Matthew Ota
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 04/30/05
Posts: 1096
Loc: New England
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I was wondering if anybody else here owns a Coronado Helios 1 Solar H-alpha telescope. They are quite old. I have been using one for about five years now.
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Matthew Ota
Meade LX250GPS 10 inch SCT (Frankenscope)
Orion ED 80
ETX-90 OTA
Coronado Helios 1 H-alpha
TheSky 6 Pro
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skyward_eyes
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 12/12/06
Posts: 2104
Loc: Arizona
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I have used my friends pretty frequently. i love the scope but its not as bright as the newer PSTs but the detail is much higher do to its 70mm aperture i was happy to use it and love it but now i have my LS60.
The Helios is an awesome scope.
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DavidM
sage
Reged: 03/25/06
Posts: 218
Loc: Sohar, Oman
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I have one that I bought second hand a few years ago. I found it to be a big step up on any PST I have looked through. The main problem I have with it at the moment is that the helical focuser has developed quite a bit of 'play' and when imaging the optical train droops quite a bit. I think this might be why I am getting images from this scope with a funny 'streaky' appearance. As far as I can tell the blocking filter still seems to be going strong, but it is hard to tell with everything inside the OTA.
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David
16" Meade Lightbridge
70 mm Coronado Helios 1 H-a scope
8" Celestron 8iSE
80 mm Orion EON
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colinsk
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 01/17/08
Posts: 2150
Loc: CA
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I bet if you posted to the ATM forum they could help yo fix the focuser. I have made split nuts to tighten the play in tooling. They are pretty resourceful over there.
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Mahalo,
Colin Kaminski
Coulter 10.1" Dobsonian
TV-76/Baader Film White Light
LS60T/DS50/FT/BF1200
LDX-75
AT Voyager
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DavidM
sage
Reged: 03/25/06
Posts: 218
Loc: Sohar, Oman
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Thanks Colin,
I will give it a try.
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David
16" Meade Lightbridge
70 mm Coronado Helios 1 H-a scope
8" Celestron 8iSE
80 mm Orion EON
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Matthew Ota
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 04/30/05
Posts: 1096
Loc: New England
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Mine used to be JPL property. It passed through two other owners before me. It is in mint condition.
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Matthew Ota
Meade LX250GPS 10 inch SCT (Frankenscope)
Orion ED 80
ETX-90 OTA
Coronado Helios 1 H-alpha
TheSky 6 Pro
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DavidM
sage
Reged: 03/25/06
Posts: 218
Loc: Sohar, Oman
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Can you other owners describe the view in some way, e.g how surface detail compares with other scopes you have used, typical magnification you can use? I am interested to see if my scope is still performing well.
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David
16" Meade Lightbridge
70 mm Coronado Helios 1 H-a scope
8" Celestron 8iSE
80 mm Orion EON
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LarryAlvarez
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 08/12/05
Posts: 2955
Loc: Texas
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I have an early NearStar 70 that I use. Its an awesome scope but does not have the punch to catch great prom shots. It does however capture the surface very evenly and has no issue with rust on its odd blocking filter. They made them differently back then. The front is somewhat darker than a typical Coronado scope and I suspect the UV/IR cut filter is on the front of the scope. The diagonal on it has an odd thumb screw on it that changes the surface detail to some degree. Clear Skyz, LA
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My Solar Website
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skyward_eyes
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 12/12/06
Posts: 2104
Loc: Arizona
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The Helios do have a pretty even surface detail, proms are not as bright as I have seen them in other Coronado scopes, I dont know what the filter is tunned to in the Helios. The image wasnt as bright as the newer PSTs but did resolve more detail becasue of the larger size though. Its a very different scope compared to the newer Coronados. I do like that everything is built into the scope, blocker and everythings all internal which is nice. The scopes 2" Helical focuser was nicer compared to that of the Coronado SM-90 scopes and I believe it was much better in build quality as far as the focsuer goes.
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Matthew Ota
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 04/30/05
Posts: 1096
Loc: New England
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There is a tradeoff between the Helios 1 and the PST. The Helios may have more aperture and a better focuser, but the PST has a narrower bandwith that shows more detail.
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Matthew Ota
Meade LX250GPS 10 inch SCT (Frankenscope)
Orion ED 80
ETX-90 OTA
Coronado Helios 1 H-alpha
TheSky 6 Pro
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DavidM
sage
Reged: 03/25/06
Posts: 218
Loc: Sohar, Oman
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I thought an unstacked PST has a 1.0 A bandwidth. The Helios is rated at 0.8 A, so it theoretically should outperform a PST in every way, unless you happen to get a really good pst etalon that makes it to 0.7A somehow.
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David
16" Meade Lightbridge
70 mm Coronado Helios 1 H-a scope
8" Celestron 8iSE
80 mm Orion EON
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brianb11213
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 02/25/09
Posts: 2119
Loc: 55.215N 6.554W
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Quote:
The Helios is rated at 0.8 A, so it theoretically should outperform a PST in every way
Except that the tighter bandwidth works against you if the tuning isn't accurate ... and tends to make prominences fainter, especially the doppler shifted ones.
Lower bandwidth helps with surface features; higher bandwidth (up to a point) helps with prominences.
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