Is it possible for there to be portable H-Alpha solar binoculars?
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Is it possible for there to be portable H-Alpha solar binoculars?
Technology is constantly improving and there are more offerings of solar telescopes available than before. Do you see the possibility of a company like Lunt, Daystar, or Coronado releasing portable H-alpha solar binoculars? What would the main challenges be?
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Re: Is it possible for there to be portable H-Alpha solar binoculars?
The challenge for a Binocular would be to pair two etalons so a better solution would be a singe short telescope with a Binoviewer or Binocular or whatever it is called, behind it.
BTW, I do not think DayStar is not able to do that after the experience I had with them. Rant over
BTW, I do not think DayStar is not able to do that after the experience I had with them. Rant over
Last edited by rsfoto on Thu May 25, 2023 2:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.
regards Rainer
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North 22° West 101°
Observatorio Real de 14
San Luis Potosi Mexico
North 22° West 101°
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Re: Is it possible for there to be portable H-Alpha solar binoculars?
It’s possible I guess. The etalons would probably be tuned with a shared wheel between them.
Modders surely have done this successfully. Mark!?
Modders surely have done this successfully. Mark!?
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Meade Coronado SolarMax II 90 DS
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Astro-Tech AT72EDII with Altair solar wedge
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Losmandy AZ8 Alt/Az Mount
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Re: Is it possible for there to be portable H-Alpha solar binoculars?
Hi James,DeepSolar64 wrote: ↑Wed May 24, 2023 10:02 pm It’s possible I guess. The etalons would probably be tuned with a shared wheel between them.
Modders surely have done this successfully. Mark!?
That is the least of a problem.The etalons would probably be tuned with a shared wheel between them.
The real problem is to get two 100% identical etalons if you want an etalon on each side of the binocular, if not the bad one will spoil the view of the better one as you brain will average both views.
IMHO
regards Rainer
Observatorio Real de 14
San Luis Potosi Mexico
North 22° West 101°
Observatorio Real de 14
San Luis Potosi Mexico
North 22° West 101°
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Re: Is it possible for there to be portable H-Alpha solar binoculars?
. True that!! Commercial etalons are rarely consistent.rsfoto wrote: ↑Thu May 25, 2023 2:18 amHi James,DeepSolar64 wrote: ↑Wed May 24, 2023 10:02 pm It’s possible I guess. The etalons would probably be tuned with a shared wheel between them.
Modders surely have done this successfully. Mark!?
That is the least of a problem.The etalons would probably be tuned with a shared wheel between them.
The real problem is to get two 100% identical etalons if you want an etalon on each side of the binocular, if not the bad one will spoil the view of the better one as you brain will average both views.
IMHO
Lunt 8x32 SUNoculars
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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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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
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Re: Is it possible for there to be portable H-Alpha solar binoculars?
Here is my 0.3A H-alpha binocular. I made it into a monocular but got to exploit the 15x and image stabilization of the Cannon. Not overly portable, but was fun to put together and view through.
George
George
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Re: Is it possible for there to be portable H-Alpha solar binoculars?
George,
How did it work as a binocular?
James.
How did it work as a binocular?
James.
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
Visual Observer
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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: Is it possible for there to be portable H-Alpha solar binoculars?
As I understand, this configuration works only as a monocular.
But then there's the question: what's the most compact binocular H-alpha setup we could think of, using the components currently in circulation? Maybe something like: take the (discontinued) LS35 etalon, put it on a 9x50 finder, attach a binoviewer at the back?
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Re: Is it possible for there to be portable H-Alpha solar binoculars?
Hmm... I am surprised a modder hasn't done a successful Ha binocular, despite the difficulty of finding quality matched etalons.
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
Visual Observer
" Way more fun to see it! "
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: Is it possible for there to be portable H-Alpha solar binoculars?
What would be the point of using such a small aperture with a expensive etalon? I doubt one would see a lot of chromosphere details for the pricepoint.
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Re: Is it possible for there to be portable H-Alpha solar binoculars?
True that! It looks like a Solar Spectrum.
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
Visual Observer
" Way more fun to see it! "
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: Is it possible for there to be portable H-Alpha solar binoculars?
I mean in general, Georges experiment looks like fun, but i doubt he got the filter just for to use on the binoculars.
Triband C9.25
H-a: Quark Chromosphere with BF mod
WL: Antlia 500nm/ 3nm, 393 nm/ 3nm
Ca-K: homebrew (includes 2x 1.5A filters, thanks Apollo)
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-2x TMB 1.8x
H-a: Quark Chromosphere with BF mod
WL: Antlia 500nm/ 3nm, 393 nm/ 3nm
Ca-K: homebrew (includes 2x 1.5A filters, thanks Apollo)
Player One Apollo Max + Mars MII
Barlows:
-2x Gerd Düring 2.7x
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Re: Is it possible for there to be portable H-Alpha solar binoculars?
There's quite a few pairs been made - search the mods section.
Challenge will be getting 2 identical etalons.
Challenge will be getting 2 identical etalons.
http://brierleyhillsolar.blogspot.co.uk/
Solar images, a collection of all the most up to date live solar data on the web, imaging & processing tutorials - please take a look!
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Re: Is it possible for there to be portable H-Alpha solar binoculars?
well are there any commercial models available? and viable enough to be affordable, in comparable price range of a PST or less?
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Re: Is it possible for there to be portable H-Alpha solar binoculars?
I don’t know of any commercially produced Ha binoculars though WL ones are common.
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
Visual Observer
" Way more fun to see it! "
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
Visual Observer
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Re: Is it possible for there to be portable H-Alpha solar binoculars?
Yes, exactly, it was just for fun. I mainly used it on my AP155EDF, usually double stacked with a Lunt DSII unit to get rid of the double limb. It worked great. It ran into premature deterioration, and it has been in Mark's shop. I am currently using a Lunt LS80 DSII (sans objective) inside my AP155 and liking it a lot.
It seems to me that the benefit of the binocular is the improved contrast by using two eyes. You don't need to double the aperture as you would for dim night sky objects and there is obviously no parallax. Given the weight and cost, I would go for a single etalon plus blocking filter with a binoviewer behind it. I would want image stabilization to get to a high enough power to make it worthwhile. I am not sure if an image-stabilized binocular could be repurposed for this.
On the other hand, it might be worth having two etalons plus blocking filters just to avoid the hassle of the single etalon, then the image stabilization, then the beam splitter and prisms, then the eyepieces.
You don't need a big etalon if you limit to 15x.
But if it could be built, it would be really nice for quick views.
George