Solarmax 60 + BF 15mm

[Charon_X]

I have the opportunity to buy Coronado Etalon 60mm + BF 15mm. Will such a set + refractor give the same image as a regular Solar Lunt / Coronado 60mm telescope? Or maybe we can somehow use a refractor with a larger diameter - maybe this etalon could be given somewhere at the beginning or in the middle of the tube + some ERF for the lens?

[Merlin66]

Charon,
I have used an original SM60 mounted on an ED80 successfully for many years.
IMHO opinion it works better than the current SM60II scope.

[Highbury Mark]

It really depends on the quality of the etalon to know precisely how it’ll perform. But paired with a small refractor (there’s no gain using a large refractor as you have to attach the SM60 to the front of the telescope, so it will have a 60mm aperture whatever your choice of scope) it should give you nice views of prominences, and fainter views of surface detail like filaments and active regions. To bring out more surface detail you’d need to add another external ‘double stack’ filter, which would narrow the bandwidth and improve contrast.

[DeepSolar64]

I have a Coronado SolarMax II 60 doublestacked scope. Overall I am satisfied with it. It's does well visually on low power full disc views. It's performance drops as the magnification increases. I almost never top 50x with it and run usually between 16x and 33x. It does well there. I also have the BF15 blocking filter. So far it has done well and gave no issues.

[Charon_X]

Thanks for the answers. The seller withdrew. I will be taking the new 50mm Lunt.

[DeepSolar64]

I don’t think you will lose with the Lunt LS50Tha. Good observing!

[RKBerta]

Charon,
I have used an original SM60 mounted on an ED80 successfully for many years.
IMHO opinion it works better than the current SM60II scope.

I have an original (around 25 years old) Coronado US made etalon used on 80mm three element Officina Stellare APO refractor with both BF15 and BF30. I also have a 4 year old Lunt 60mm Ha with pressure tuner and BF15. Both are close but I think I get a bit better contrast on surface detail with the external etalon with tilt tuner than the newer Lunt.

[DeepSolar64]

I would love to have one of the US made pre-Meade Coronado etalons to see how they compare with those of Meade Coronado. Many seem to prefer the pre-Meade ones.