"Uncle Beasley"-- my Budget Solar Trio

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Letter to Coronado

Once I finished the refurbishment of my big December '05 acquisition--the 24" f/4 scope-- I finally had the time to work on assimilating my new Calcium-K Personal Solar Telescope (Cak PST) into my observing setup.  I added it to my existing solar rig, a Hydrogen-alpha PST piggybacked on a 102mm Maksutov-Cassegrain on a CG-5 clone mount.  I drilled an additional pair of holes in the CG-5 rings and made a removable oak base for the CaK PST that attaches to the rings by wingnuts.  (The H-a PST threads directly onto the CG-5 rings; because it rotates in the process, the CaK scope had to be mounted such that it set directly onto the mount with no turning required.)

Net cost of making the Cak mount was ~50 cents, given the hardware and scrap wood I already had in my ATM supply bins.  I shimmed and aligned each scope so that the sun is simultaneously visible in the field of view of all three scopes at medium power.  This gives me a full spectrum white light view of the sun with the Mak-Cass scope (50X), a near IR view through the binoviewer-equipped Hydrogen-alpha PST (25-58X with high quality zooms), and a near UV look through the Calcium-K PST) (18-57X zoomed).  Not cheap in absolute terms ($2500), but not bad for a portable solar observatory.   I keep it fully assembled down to the eyepieces, so I can lug it out and be observing the sun in ~60 seconds.   

Oh, and the name?  Well, this is a three scope rig-- with its two 40mm optical tubes atop a shorter 102mm one, it reminds me of a lopsided Triceratops dinosaur.  I grew up in the Washington DC suburbs, and as a kid used to go down to The Mall and play on the life-sized Triceratops model outside the Smithsonian Natural History museum.  This dinosaur was a leftover prop from the filming of "The Enormous Egg".  Anyone else remember what that dinosaur was named?  Yup, "Uncle Beasley".

 

 


 

View of my solar trio from the front.  To the left of the CaK PST is the separate Sun Finder Telrad attachment I cannibalized for my white light solar viewing

 

Rear view of the trio, showing the slow motion control wands

 

 

 

 

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