Baader Solar Film - Any Interest in Splitting Cost of a Large Sheet? - Equipment Discussions

RE: Baader Solar Film - Any Interest in Splitting Cost of a Large Sheet?

Zach Williams — Tue, 19 Sep 2023 17:05:10 +0000

Finished my filter assembly on Sunday evening and just got it out for first light during lunch. The resolving power of the full 10" aperture on sunspots is spectacular.

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RE: Baader Solar Film - Any Interest in Splitting Cost of a Large Sheet?

Mike Napper — Wed, 13 Sep 2023 17:29:51 +0000

Zach, the club wants all you have left. I'll pm you.

RE: Baader Solar Film - Any Interest in Splitting Cost of a Large Sheet?

Mike Napper — Mon, 11 Sep 2023 03:15:06 +0000

@zach-williams we could likely use all you don't need.

RE: Baader Solar Film - Any Interest in Splitting Cost of a Large Sheet?

Zach Williams — Mon, 04 Sep 2023 00:28:40 +0000

@mike-napper how many scopes and what size?

RE: Baader Solar Film - Any Interest in Splitting Cost of a Large Sheet?

Mike Napper — Fri, 01 Sep 2023 11:43:05 +0000

If you don’t get any takers the club could use it. Thanks!

RE: Baader Solar Film - Any Interest in Splitting Cost of a Large Sheet?

Zach Williams — Wed, 30 Aug 2023 20:00:46 +0000

I ended up springing for the monster 1000mm x 500mm sheet of Baader film, so I will have plenty leftover once I've made my filters if anyone else wants to share in it. I know there was some discussion about making some filters for the club's loaner dobs.

RE: Baader Solar Film - Any Interest in Splitting Cost of a Large Sheet?

Zach Williams — Mon, 28 Aug 2023 12:55:56 +0000

Big thanks to Al for having both filters on Saturday. It solidified my decision to go with the Baader. The views were much brighter but not oppressively so, and the neutral white showed much more contrast on sunspots and therefore more detail compared to the more dull orange of the Thousand Oaks. I think I can get by with an A4 sheet for $40 and I'll stop down the aperture from 10" to around 7.5" to make it work, which will leave me with enough material to use for my binoculars too.

RE: Baader Solar Film - Any Interest in Splitting Cost of a Large Sheet?

Zach Williams — Fri, 25 Aug 2023 22:50:17 +0000

You're the man Al. Looking forward to it.

RE: Baader Solar Film - Any Interest in Splitting Cost of a Large Sheet?

Al Bott — Fri, 25 Aug 2023 02:11:55 +0000

Zak, By virtue of a good friend and fellow astronomer, I will have my 70-700mm refractor scope set up with both a 1000 oaks filter as well as a Baader filter. You can compare the two and decide what direction you want to go. If I am lucky, I will also have both filters set up for my 8 inch reflector. Let your eyes decide. AL

RE: Baader Solar Film - Any Interest in Splitting Cost of a Large Sheet?

Zach Williams — Wed, 23 Aug 2023 13:35:47 +0000

Thanks Al. We should have plenty of time for that given we will be there early for the picnic.

I've also been reading a lot more this morning about the differences between the Baader Film and Thousand Oaks film. Seems like the Baader Film provides better contrast and shows finer details in a neutral white light but can be incredibly bright if you're not using a solar continuum filter too. Thousand Oaks on the other hand is a more durable material and is often more pleasant to look through without any additional filters and displays the sun in a warm orange. I think I'll go with the Thousand Oaks to keep costs down, particularly since this is for visual use only and the minor contrast details I'm not too concerned about. Looking through it on Saturday will hopefully help solidify that decision.

Helpful resources I read: