How much do you need? I have a big sheet of Baader visual film, but am making a couple filters this week. I might have enough for a small scope left over. There are a couple ISS solar transits in Northern Utah coming up in the next week or so. Jared On Sat, Sep 3, 2011 at 11:46 AM, D P Pierce <starsbirdsglyphs@gmail.com> wrote:
I need some inexpensive solar filter material..
Deloy Pierce
Just curious, since I don't know much about this end of things... would this film be "as good" as more expensive glass filters? I was planning to buy a filter for my 8" scope, but it looks like this stuff would end up costing about $100 less. Also, how would you go about making a filter using this material? would you just make a frame to fit over the end of the scope? On Sat, Sep 3, 2011 at 1:15 PM, Jared Smith <jared@smithplanet.com> wrote:
How much do you need? I have a big sheet of Baader visual film, but am making a couple filters this week. I might have enough for a small scope left over.
There are a couple ISS solar transits in Northern Utah coming up in the next week or so.
Jared
On Sat, Sep 3, 2011 at 11:46 AM, D P Pierce <starsbirdsglyphs@gmail.com> wrote:
I need some inexpensive solar filter material..
Deloy Pierce
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To Chrismo, You can make a filter very inexpensively this way. I made one for my 10" by sandwiching the baader film between two rings cut out of black foam-core board and then making a ring around the outside using two layers of black poster board. I finished off the edge with black vinyl electrical tape and it looks great, works great and cost me less than $30. I think that the view from this is as good as a glass filter. Thanks Rodger Fry -----Original Message----- From: utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Chrismo Sent: Saturday, September 03, 2011 3:09 PM To: Utah Astronomy Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Need solar filter material Just curious, since I don't know much about this end of things... would this film be "as good" as more expensive glass filters? I was planning to buy a filter for my 8" scope, but it looks like this stuff would end up costing about $100 less. Also, how would you go about making a filter using this material? would you just make a frame to fit over the end of the scope? On Sat, Sep 3, 2011 at 1:15 PM, Jared Smith <jared@smithplanet.com> wrote:
How much do you need? I have a big sheet of Baader visual film, but am making a couple filters this week. I might have enough for a small scope left over.
There are a couple ISS solar transits in Northern Utah coming up in the next week or so.
Jared
On Sat, Sep 3, 2011 at 11:46 AM, D P Pierce <starsbirdsglyphs@gmail.com> wrote:
I need some inexpensive solar filter material..
Deloy Pierce
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awesome! thanks for the info! On Sat, Sep 3, 2011 at 4:30 PM, Rodger C. Fry <rcfry@comcast.net> wrote:
To Chrismo,
You can make a filter very inexpensively this way. I made one for my 10" by sandwiching the baader film between two rings cut out of black foam-core board and then making a ring around the outside using two layers of black poster board. I finished off the edge with black vinyl electrical tape and it looks great, works great and cost me less than $30. I think that the view from this is as good as a glass filter.
Thanks Rodger Fry
-----Original Message----- From: utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Chrismo Sent: Saturday, September 03, 2011 3:09 PM To: Utah Astronomy Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Need solar filter material
Just curious, since I don't know much about this end of things... would this film be "as good" as more expensive glass filters? I was planning to buy a filter for my 8" scope, but it looks like this stuff would end up costing about $100 less. Also, how would you go about making a filter using this material? would you just make a frame to fit over the end of the scope?
On Sat, Sep 3, 2011 at 1:15 PM, Jared Smith <jared@smithplanet.com> wrote:
How much do you need? I have a big sheet of Baader visual film, but am making a couple filters this week. I might have enough for a small scope left over.
There are a couple ISS solar transits in Northern Utah coming up in the next week or so.
Jared
On Sat, Sep 3, 2011 at 11:46 AM, D P Pierce <starsbirdsglyphs@gmail.com> wrote:
I need some inexpensive solar filter material..
Deloy Pierce
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The films are not as durable as the glass. The films are prone to getting holes. I've had my glass filter for over 20 years. When your eyesight is at stake to your really want to scrimp, the glass filters are not expensive.
To Chrismo,
You can make a filter very inexpensively this way. I made one for my 10" by sandwiching the baader film between two rings cut out of black foam-core board and then making a ring around the outside using two layers of black poster board. I finished off the edge with black vinyl electrical tape and it looks great, works great and cost me less than $30. I think that the view from this is as good as a glass filter.
Thanks Rodger Fry
-----Original Message----- From: utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Chrismo Sent: Saturday, September 03, 2011 3:09 PM To: Utah Astronomy Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Need solar filter material
Just curious, since I don't know much about this end of things... would this film be "as good" as more expensive glass filters? I was planning to buy a filter for my 8" scope, but it looks like this stuff would end up costing about $100 less. Also, how would you go about making a filter using this material? would you just make a frame to fit over the end of the scope?
On Sat, Sep 3, 2011 at 1:15 PM, Jared Smith <jared@smithplanet.com> wrote:
How much do you need? I have a big sheet of Baader visual film, but am making a couple filters this week. I might have enough for a small scope left over.
There are a couple ISS solar transits in Northern Utah coming up in the next week or so.
Jared
On Sat, Sep 3, 2011 at 11:46 AM, D P Pierce <starsbirdsglyphs@gmail.com> wrote:
I need some inexpensive solar filter material..
Deloy Pierce
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Solar filters. Good topic. Here is a picture of my 50mm f/9 table-top white light solar scope, with Baader filter installed over objective. The cell slides on and off. It fits snugly due to a felt liner. This telescope is made of PVC and ABS tubing. The tube rings are made from sheet PVC, shaped with a router. The cradle plate is made from 1/4" aluminum, cut on a table saw. The eyepiece is a 26mm Plossl, the aluminum barrel components were turned on my mini-lathe. Yields about 17x with this setup. http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii24/JethroTull1958/001-5.jpg Here are some other detail shots of the filter cell and eyepiece: http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii24/JethroTull1958/004-3.jpg http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii24/JethroTull1958/005-2.jpg http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii24/JethroTull1958/002-4.jpg http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii24/JethroTull1958/003-4.jpg When I get some time I'll find the box with the solar cells I made for other small scopes, as well as some PVC cells for 25mm, 70mm and 80mm binoculars. I also am about 90% done with a molded fiberglass cell for my 6" f/8 Newtonian, using the same mold that I made the dust covers from. I'll post pics of that soon, if anyone is interested. I just need to install the felt liner, and the Baader material itself. Some notes on solar filters- Make sure no stray light gets around your filter cell. It will degrade contrast, sometimes very adversely, depending on the light leak. This goes for both ends of the telescope, Newtonians especially. Baader mylar is diffraction-limited. I like it a lot more than any of my commercially-produced evaporated metal-on-glass filters (Celestron and Thousand Oaks). The color is natural and not tinted strongly orange or blue. Contrast is much, much better and more detail is visible to my eye. Mylar is more fragile than glass, but it's not as bad as you think. Pinholes can be filled with opaquing fluid, scratches darkened with a Sharpie. You need a lot of such repairs before the filter starts to degrade the image. It's also cheaper than glass, so you can have replacement filter material handy when needed. I have some Mylar filters that are approaching 20 years old, with no problems. Glass filters can also be damaged. Unlike Mylar, they can shatter if dropped. The evaporated metal coatings on them are just as vulnerable as the coating on your telescope mirror. Even hardened dielectric coatings can be scratched and peeled. Frequent cleaning can damage them. All solar filters, regardless of type, should be held up to the sun in front of the naked eye, for inspection before each use. Do not use if you see unfiltered sunlight coming through a pinhole or scratch. Repair or replace before use. Forgive me if much of this is a repost. I have 54 unread list threads to wade through, lol.
so this is a telescope you built? On Sun, Sep 4, 2011 at 4:34 PM, Chuck Hards <chuck.hards@gmail.com> wrote:
Solar filters. Good topic.
Here is a picture of my 50mm f/9 table-top white light solar scope, with Baader filter installed over objective. The cell slides on and off. It fits snugly due to a felt liner.
This telescope is made of PVC and ABS tubing. The tube rings are made from sheet PVC, shaped with a router. The cradle plate is made from 1/4" aluminum, cut on a table saw. The eyepiece is a 26mm Plossl, the aluminum barrel components were turned on my mini-lathe. Yields about 17x with this setup.
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii24/JethroTull1958/001-5.jpg
Here are some other detail shots of the filter cell and eyepiece:
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii24/JethroTull1958/004-3.jpg http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii24/JethroTull1958/005-2.jpg http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii24/JethroTull1958/002-4.jpg http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii24/JethroTull1958/003-4.jpg
When I get some time I'll find the box with the solar cells I made for other small scopes, as well as some PVC cells for 25mm, 70mm and 80mm binoculars.
I also am about 90% done with a molded fiberglass cell for my 6" f/8 Newtonian, using the same mold that I made the dust covers from. I'll post pics of that soon, if anyone is interested. I just need to install the felt liner, and the Baader material itself.
Some notes on solar filters-
Make sure no stray light gets around your filter cell. It will degrade contrast, sometimes very adversely, depending on the light leak. This goes for both ends of the telescope, Newtonians especially.
Baader mylar is diffraction-limited. I like it a lot more than any of my commercially-produced evaporated metal-on-glass filters (Celestron and Thousand Oaks). The color is natural and not tinted strongly orange or blue. Contrast is much, much better and more detail is visible to my eye.
Mylar is more fragile than glass, but it's not as bad as you think. Pinholes can be filled with opaquing fluid, scratches darkened with a Sharpie. You need a lot of such repairs before the filter starts to degrade the image. It's also cheaper than glass, so you can have replacement filter material handy when needed. I have some Mylar filters that are approaching 20 years old, with no problems.
Glass filters can also be damaged. Unlike Mylar, they can shatter if dropped. The evaporated metal coatings on them are just as vulnerable as the coating on your telescope mirror. Even hardened dielectric coatings can be scratched and peeled. Frequent cleaning can damage them.
All solar filters, regardless of type, should be held up to the sun in front of the naked eye, for inspection before each use. Do not use if you see unfiltered sunlight coming through a pinhole or scratch. Repair or replace before use.
Forgive me if much of this is a repost. I have 54 unread list threads to wade through, lol.
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On 9/4/11, Chrismo <djchrismo@gmail.com> wrote:
so this is a telescope you built?
Yes it is. Most of my scopes are home-made. This one features a surplus 50mm f/9 objective, PVC tube, lathe-turned endpiece. Commercial diagonal. Lathe-turned PVC objective cell. I do all my turning on a hobbyists mini-lathe. Harbor Freight has one on-sale now for $399. The eyepiece is one of my favorites. I did a whole series of aluminum barrel eyepieces about ten years ago. Again, turned on the mini lathe. This is the one I use side-by-side with my PST, so I can have white light views of the sun in addition to H-a, at a similar image scale. I've got dozens of home-built scopes, lots of small refractors among them.
Dan & I (probably mostly Dan) made a 8" Baader film filter for my 8" Nexstar probably 5 or 6 years ago, or more. The opening is less than 3" diameter and is off- set to avoid the inner obstructions). The film is sandwiched between 2 layers of tagboard and has worked very well for me. I do not do a lot of solar observing with it, only really interested in sunspot activity as it applies to ham radio. I really enjoy the Ha filtered scopes, which to me show a lot more of the solar activity, but so far just have not bit the bullet and purchased one. One caveat, when using a film filter, _always_ hold it up to the sun and visually look for pinholes in the material. I also keep it in a box which keeps it clean and protected when not in use. lh On 9/4/2011 10:40 AM, erikhansen@thebluezone.net wrote:
The films are not as durable as the glass. The films are prone to getting holes. I've had my glass filter for over 20 years. When your eyesight is at stake to your really want to scrimp, the glass filters are not expensive.
To Chrismo,
You can make a filter very inexpensively this way. I made one for my 10" by sandwiching the baader film between two rings cut out of black foam-core board and then making a ring around the outside using two layers of black poster board. I finished off the edge with black vinyl electrical tape and it looks great, works great and cost me less than $30. I think that the view from this is as good as a glass filter.
Thanks Rodger Fry
-----Original Message----- From: utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Chrismo Sent: Saturday, September 03, 2011 3:09 PM To: Utah Astronomy Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Need solar filter material
Just curious, since I don't know much about this end of things... would this film be "as good" as more expensive glass filters? I was planning to buy a filter for my 8" scope, but it looks like this stuff would end up costing about $100 less. Also, how would you go about making a filter using this material? would you just make a frame to fit over the end of the scope?
On Sat, Sep 3, 2011 at 1:15 PM, Jared Smith<jared@smithplanet.com> wrote:
How much do you need? I have a big sheet of Baader visual film, but am making a couple filters this week. I might have enough for a small scope left over.
There are a couple ISS solar transits in Northern Utah coming up in the next week or so.
Jared
On Sat, Sep 3, 2011 at 11:46 AM, D P Pierce<starsbirdsglyphs@gmail.com> wrote:
I need some inexpensive solar filter material..
Deloy Pierce
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On Sat, Sep 3, 2011 at 3:09 PM, Chrismo <djchrismo@gmail.com> wrote:
Just curious, since I don't know much about this end of things... would this film be "as good" as more expensive glass filters?
I think the Baader film is just as good as the glass filters, so long as you are looking for a standard ND filter. And it's much less expensive. I've always purchased mine at http://astrozap.com/scripts/prodList.asp?idCategory=31 and made home-made filter cells precisely as Rodger described. A few lessons learned: - The photographic filter (ND=3.8) is NOT safe for visual observing, even with eyepiece filters - not just because it's quite bright, but because it lets through way too much UV. I learned this the hard way - thankfully my eyes weren't permanently damaged. - For larger scopes (maybe > 6"), use either the visual filter material (ND=5) or use a smaller, off-set photographic filter. I did a full aperture photographic filter on my 8" Newtonian and even at 1/4000th second at ISO100, my exposure are slightly overexposed. Here's a photo I took some months back - http://smithplanet.com/astro/solarsystem/solar/5-2011/final.jpg Note that this is false coloring. Jared
Nice photo, Jared! Thanks, Joe (PS, are you a member of SLAS? If so you could put it in the club's on-line gallery, in your own section._ ________________________________ From: Jared Smith <jared@smithplanet.com> To: Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Saturday, September 3, 2011 7:40 PM Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Need solar filter material On Sat, Sep 3, 2011 at 3:09 PM, Chrismo <djchrismo@gmail.com> wrote:
Just curious, since I don't know much about this end of things... would this film be "as good" as more expensive glass filters?
I think the Baader film is just as good as the glass filters, so long as you are looking for a standard ND filter. And it's much less expensive. I've always purchased mine at http://astrozap.com/scripts/prodList.asp?idCategory=31 and made home-made filter cells precisely as Rodger described. A few lessons learned: - The photographic filter (ND=3.8) is NOT safe for visual observing, even with eyepiece filters - not just because it's quite bright, but because it lets through way too much UV. I learned this the hard way - thankfully my eyes weren't permanently damaged. - For larger scopes (maybe > 6"), use either the visual filter material (ND=5) or use a smaller, off-set photographic filter. I did a full aperture photographic filter on my 8" Newtonian and even at 1/4000th second at ISO100, my exposure are slightly overexposed. Here's a photo I took some months back - http://smithplanet.com/astro/solarsystem/solar/5-2011/final.jpg Note that this is false coloring. Jared _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php
thanks for the tips, and the cool picture. stupid question... what's a "standard ND filter"? and what else would you use and what would be the difference? i'm planning to use it on an 8" dob with a non-modified Canon Rebel XS On Sat, Sep 3, 2011 at 7:40 PM, Jared Smith <jared@smithplanet.com> wrote:
On Sat, Sep 3, 2011 at 3:09 PM, Chrismo <djchrismo@gmail.com> wrote:
Just curious, since I don't know much about this end of things... would this film be "as good" as more expensive glass filters?
I think the Baader film is just as good as the glass filters, so long as you are looking for a standard ND filter. And it's much less expensive. I've always purchased mine at http://astrozap.com/scripts/prodList.asp?idCategory=31 and made home-made filter cells precisely as Rodger described.
A few lessons learned:
- The photographic filter (ND=3.8) is NOT safe for visual observing, even with eyepiece filters - not just because it's quite bright, but because it lets through way too much UV. I learned this the hard way - thankfully my eyes weren't permanently damaged.
- For larger scopes (maybe > 6"), use either the visual filter material (ND=5) or use a smaller, off-set photographic filter. I did a full aperture photographic filter on my 8" Newtonian and even at 1/4000th second at ISO100, my exposure are slightly overexposed.
Here's a photo I took some months back - http://smithplanet.com/astro/solarsystem/solar/5-2011/final.jpg Note that this is false coloring.
Jared
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On Sat, Sep 3, 2011 at 9:25 PM, Chrismo <djchrismo@gmail.com> wrote:
thanks for the tips, and the cool picture. stupid question... what's a "standard ND filter"? and what else would you use and what would be the difference?
Baader film is (pretty much) a Neutral Density filter, meaning that it filters most visible wavelengths of light about equally. What you see is a much, much dimmer version (Baader visual film allows only 1/10000th of the light) of about what the sun actually looks like. These are often called "white light" filter. They allow good observation and photos of the surface of the sun, sunspots, and some surface details. There are lots of other types of filters you can get that block, filter, or enhance other wavelengths. For example, a Hydrogen Alpha filter will only transmit the deep red color of light emitted by hydrogen atoms. This allows you to see different types of surface and atmospheric details, prominences (the flame-like ejections from the surface), and other features you can't see in white light through an ND filter. There are also Calcium filters and Helium filters for viewing certain types of surface details. Anything other than ND filters are pretty expensive. You're typically best getting them in a package like the Coronado PST line of telescopes. Jared
Years ago Roger Tuthill used 2 nesting aluminum pie pans with holes cut out and the material wedged in between. I do NOT KNOW if he had any patent on it or not, but don't think so. ALSO, be sure you have the right type of flexible mylar film to protect the eyes. Chuck Hards might be able to advise. Not all mylar is safe. Tuthill sandwiched 2 sheets together I think with the silvered sides facing one another to prevent scratching and leaking sunlight. Be SURE to a fix the material and pie pans so there is NO chance thay might separate at the wrong time. Best to epoxy together. Then find a round plasrtic lid pie cover to store it in. Good Luck and Be Sure and Be Safe!!! --- On Sat, 9/3/11, Chrismo <djchrismo@gmail.com> wrote: From: Chrismo <djchrismo@gmail.com> Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Need solar filter material To: "Utah Astronomy" <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Date: Saturday, September 3, 2011, 2:09 PM Just curious, since I don't know much about this end of things... would this film be "as good" as more expensive glass filters? I was planning to buy a filter for my 8" scope, but it looks like this stuff would end up costing about $100 less. Also, how would you go about making a filter using this material? would you just make a frame to fit over the end of the scope? On Sat, Sep 3, 2011 at 1:15 PM, Jared Smith <jared@smithplanet.com> wrote:
How much do you need? I have a big sheet of Baader visual film, but am making a couple filters this week. I might have enough for a small scope left over.
There are a couple ISS solar transits in Northern Utah coming up in the next week or so.
Jared
On Sat, Sep 3, 2011 at 11:46 AM, D P Pierce <starsbirdsglyphs@gmail.com> wrote:
I need some inexpensive solar filter material..
Deloy Pierce
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Wow, a blast from the past there, Jim! I remember "Solar Skreen", lol. Worst resolution ever, it wasn't even close to diffraction limited. Wasn't the material dimpled? But I think Tuthill was the first to actually popularize mylar. On 9/7/11, Jim Stitley <sitf2000@yahoo.com> wrote:
Years ago Roger Tuthill used 2 nesting aluminum pie pans with holes cut out and the material wedged in between. I do NOT KNOW if he had any patent on it or not, but don't think so. ALSO, be sure you have the right type of flexible mylar film to protect the eyes. Chuck Hards might be able to advise. Not all mylar is safe. Tuthill sandwiched 2 sheets together I think with the silvered sides facing one another to prevent scratching and leaking sunlight. Be SURE to a fix the material and pie pans so there is NO chance thay might separate at the wrong time. Best to epoxy together. Then find a round plasrtic lid pie cover to store it in. Good Luck and Be Sure and Be Safe!!!
Ah yes, Roger W. Tuthill. We're dating ourselves here people. I also remember that his filters looked so bad that he included a note saying that they looked bad but worked fine. I had one for my C-8. I did not like that it made the Sun look blue but it did show sunspots rather well. And it was cheap. patrick On 07 Sep 2011, at 12:51, Chuck Hards wrote:
Wow, a blast from the past there, Jim!
I remember "Solar Skreen", lol. Worst resolution ever, it wasn't even close to diffraction limited. Wasn't the material dimpled? But I think Tuthill was the first to actually popularize mylar.
On 9/7/11, Jim Stitley <sitf2000@yahoo.com> wrote:
Years ago Roger Tuthill used 2 nesting aluminum pie pans with holes cut out and the material wedged in between. I do NOT KNOW if he had any patent on it or not, but don't think so. ALSO, be sure you have the right type of flexible mylar film to protect the eyes. Chuck Hards might be able to advise. Not all mylar is safe. Tuthill sandwiched 2 sheets together I think with the silvered sides facing one another to prevent scratching and leaking sunlight. Be SURE to a fix the material and pie pans so there is NO chance thay might separate at the wrong time. Best to epoxy together. Then find a round plasrtic lid pie cover to store it in. Good Luck and Be Sure and Be Safe!!!
Yes, it did work well but did look amateurish - I didn't mind the blue color - for me seemed to enhance the sunspots - was 'cool' on the eyes - Patrick - yes, one of us is older than ( fill in thne word ). I lived in NJ when I bought my first C-8 from Roger. Got a couple of his homedmade gadgets - looked very homemade but worked - like his ()truly) gunsight North Star aligner. He used to do free laser collimation if you took your scope to his house - very precise. Trippy guy - perhaps startdust in his cerebral veins. PEACE - I miss SLAS since we retired to Sedona last May. Jim --- On Wed, 9/7/11, Patrick Wiggins <paw@wirelessbeehive.com> wrote: From: Patrick Wiggins <paw@wirelessbeehive.com> Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Need solar filter material To: "Utah Astronomy" <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Date: Wednesday, September 7, 2011, 9:24 PM Ah yes, Roger W. Tuthill. We're dating ourselves here people. I also remember that his filters looked so bad that he included a note saying that they looked bad but worked fine. I had one for my C-8. I did not like that it made the Sun look blue but it did show sunspots rather well. And it was cheap. patrick On 07 Sep 2011, at 12:51, Chuck Hards wrote:
Wow, a blast from the past there, Jim!
I remember "Solar Skreen", lol. Worst resolution ever, it wasn't even close to diffraction limited. Wasn't the material dimpled? But I think Tuthill was the first to actually popularize mylar.
On 9/7/11, Jim Stitley <sitf2000@yahoo.com> wrote:
Years ago Roger Tuthill used 2 nesting aluminum pie pans with holes cut out and the material wedged in between. I do NOT KNOW if he had any patent on it or not, but don't think so. ALSO, be sure you have the right type of flexible mylar film to protect the eyes. Chuck Hards might be able to advise. Not all mylar is safe. Tuthill sandwiched 2 sheets together I think with the silvered sides facing one another to prevent scratching and leaking sunlight. Be SURE to a fix the material and pie pans so there is NO chance thay might separate at the wrong time. Best to epoxy together. Then find a round plasrtic lid pie cover to store it in. Good Luck and Be Sure and Be Safe!!!
_______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php
I still use my homemade solar filter made with the Tuthill Mylar material. If any of you come to the ATM session on 9/17, I'll show you the filter and we can check out the sun also. I use it on my 8" dob. When I was making the filter, I spoke to him on the phone and wanting to "wind" him up a little, I told him I looked through a single layer at the sun, and I think he about fell off his chair. He said something like, I hope you can still see out of that eye. All was well and I had it correctly set up with both layers facing each other. Mat -----Original Message----- From: utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Jim Stitley Sent: Friday, September 09, 2011 2:44 PM To: Utah Astronomy Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Need solar filter material Yes, it did work well but did look amateurish - I didn't mind the blue color - for me seemed to enhance the sunspots - was 'cool' on the eyes - Patrick - yes, one of us is older than ( fill in thne word ). I lived in NJ when I bought my first C-8 from Roger. Got a couple of his homedmade gadgets - looked very homemade but worked - like his ()truly) gunsight North Star aligner. He used to do free laser collimation if you took your scope to his house - very precise. Trippy guy - perhaps startdust in his cerebral veins. PEACE - I miss SLAS since we retired to Sedona last May. Jim --- On Wed, 9/7/11, Patrick Wiggins <paw@wirelessbeehive.com> wrote: From: Patrick Wiggins <paw@wirelessbeehive.com> Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Need solar filter material To: "Utah Astronomy" <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Date: Wednesday, September 7, 2011, 9:24 PM Ah yes, Roger W. Tuthill. We're dating ourselves here people. I also remember that his filters looked so bad that he included a note saying that they looked bad but worked fine. I had one for my C-8. I did not like that it made the Sun look blue but it did show sunspots rather well. And it was cheap. patrick On 07 Sep 2011, at 12:51, Chuck Hards wrote:
Wow, a blast from the past there, Jim!
I remember "Solar Skreen", lol. Worst resolution ever, it wasn't even close to diffraction limited. Wasn't the material dimpled? But I think Tuthill was the first to actually popularize mylar.
On 9/7/11, Jim Stitley <sitf2000@yahoo.com> wrote:
Years ago Roger Tuthill used 2 nesting aluminum pie pans with holes cut out and the material wedged in between. I do NOT KNOW if he had any patent on it or not, but don't think so. ALSO, be sure you have the right type of flexible mylar film to protect the eyes. Chuck Hards might be able to advise. Not all mylar is safe. Tuthill sandwiched 2 sheets together I think with the silvered sides facing one another to prevent scratching and leaking sunlight. Be SURE to a fix the material and pie pans so there is NO chance thay might separate at the wrong time. Best to epoxy together. Then find a round plasrtic lid pie cover to store it in. Good Luck and Be Sure and Be Safe!!!
_______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- This message and any included attachments are from Siemens Medical Solutions and are intended only for the addressee(s). The information contained herein may include trade secrets or privileged or otherwise confidential information. Unauthorized review, forwarding, printing, copying, distributing, or using such information is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. If you received this message in error, or have reason to believe you are not authorized to receive it, please promptly delete this message and notify the sender by e-mail with a copy to Central.SecurityOffice@siemens.com Thank you
DeLoy, I found my Baader film. Tell me the size you need again and your address. I can probably drop it off sometime Friday.
participants (11)
-
Chrismo -
Chuck Hards -
D P Pierce -
erikhansen＠thebluezone.net -
Hutchings, Mat (H USA) -
Jared Smith -
Jim Stitley -
Joe Bauman -
Larry Holmes -
Patrick Wiggins -
Rodger C. Fry