Light trap material

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John Baars Netherlands
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Light trap material

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Post by John Baars »

Two weeks ago I ordered a piece of Protostar light trap material in the US. Today it arrived. I put it inside a dewcap for the 150 mm achromat and the space right behind the lens, but just before the first aperture diaphragm. I can use that stuff well if Orion passes just above a very neighboring lamppost. I put it just behind the lenses of my 10X50 Jenoptem binoculars too; it was already dark there, thanks to my shielding and painting job there, but it could have been darker.

I have had good experiences with Protostar. It is blacker than the latest BLK3.0 paint and much less sensitive to obliquely incident light. The hairs do not come of and have microscopic sharp edges and hooks that capture dust. At least it looked like that under the microscope. This flocking material has been in my OMC140 for 18 years and I don't have one complaint. Messages about releasing glue are correct insofar as it wants to release in the event of shrinkage (cold) in places where you have had it with your greasy fingers. Some glue was once good for that. You have to glue it in strips of 4 inches and not much wider or it becomes more difficult to handle. It seems to light up in IR light, but that doesn't bother me for my visual use. As far as I am concerned: recommended!

https://www.fpi-protostar.com/flock.htm
Refractors in frequency of use : *SW Evostar 120ED F/7.5 (all round ), * Vixen 102ED F/9 (vintage), both on Vixen GPDX.
GrabnGo on Alt/AZ : *SW Startravel 102 F/5 refractor( widefield, Sun, push-to), *OMC140 Maksutov F/14.3 ( planets).
Most used Eyepieces: *Panoptic 24, *Morpheus 14, *Leica ASPH zoom, *Zeiss barlow, *Pentax XO5.
Commonly used bino's : *Jena 10X50 , * Canon 10X30 IS, *Swarovski Habicht 7X42, * Celestron 15X70, *Kasai 2.3X40
Rijswijk Public Observatory: * Astro-Physics Starfire 130 f/8, * 6 inch Newton, * C9.25, * Meade 14 inch LX600 ACF, *Lunt.
Amateur astronomer since 1970.
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Lady Fraktor Slovakia
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Re: Light trap material

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Post by Lady Fraktor »

The Protostar flocking is what I have used for years as well. You should be quite happy with the results with the 150mm.
An excellent product!
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John Baars Netherlands
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Re: Light trap material

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Post by John Baars »

I can't withhold these pictures of the Protostar effectiveness.
The following pictures were shown earlier on Astronomyforum. Its shows how effective the material is. Works in Newton and Refractor tubes as well.

1. You glue the flocking material into a paper tube, which fits in the primary baffle of a Maksutov of SCT. Make the paper tube 1,5 cm shorter than the baffle, otherwise it will partially block light from the edge of the mirror.
DSC02792 (640x426).jpg
2. Shove the flocked tube down the baffle. The conic form prevents falling in. Make sure to have some edges on top to secure it in place.
DSC02793 (640x426).jpg
3. Effect of Protostar. Telescope was pointing at the clouds. You look through the primary baffle at the secondary mirror.

Before installing:
DSC02795 (640x426).jpg
After installing:
DSC02794 (640x426).jpg
Refractors in frequency of use : *SW Evostar 120ED F/7.5 (all round ), * Vixen 102ED F/9 (vintage), both on Vixen GPDX.
GrabnGo on Alt/AZ : *SW Startravel 102 F/5 refractor( widefield, Sun, push-to), *OMC140 Maksutov F/14.3 ( planets).
Most used Eyepieces: *Panoptic 24, *Morpheus 14, *Leica ASPH zoom, *Zeiss barlow, *Pentax XO5.
Commonly used bino's : *Jena 10X50 , * Canon 10X30 IS, *Swarovski Habicht 7X42, * Celestron 15X70, *Kasai 2.3X40
Rijswijk Public Observatory: * Astro-Physics Starfire 130 f/8, * 6 inch Newton, * C9.25, * Meade 14 inch LX600 ACF, *Lunt.
Amateur astronomer since 1970.
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