Hello all - new member here

[StevieDvd]

I'm a new member here but have seen mention of the place and some of the more illustrious members in other forums.

Already have a PST, Baader ceramic herschel wedge and a now unused Thousand Oaks white light filter.

Having recently bought the herschel for white light I've become a little better at imaging, though still a novice. The next step for me is either a new HA scope to replace the PST or to gather the courage to do the mod.

I've been watching out for a used TAL 100RS or Vixen 80mm as donor candidates, the idea of cutting the scope puts me off buying new (or is that the cheapskate in me).

Have seen a cheap SW 80/900 refractor being advertised locally (£75 including basic tracking mount) and wondered if this was too low-level to use.

Once I have the donor scope where is best to get the D-ERF glass and holder from, are there any sellers here or is Teleskop Service the recommended route? Same goes for the 2" adapter to mount the PST.

Anyway as a new member I guess I have a lot of catching up on old posts to get up to speed. :

Steve
:thanx:

[marktownley]

Welcome! This is as cheap as you will get a PST nosepeice in the UK...

http://www.scopesnskies.com/AstroBoot?needle=coronado

I would get D-ERF from Teleskop service. Scope will work, though with anything the more you spend the better the result you will get...

[StevieDvd]

Thanks,

I never thought about lookng in astroboot, I probably saw the adapter without taking it in when I lasted looked there for bargains.

At least I can order that whilst waitng for a decent donor to come up used.

Steve

[mr40mm]

Welcome Steve. We've all had to start somewhere. Randy

[sullij1]

Steve,

Welcome and good luck with your mods. There is plenty of direction and resource here to get you through.

Best,

Joe

[swisswalter]

Hi Steve

welcome to that wonderful TOS free site, have fun have sun. Don't be afraid of the mod, it is easy and straight forward. Get a donor scope as big as money allows. 4-5" is great

[peter drew]

Welcome Steve. A 100mm mod is much better than a 80mm mod, identical job and similar price.

[StevieDvd]

Thanks for the warm 'sunny' welcome and the comments/suggestions.

The 100mm option does sound good, it also hits a bit of my obsessive compulsive need to have a professional looking scope than a budget one :whistle:

BTW swisswalter TOS free?? The only TOS I know of was the Atari ST one hmy:



Steve

[marktownley]

The 100mm Tal scope is an excellent option, I got mine from FLO http://www.firstlightoptics.com/tal/tal ... embly.html

I used a 100mm DERF. Here are some examples of images I took...

http://brierleyhillsolar.blogspot.co.uk ... chive.html

[sullij1]

Thanks for the warm 'sunny' welcome and the comments/suggestions.

The 100mm option does sound good, it also hits a bit of my obsessive compulsive need to have a professional looking scope than a budget one :whistle:

BTW swisswalter TOS free?? The only TOS I know of was the Atari ST one hmy:



Steve

Terms Of Service Free (TOS Free). CN has a policy under their "terms of service" that dis-allows any conversation on modified solar scopes and other stuff. Not found here, this site is much to do about getting better performance from your commercial and other off brand solar devices.

Best

Joe

[StevieDvd]

Well I've ordered the astroboot adapter so the stage 1 process has begun.

Had a little scare at work about redundancies so will be keeping the budget for this down to a reasonable level just in case a shame really as I have a 10% off code for Telescope House and saw a SolarMax II 60 BF15 which seems to be asking me to adopt it, but I guess that will have to wait now. :pinch:

So next will be the donor scope to decide on - still looking for a decent used one, as the D-ERF is the biggest cost - that will keep the scope size down. I have no workshop to make a holder (or wish to bodge one ala Heath Robinson)so will need rely on a purchased one.

Slowly getting there.

Steve

[peter drew]

Hello Steve. If you are happy with an internal ERF then the Baader 75mm D-ERF will cover you for apertures up to 150mm. If you are in the UK I can help you out with a suitable holder.

[Andy Devey]

Hi Steve

Welcome, here you have joined a very dynamic and experienced group that all help and encourage each other and for me the best forum by a clear astronomical unit!

Regards

Andy

The solar explorer

[StevieDvd]

Hello Steve. If you are happy with an internal ERF then the Baader 75mm D-ERF will cover you for apertures up to 150mm. If you are in the UK I can help you out with a suitable holder.

I am in the UK Peter but had not thought about an internal ERF, does that depend on the donor scope choice? My major concern has been that the d-erf is fitted properly and with no chance of falling off hmy: You should see what I did to the white light filter I bought, that was a glass one in a metal holder as the plastic film just seems wrong.

Hopefully I can sort out a scope this week.

Thanks

Steve

[peter drew]

Steve. Provided that the donor scope does not exceed 150mm aperture the 75mm ERF fitted internally will be large enough for the PST mod. Internal fitting will protect the ERF to a certain extent and there is little danger of accidental damage. Happily, Ha systems contain several safety inducing components, if any one fails there is not much chance of immediate eye damage,unlike white light observation which popularly uses just one safety barrier. Good luck with your donor purchase, remember that it needs to be F10 or longer for full aperture results.

[StevieDvd]

Thanks for all the tips and suggestions regarding the PST mod but I'm afraid the call of a commercially available higher spec got the better of me. I've ordered the Solarmax 60 II BF15 which should be with me on Tuesday.

From what I've read I'll be able to get full disc images with my DMK41 which is currently used with the Baader ceramic Herschel wedge for white light. I guess I'll use the DMK21 for white light close ups on the Baader instead.

I think what tipped the balance was the idea that I could use the SM60 etalon and the BF15 on a better scope later with just a simple adapter for the etalon, but that will hopefully be put off for a while as I get used to the SM60 as is.

Now I've just got to sort out my imaging techniques and post processing. I've not been happy enough with any images so far but I am improving in technique and my raw images have been getting a lot better.