solar accessories for my 130mm or dedicated solar scope?

[Bluknghtv]

As the title states, not sure which way to go. Buy a dedicated solar scope say a 60mm or buy a a quark or hershel and a front rejection filter for my 130mm f7 910mm focal Orion triplet.

For the learned solar folk which way would you suggest?
The cameras I have are the 120 mini, 224 colour, 290 mini and the 294mc pro.
I know I would have to take off the field flatener each time.

[Merlin66]

Daniel,
The choice comes down to two things: Budget and degree of interest.
The starting point would be a white solar filter - Baader Solar film. Relatively cheap and very capable of giving good views and images in white light. No other filters required.


The next step, to give a small marginal improvement - around 10-15%, would be to use a Herschel wedge. No other front filters required. A couple of hundred $$$



A mono camera gives best results. I've standardised on the ASI 1600MM.



Moving from the white light into H alpha (or CaK) is very expensive!!


The Quark can give good H alpha results and with your 130mm aperture a good UV-IR is recommended as a minimum; many users use a narrow band 35nm H alpha filter.


You don't need a front energy rejection filter (ERF)


Going to a dedicated solar H alpha scope - 60mm Coronado or Lunt is a major commitment and expense. A couple of thousand $$$$$



As a viable alternative to the above, the Mini Spectroheliograph is worth looking at. Much much cheaper and much more versatile allowing safe imaging at all wavelengths - CaK and H, Mg and H alpha and beta etc.
See the Sol'Ex webpages for an introduction.
http://www.astrosurf.com/solex/sol-ex-presentation-en.html

You can find some examples of the SHG results here:
https://groups.io/g/Solex-English/messages

If you need any further info on the SHG let me know.

[Bluknghtv]

Thanks Ken, will have a look at your suggestions. I have got a white front orion filter which I have used before with my canon camera ages ago. From what I have read, I thought I had to use a front rejection with anything over 120mm with the quark? Ir filter or such placed at the camera side of the quark, I haven't got a 3d printer to make the sol.

[Merlin66]

Daniel,
Daystar recommend a good uv-IR filter in front of the quark.
Check their website for confirmation details.
I’ve contacted them to correct their statement about Petzval designed telescopes, but they have never responded.
All the manufacturers of Petzval telescopes have confirmed to me in writing that they are 100% suitable for solar observing.

[rustigsmed]

hi daniel,
i have a TS 130mm f7 which i use with a daystar quark. I don't use an ERF for the front. It appears that the website used to say under 150mm was fine without ERF at the front, but I think they have more recently changed the recommendation to 120mm. (the change being <6" to <5")

I use a 2" UV/IR filter in front of the diagonal and more recently added a 1.25" Player One ERF threaded into the Quark for some extra peace of mind. You could also stop down the front to 120mm quite easily if you wanted to, I had been considering it to change the f ratio (rather than energy rejection reasons). I recommend getting the tilt adapter if you end up going for the quark, it's much easier to deal with newtons rings if you have it.

I would use a mono camera for solar if you have the choice.

cheers

russ

[Bluknghtv]

thanks guys.