Anonymous
Unregistered
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Hi All
What do I need to do to my Fujinon Binoculars to make it safe to view Venus crossing the Sun? I must need some type of filter. Thanks Constantine 
Edited by Constantine (05/02/04 08:36 AM)
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tomhole
sage
Reged: 12/20/02
Posts: 443
Loc: California, MD
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C,
You will need solar filters attached in front of the objectives of your Fuji's. I just started my search for solar filters and found a very inexpensive source of pre-made ones:
http://www.agenaastro.com/Pages/Products_SolarFilters/products_solarfilters_complete.htm
I bought a big piece of Baader film from here and the guy who runs it is very outstanding. At $28 each, 2 for $56, it's a great price.
You can build your own. Here are a couple of threads:
http://tinyurl.com/2vev7
http://tinyurl.com/2d74r
I usually build my own kit, but I may just send Manish at Agena Astro $56 and be done with it. The film will cost me $16 anyway.
Hope this helps,
Tom
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11" Starmaster
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StarWars
Postmaster
Reged: 11/26/03
Posts: 11235
Loc: Cyber Space
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Quote:
Hi All
What do I need to do to my Fujinon Binoculars to make it safe to view Venus crossing the Sun? I must need some type of filter. Thanks Constantine
Binocular solar filters..
http://www.thousandoaksoptical.com/solar.html
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Aquarianperry
sage
Reged: 02/01/04
Posts: 330
Loc: Durham, NC, USA
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Nice find there Tom, let everyone know about the quality if you buy your filters from that link. The 70mm is actually $11 each or two for $20 which is just a little more than buying baader film and doing it yourself.
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Orion SVP8 "Brute"
Hardin 80/6 "Stella"
Orion Starmax 90 "Magnet"
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Thanks alot Tom. I am going to order a pair of those filters from the site you recommend. Cons
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Hi Tom
Thanks for your advice. I spoke with Manish last night. He is sending me some Baader film. I will try to make my own filter. Thanks Constantine
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Hi All
Any suggestions on how to get the film inside of the PVC tubing without any wrinkles?
TY CPB
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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I just made a set of filters from the Baader film for my 15x70's. They work great! I took one of the lens caps to Home Depot and looked around until I found a suitable PVC caps to use as the cells. I found some white end caps that fit almost perfectly. I cut down them down to about 1" in length and removed the center of the end to match my aperture. I spray painted the PVC flat black to match my Obies. Then I made a couple of cardboard rings from the backing that came as part of the packaging for the solar film. I smeared a little contact cement on the rings and then dropped them onto the smoothed out film from about 1/2" above. They are pretty wrinkle free. I lined the inside face of the PVC 'cell' with double sided tape and dropped the rings (film side down) into the cells. The one thing I did do was to make sure that the cardboard rings were slightly undersized so that they would drop freely into the PVC cells. This insured that there would be no deformation of the ring/film from a too tight fit.
The sun has been kinda boring lately. Not a whole lot of sunspot activity. We need somebody to come up with cheap h-alpha filters for binocs!!
Good luck!
Eric
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ArizonaScott
Post Laureate
Reged: 04/29/04
Posts: 4964
Loc: Phoenix, AZ
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Check out Draco Productions for the best prices I've seen yet on the Baader film. They ship very quickly and come with instructions for making your own cells. The pair I use for my Oberwerk 20x80'2 were about $15.00 and I made the cells from cardboard. The aperture of the filters is about 1 1/2" and the views through them are fantastic. Happy solar viewing 
Scott
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Scott
10" LX200 Classic, Konus 200, Orion ST80, ETX90 OTA, 60mm Celestron alt-az, Obie 20x80's, Meade 10x50's
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Thanks for the advice I will take a look at the site. I had a very nice conversation with Manish who is sending me the Baader film and I am going to try to make my own filters. Hopefully I will be finished before June 8
Vaporlock's method for making the filter sounds great. I am going to give it a try. I like the idea of glueing the film on a cardboard template prior to putting it in the PVC cap. I am going to go to Home Depot today and see if I can find those caps.For my 10x70 Fujinons. Everybody thatnks for all the help I will let you know how it turns out. Constantine
Thanks Constantine
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EdZ
Professor EdZ
Reged: 02/15/02
Posts: 12332
Loc: Cumberland, R I , USA42N71.4W
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Do not attempt to remove all the wrinkles from the film. The recommended procedure is to leave the film loosely laid. It is advised against attempting to remove the wrinkles. Do not place any stress in the film that might reduce its ability to filter to 100% of its capacity.
If you are unsure of this advice, I strongly recommend you take this question into the Solar Observing Forum.
edz
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Teach a kid something today. The feeling you'll get is one of life's greatest rewards.
member#21
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Thanks EDZ
SO what I will do is make a round cardboard washer like ring with a 5 cm diameter circle in the middle. Then I will place a little glue or rubber cement around the circumference. Then I will gently lay the Baader film ontop of it. I will NOT try to stretch or smooth out the film. After I have done this I will take the cardboard ring and adhered film and glue it into the PVC cap. Does this sound like a good/safe way to make the filter. Thanks alot for your input I truely appreciate it Cons
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