What are people's thoughts on solar telescopes

[Ibeentokeck]

Which ones are good, and are they totally safe?

Came across this one

http://www.coronadofilters.com/products_pst.html

[sheeny]

I have one. It's great! Excellent value for money IMO.

Al.

[Miaplacidus]

The PST created the market in cheap H-alpha. The early ones had problems with "rust" forming over time on the front lens, which apparently affected viewing quality but not, I understand, safety. (Please correct me someone, if I am wrong on this important subject.) The newer ones don't have this problem, but watch out if you are buying second hand.

I see there are other solar scopes from Bintel. I know nothing about these. Certainly H-alpha is much less boring that conventional solar viewing. And while revolutionarily cheaper, these scopes are still pricey when you consider they have only one target. Value for money? The answer to that reveals more about one's disposable income than anything else, but who's going to tell you that? I'd answer "yes", but I already own one. What sort of chump would I be if I answered "no"? Try to look through someone else's before committing.

Cheers,

Brian

[casstony]

Well worth having if you've got the cash. The only problem I've had with my pst is that it whets the appetite for more expensive Ha gear - there's a big jump in price to get more performance.

I've never heard of anyone having a safety problem with Ha scopes/filters but I still won't use a binoviewer in one - you just never know.

It takes a little practice to get the most out of the scope when you first get it, especially getting surface detail, but detail at the limb is very obvious once the scope is tuned.

I find it helps to appreciate the view if you think about the size of the solar features. This link demonstrates that: http://www.eaas.co.uk/news/solar_features.html

[seeker372011]

pricey -and the next step up in aperture much more so -but I wouldn't part with my PST

[kinetic]

Hi,

A good friend Jan Timmermans from the Netherlands had a PST muddy
lens replaced under warranty, even though he wasn't the original owner.
They honoured the warranty and gave him a new PST!

see here:
http://www.thefirmament.nl/astro/main_screen.html?http://www.thefirmament.nl/astro/pst.html&2

Steve

[csb]

A question many people have is what will I see, what's the view like.

I searched the Net for some pics for a fellow IIS member who asked me just that question.

I think you can get the best out of the PST and other solar telescopes by connecting it to a laptop - you get much more detail and a "closer" view. Image will always be B&W or, with a colour cam, it will be red due to Ha being in the red (I think I am correct here).

Here is my response to IIS member, with pics:

These are very closely representative of what you will see - pics 2&3 have a dark disc because the images have been edited by author ie image in PST is solid red colour.


#1 This is exactly what you see, minus the eclipse. I can get a sharper image.

#2 With a bit of zoom, perhaps 8mm, and an active sun.

#3 Perhaps with a 5mm - I just guess you will see this detail.

#4 My PST image (March 2008)- a stack of 3 images from video taken with DMK21AF camera, Nexstar mount.

And remember the image will be smaller than here but pics 1&2 show the same as what I see.

With some practise and tuning of the etalon, you can see granulation but very faint.

You can use a barlow and it's very useful.

[OneOfOne]

Great? Yes. Much to see? Well, the Sun is still REALLY quiet at the moment. I think the last spot may have been back in March? You will still see some prominances on the edge, but not much else happening. Next cycle is expected to start up any time though...but they said that several months ago, hope we are not in for another Maunder Minimum :( (ice skating on the Yarra anyone?)