Low Budget Solar Viewer

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chartram United States of America
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Low Budget Solar Viewer

#1

Post by chartram »


Hello,

Apologies if this has been covered already. This is a super cheap DIY solar viewing setup.

Ingredients:

- 3gal bucket
- ultra flat black paint (for inside of bucket)
- dark silver or gray or black party balloon
- appropriately sized embroidery ring
- 1.5” umbrella holder with set knob or screw
- cheap plastic 45° 1.25” diagonal

Drill 1.5” hole in the center of the bucket, attach the umbrella holder. Paint the inside of the bucket, stretch the balloon over the bucket while securing with the embroidery ring. Attach 45° diagonal to your scope, slide the umbrella holder over the diagonal and tighten the set screw. Find the sun, focus and enjoy!

When focused, sun spots appear crisp and clear, and since it ‘projects’ onto the balloon, there is no bending over/yoga involved with viewing. It’s great for eclipses too! Although I’d bet this could work with most scopes (the balloon or optics never once got hot), the ONLY scope of mine I would ever point at the sun unfiltered is my inexpensive ST80.

Mike
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Poor Man’s Solar Viewer LOL
Poor Man’s Solar Viewer LOL
Mike Chartrand
Scopes: WO Star 71 Gen-II (F/4.9), Astro-Tech AT115EDT (F/7), Celestron 8" Edge HD (F/10)
Cameras: ZWO ASI1600MM w/ Baader 1.25" LRGB & Narrowband Filters, ZWO ASI174MM mini, Starlight Xpress Lodestar X2
Mount: Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro
Guiding: Orion ST-80 (f/5) w/ADM MiniMax (side-by-side), ZWO OAG
Software: PHD2, Sequence Generator Pro, PixInsight
Dark Site Transportation System: 2020 Telluride SX
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messier 111 Canada
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Re: Low Budget Solar Viewer

#2

Post by messier 111 »


very very ingenious, thx.
I LOVE REFRACTORS , :Astronomer1: :sprefac:

REFRACTOR , TS-Optics Doublet SD-APO 125 mm f/7.8 . Lunt 80mm MT Ha Doublet Refractor .

EYEPIECES, Delos , Delite and 26mm Nagler t5 , 2 zoom Svbony 7-21 , Orion Premium Linear BinoViewer .

FILTER , Nebustar 2 tele vue . Apm solar wedge . contrast booster 2 inches .

Mounts , berno mack 3 with telepod , cg-4 motorized , eq6 pro belt drive .

“Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won't come in.”
― Isaac Asimov

Jean-Yves :flags-canada:
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Lady Fraktor Slovakia
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Re: Low Budget Solar Viewer

#3

Post by Lady Fraktor »


Very cool!
This is something like a solar funnel?

I use refractors from achro doublets to oil spaced triplet with a herschel wedge without issue.
The only telescope design you should not use is a refractor with a sub-aperture corrector. (corrector right in front of focuser drawtube)
You can use TV petzvals as well.
See Far Sticks: Antares Elita 103/1575, AOM FLT 105/1000, Bresser BV 127/1200, Nočný stopár 152/1200, Vyrobené doma 70/700, Stellarvue NHNG DX 80/552, TAL RS100/1000, Vixen SD115s/885
EQ: TAL MT-1, Vixen SXP, AXJ, AXD
Az/Alt: AYO Digi II/ Argo Navis, Stellarvue M2C/ Argo Navis
Tripods: Berlebach Planet (2), Uni 28 Astro, Report 372, TAL factory maple, Vixen ASG-CB90, Vixen AXD-TR102
Diagonals: Astro-Physics, Baader Amici, Baader Herschel, iStar Blue, Stellarvue DX, Takahashi prism, TAL, Vixen flip mirror
Eyepieces: Antares to Zeiss
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