Up coming"V" transit help!!!

[Sideswipe79]

OK so I waitied to long to find a decent solar filter for the transit. so I need some help on a budget, does anyone know if there are any inexpensive filters for a 10" dob (12 1/4" od)? or I could use my Mead 114EQ, I just need a filter for it. which brings me to my next question would it be better to use my 114EQ over my dob? I gotto move fast on this one, I can't beleive I waited to start looking for a filter. If I decide to use my 114EQ I was looking at orion's filters and seymor filters I know there are better ones out there but I am a fan of orion products.

[cbishop]

Hi heres one for the dob 12.13" ID Orion Full Aperture Solar Filter | Orion Telescopes: Filters not super cheap but about average

[cbishop]

you can check here too Astrozap the baader ones are cheaper and you will see more detail

[gtg631h]

Hi heres one for the dob [can't quote URL - not enough posts]
12.13" ID Orion Full Aperture Solar Filter | Orion Telescopes: Filters[/url] not super cheap but about average

Unfortunately those are out of stock until mid-June so this wouldn't be an immediate viable option.

I, too, am in the same boat, interested to see if anybody has any other recommendations, or to see if anybody may have constructed their own (w/ instructions)

[gtg631h]

Apologies - double post

[TNathe]

is there any reason this would NOT fit my scope? my make/model isnt listed but i dont see why it wouldnt work. Thanks for the link!
Astrozap - Astrozap is a leading manufacturer of flexible and aluminum dew shields, with a large selection to match just about every telescope on the planet.

[Anthony dotcom]

I just purchased a 5 inch Baader solar film today for my 10 inch dob for only $19 and change including tax from agenaastro. I'm going to make the housing out of cardboard and make the hole off-center away from the secondary. It not only looks like it will work good, but it's cheap too. Here's the link Baader AstroSolar Film (Visual, ND 5) # 2459282

[gtg631h]

^^^

Excuse the simplicity of the question, still an amateur here and learning something new every day.

Are you just restricting the opening to a 5" x 5" square (as opposed to a 10" dia as standard)? I'm not sure what you mean by this:

make the hole off-center away from the secondary

Can you please elaborate on this? Again, sorry if this is an obvious question

[Anthony dotcom]

You see i'm going to make a 4.5 inch circle off-center made out of cardboard and cut a hole in that. I'll then tape or glue the solar film to that and cover it with another piece of cardboard with the matching 4.5 inch hole cut out. The reason why i'm only making it 4.5 inches vs the full 10 inches is because the sun is extremely bright. Making the hole smaller just kills some of the brightness. From what I've read it won't take away from the image at all , just make it slightly dimmer. So not only will my eyes thank me later, but my wallet is much happier too. =)

If you search the internet for DIY Solar Filter you'll see a lot of people with larger scopes make there's smaller and off centered too. Hope that helps.

note: thanks to Clarinetcola from the iceinspace forums for posting this picture online. I didn't want to direct link to another forum so i just copied it and reposted.

[Stew57]

Just make very sure that the filter can not blow or fall off while you are using it visually. You will lose your vision.