[koputai (Jason)]

I think I'd like to do some solar viewing, and am very confused about which way to actually go as far as equipment is concerned.

From what I understand there are two basic avenues, white light, or H-Alpha.

For white light, you can go either the full aperture front filter, or a Herschel wedge.

For H-Alpha, you need a dedicated solar scope, there being many varieties available.

Now I already have a few scopes that I can mount on my EQ-6Pro:
Meade 10" SCT
ED80
8" Newtonian
12" Newtonian

I could use any of these with a full aperture front filter. I think I could also use the ED80 with a Herschel wedge.

So, for white light, which way would be my best option?


And now to H-Alpha!

There are Coronado/Meade PST's and Solarmax's. The PST seems very basic, and I would imagine it lacks aperture. The Solarmax's seem better, but I have no idea what all the options mean..... Same with the Lunt beasties.

I don't want to spend more than about $2k, preferably less, preferably a lot less!

Which way should I go?

Cheers,
Jason.