The day has finally arrived. Have scope will visit our friend. This is the first image produced from our Lunt 100mm. Before imaging I can only say from a very limited experience of soloar telescope that the visual aspect of this scope was nothing short of STUNNING. The three images were taken one after each other and with just plonking the g-8 down and a very rough visual alignment. The camera was a DMK 41 and we took 15 frames a second for 1500 frames and then did the registax processing and stacking and no photoshop enhancements except to add colour.
We (Paul, Adam and me Mark) are very happy. Great day. Any advice would be fantastic.
Thank you all for the nice comments. It really was an amazing day. It was like kids in a candy store. Ralph I would love any advice in terms of processing. I have had a brief look at two tutorials on Solarchat but am really flying blind. Just for a joke I tried to process the filaments and then stick them on the colour processed and really have no idea. Anyway a great adventure for us and the school kids. They start visual and imaging this week.
Mark as an owner of a lunt 100 I have found for visual a Zoom eyepiece is ideal.For imaging at higher mags I highly recommend the Vixen 2.4x Tele-extender from Astroshop. I often use this with a Celesteron Ultima 2x Barlow for closeups.Also the Orion 3x Multi element Barlow also works well.I have not had much sucess with the Powermates but that may be related to my camera the GSTAREX1. I advise you to test all your available combinations with your camera for best results. I have had some sucess with a 1.6extender from a binoviewer mated with a 5xPowermate. These high mag combinations although somewhat seeing limited may well be what is needed if you have students wanting higher resolution for research where aesthetics are not the prime concern.Not meaning to hijack your post I think you'll find this pic helpful(Venus Transit 1.6ext+ 5xPowermate) as it shows what the Lunt 100 is capable of in the hands of a novice.Also remember to look at the Proms due to its bandwidth this scope really is excellent here.I look foward to your reports on the new scope.
Cheers Derek
Thank you all for the nice comments. It really was an amazing day. It was like kids in a candy store. Ralph I would love any advice in terms of processing. I have had a brief look at two tutorials on Solarchat but am really flying blind. Just for a joke I tried to process the filaments and then stick them on the colour processed and really have no idea. Anyway a great adventure for us and the school kids. They start visual and imaging this week.
No highjacking at all Derek. Just a magnificent image and something to aim for. Maybe without Venus. Derek could you give me some clues about research that Yr 11 and 12 students could do with this particular type of telescope.
Thank you Ralph. We will use this scope for several things but it will hopefully blow kids away enough to spark an interest in science. We will definately be in touch.
That's an excellent first light. The coloured version is really nice.
Another vote for a zoom eyepiece; I find that kids like to be able to zoom in and out as it makes the view more dynamic. I find the Lunt zoom is good and the Baader zoom is very good. I have recently been playing with a Meopta zoom, which I find gives even better views, but requires a lot of in-focus.
They look amazing!! 
