Lunt 100/Coronado 90mm DS

Frankenscope? Let's see it!***be advised that NOTHING in this forum has been safety tested and you are reading and using these posts at your own peril. blah, blah, blah... dont mess around with your eyesight when it comes to solar astronomy. Use appropriate filtration at all times...
Post Reply
ForrestLockhart

Lunt 100/Coronado 90mm DS

Post by ForrestLockhart »

Our public observatory has just received a 100mm PT Lunt. We already have a 90mm Coronado Ha kit that we have been attaching to our TeleVue 102 APO.
The overall consensus is that the view isn't what was expected. I have been seeing some Web discussion on using the Coronado 90 kit front end on the 100mm Lunt.
Since we already have the expensive components, we're eager to try it out, but I'm wondering if anyone knows where to acquire an interface adapter.
Any help will be much appreciated.
Forrest


User avatar
marktownley
Librarian
Librarian
Posts: 42269
Joined: Tue Oct 18, 2011 5:27 pm
Location: Brierley Hills, UK
Has thanked: 20424 times
Been thanked: 10242 times
Contact:

Re: Lunt 100/Coronado 90mm DS

Post by marktownley »

Hi Forrest,

The UK chapter of the CBSAP will be able to help you out with this. Drop me an email with the address you want it sent to and will be happy to donate it to your observatory for your public outreach.

Thanks

Mark


Image
http://brierleyhillsolar.blogspot.co.uk/
Solar images, a collection of all the most up to date live solar data on the web, imaging & processing tutorials - please take a look!
axlefoley
Im an EXPERT!
Im an EXPERT!
Posts: 284
Joined: Thu Feb 13, 2014 3:22 am
Location: Townsville Australia

Re: Lunt 100/Coronado 90mm DS

Post by axlefoley »

So what's a interface adapter.


Alan
ForrestLockhart

Re: Lunt 100/Coronado 90mm DS

Post by ForrestLockhart »

Hi Alan,
The two units do not have the same diameters or thread sizes. In order to use the Coronado front end on the Lunt there must be an intermediate adapter that mates one to the other.
Thanks to Mark & the UK chapter of the CBSAP for his generous offer.
Forrest


User avatar
GUS
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Posts: 1298
Joined: Thu May 08, 2014 12:03 pm
Location: Katoomba,NSW,Australia
Has thanked: 102 times
Been thanked: 213 times

Re: Lunt 100/Coronado 90mm DS

Post by GUS »

Hi Forest, what do you mean by view was not what you expected, was it less of a view than the 90mm or was it contrast of view.Just curious as I'm looking at the LS100 as well.

THANKS

GUS.


User avatar
solarchat
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 4359
Joined: Sat Feb 01, 2014 3:10 pm
Location: Atlanta, GA USA
Has thanked: 83 times
Been thanked: 1313 times
Contact:

Re: Lunt 100/Coronado 90mm DS

Post by solarchat »

Forrest,
If you can be a little more specific as to why the views aren't up to par, I am sure that we can get this going for you. The LS100 is superior to the Coronado 90's in almost every way. What did you expect to see that you didn't see? Did you follow the tuning directions of depressurizing it and then tuning it with the tuner at each use? Was there anything to see that day? Did you do a side by side comparison?
I really think that you should figure out the proper use of the scope before you go stacking different manufacturers products on it looking for something that may already be there.
If you doublestack an improperly setup scope it isn't going to look any better than it does now.


Stephen W. Ramsden
Atlanta, GA USA
Founder/Director Charlie Bates Solar Astronomy Project
http://www.solarastronomy.org
User avatar
Rybak
Ohhhhhh My!
Ohhhhhh My!
Posts: 113
Joined: Mon Sep 16, 2013 8:38 pm
Location: Moscow, Russia

Re: Lunt 100/Coronado 90mm DS

Post by Rybak »

Hi
My Luntonado (Lunt 100/Coronado 90 DS). DIY adapter between "Lunt" and "onado". Moscow Astrofest-2014.
Attachments
0_995f7_4948556c_orig [1600x1200].jpg


Aleksey

-------------

Lunt LS100THa, Coronado SolarMax II 90 Filter + BF 15 on WO Megrez 90, PST + SW 1025 mod, Quark + SW150/750 in test mode
ForrestLockhart

Re: Lunt 100/Coronado 90mm DS

Post by ForrestLockhart »

A clarification is probably in order. For 8 years we have used our TV-102 mounted on a 14" SCT. It has gotten a lot of public use. For wide views of open clusters, major planets etc., it has performed flawlessly.
Last year we found enough funding to purchase a Coronado 90mm kit and adapter to fit in front of our 102's objective. Despite a thorough tuning effort by several of our docent team, we have never obtained a quality image with a dark background. We have an old pre-Meade Coronado P.S.T. that provides a more pleasing view, with good surface detail AND a dark background sky. Thinking that our efforts with the TV-102 and Coronado kit might be being stymied by thermal effects from our roll-off observatory walls, I removed the scope and mounted it on an equatorial mount away from the structure. While there was some improvement, the image was still not good. Now that we have acquired a 100mm Lunt PT OTA we're interested in seeing if we can achieve a double-stack-quality image by mating our existing Coronado kit front end with the new Lunt. It seems to work for Aleksey and some other folks around the world. All we need is an adapter plate. Thanks to Mark we may be on our way to testing it out.
Meanwhile, we continue to host the public every first Saturday on the month for solar viewing. The response is always very positive. We hosted 209 visitors on Solar SUNday, and were guests of Intel two days later, where 649 Intel employees viewed the Sun through 5 of our personal solar scopes. Since beginning our solar outreach program in 2008, we're had over 10,000 visitors look at our Sun. Not even close to Mr. Ramsden's performance but we're in the game for the long haul. :-)
Forrest


User avatar
swisswalter
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Posts: 17948
Joined: Thu Feb 06, 2014 4:28 am
Location: Switzerland
Been thanked: 1 time
Contact:

Re: Lunt 100/Coronado 90mm DS

Post by swisswalter »

Hi Forrest

congratulations on the outreach success, wonderful job


Only stardust in the wind, some fine and some less fine scopes, filters and adapters as well. Switzerland 47 N, 9 E, in the heart of EUROPE :)

from 7 am - 7 pm http://www.nanosys.ch

from 7.01 pm - 6.59 am http://www.wastronomiko.com some times vice versa ;)
Post Reply