if that came with the blocking filter. The 60mm ASP-60 was $2650, and the 140mm filter was around $13,000.

George


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Re: Solarscope SF70DS incoming

Post by Highbury Mark »

george9 wrote: Fri Jul 17, 2020 5:40 pm If I remember correctly, the Coronado AS1-90 was around $5500 in 2000, or $11,000 double stacked. I don't remember if that came with the blocking filter. The 60mm ASP-60 was $2650, and the 140mm filter was around $13,000.

George
So the AS1-90 was a single stacked external etalon George? Also - didn’t know there was a 140mm Coronado filter!! Anyone on the forum still have one?


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Re: Solarscope SF70DS incoming

Post by DeepSolar64 »

I have read that the pre-Meade Coronado made etalons bigger than 90mm. At one time Coronado made a CaK PST. It's gone too. Did Coronado ever make CaK filters in the diagonal-style like Lunt does now?


Lunt 8x32 SUNoculars
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Meade Coronado SolarMax II 60 DS
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Losmandy AZ8 Alt/Az Mount
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Cameras: ZWO ASI178MM, PGR Grasshopper, PGR Flea
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Re: Solarscope SF70DS incoming

Post by george9 »

Yes, the "AS-1 90" was a single stack front-mounted filter that threaded onto the front of a Televue 101 refractor. Similar design to the current Meade front-mounted filters. It evolved to the SolarMax. I had its little brother, the ASP-60 (P stood for Televue Pronto, which it screwed into).

Bob Y. has a 140mm currently and has posted about it.

Coronado did have professional CaK filters in the 1990s and early 2000s for special order. But I think the PST was their main mass market CaK entry. Others may know more.

George


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Re: Solarscope SF70DS incoming

Post by DeepSolar64 »

Was the AS-1-90 a David Lunt design? David after all started and owned Coronado before selling it to Meade before he died. I always wondered why it wasn't passed down to his son Andy who is CEO of Lunt Solar Systems today.


Lunt 8x32 SUNoculars
Orion 70mm Solar Telescope
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Meade Coronado SolarMax II 60 DS
Meade Coronado SolarMax II 90 DS
Meade Coronado AZS Alt/Az Mount
Astro-Tech AT72EDII with Altair solar wedge
Celestron NexStar 102GT with Altair solar wedge
Losmandy AZ8 Alt/Az Mount
Sky-Watcher AZGTI Alt-Az GoTo mount
Cameras: ZWO ASI178MM, PGR Grasshopper, PGR Flea
Lunt, Coronado, TeleVue, Orion and Meade eyepieces

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Re: Solarscope SF70DS incoming

Post by Highbury Mark »

Quick update on how the TV85/SF70DS is performing. We’ve had some particularly steady seeing recently to complement raised solar activity, so I’ve been able to push up magnification through my binoviewers. Yesterday I was observing the active region at an amazing 140x (TeleVue Plossls 11mm, MarkV BV with 2.6x GPC) - a crazy power for a 70mm aperture system, yet the views remained sharp and relatively bright. That’s almost double the mag I tended to use with the Lunt LS60DS. And I could have gone higher. Obviously the contrast and finesse of the etalons are key, but am sure that the excellence of the TV85’s ED optics play a part.


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Re: Solarscope SF70DS incoming

Post by Highbury Mark »

Today complete mush at 38x......


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Re: Solarscope SF70DS incoming

Post by DeepSolar64 »

HM,
Your TV85-SS combo absolutely kills my Coronado SolarMax II 60. 50x is about max for it and I usually use it more at 16x- 21.5x-33x. I have to use the SMII90 to compete. 100x is usually easy with it and I have on occasions with really good seeing successfully used it in single stack as high as 200x.

JP


Lunt 8x32 SUNoculars
Orion 70mm Solar Telescope
Celestron AstroMaster Alt/Az Mount
Meade Coronado SolarMax II 60 DS
Meade Coronado SolarMax II 90 DS
Meade Coronado AZS Alt/Az Mount
Astro-Tech AT72EDII with Altair solar wedge
Celestron NexStar 102GT with Altair solar wedge
Losmandy AZ8 Alt/Az Mount
Sky-Watcher AZGTI Alt-Az GoTo mount
Cameras: ZWO ASI178MM, PGR Grasshopper, PGR Flea
Lunt, Coronado, TeleVue, Orion and Meade eyepieces

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Re: Solarscope SF70DS incoming

Post by Highbury Mark »

DeepSolar64 wrote: Thu Aug 20, 2020 5:26 am HM,
Your TV85-SS combo absolutely kills my Coronado SolarMax II 60. 50x is about max for it and I usually use it more at 16x- 21.5x-33x. I have to use the SMII90 to compete. 100x is usually easy with it and I have on occasions with really good seeing successfully used it in single stack as high as 200x.

JP
Wow - 200x must be incredible James when seeing allows. Must say I never expected to go as high as 140x - it’s probably only going to happen a few times each year. I was all set to sell my 15mm and 11mm TV Plossls as thought they’d be redundant, but thankful I didn’t.


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Re: Solarscope SF70DS incoming

Post by DeepSolar64 »

I love the SMII90. It does really well at powers 100x and beyond. Seeing is usually the limit. Single-Stack will usually take the highest powers best because the image is brighter through a single etalon versus through two. Still, even with double I often can easily exceed 100x again with seeing usually being the limit. I just wish I could use higher magnification on my SMII60.

I typically run lower with the 90. Usually 32x to 100x.


Lunt 8x32 SUNoculars
Orion 70mm Solar Telescope
Celestron AstroMaster Alt/Az Mount
Meade Coronado SolarMax II 60 DS
Meade Coronado SolarMax II 90 DS
Meade Coronado AZS Alt/Az Mount
Astro-Tech AT72EDII with Altair solar wedge
Celestron NexStar 102GT with Altair solar wedge
Losmandy AZ8 Alt/Az Mount
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Cameras: ZWO ASI178MM, PGR Grasshopper, PGR Flea
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Re: Solarscope SF70DS incoming

Post by Highbury Mark »

DeepSolar64 wrote: Thu Aug 20, 2020 6:06 pm I love the SMII90. It does really well at powers 100x and beyond. Seeing is usually the limit. Single-Stack will usually take the highest powers best because the image is brighter through a single etalon versus through two. Still, even with double I often can easily exceed 100x again with seeing usually being the limit. I just wish I could use higher magnification on my SMII60.

I typically run lower with the 90. Usually 32x to 100x.
It’s for this reason that I’m probably going to sell my Quark. With its in-built 4.2x barlow, and used with my 4” refractor, it’s often just too much for our seeing, even with a 40mm plossl and a 0.5x reducer.


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Re: Solarscope SF70DS incoming

Post by DeepSolar64 »

I know what you mean. Daytime heating here only occasionally lets me use magnifications above 100x.


Lunt 8x32 SUNoculars
Orion 70mm Solar Telescope
Celestron AstroMaster Alt/Az Mount
Meade Coronado SolarMax II 60 DS
Meade Coronado SolarMax II 90 DS
Meade Coronado AZS Alt/Az Mount
Astro-Tech AT72EDII with Altair solar wedge
Celestron NexStar 102GT with Altair solar wedge
Losmandy AZ8 Alt/Az Mount
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Cameras: ZWO ASI178MM, PGR Grasshopper, PGR Flea
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Re: Solarscope SF70DS incoming

Post by Radon86 »

Hi,
I am not sure if this thread is permanently closed now. Just wondering if we can get a brief glimpse of the imaging by Highbury Mark with the Solarscope double stack SF70 filters ??

Thanks.
Magnus


Solar: H-alpha": Quark Chromosphere filter; Baader white light filters
Scopes: Altair Astro Travel ED70mm (F 420mm, D=70mm);; Skywatcher 90mm (F 910mm D=90mm); GSO focuser;;Altair Astro 60mm guidescope (D=60mm,F=225mm)
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