smc89
Post Laureate
Reged: 11/27/05
Posts: 4540
Loc: Northern Berks Co. PA
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Not bad seeing today but the wind it still gusting. As reported earlier today there was lots of active proms around the rim. Here is an afocal shot I took.
I'm not sure if my PST is acting funny but I had my tuning ring turned all the way counterclockwise. I had a hard time seeing any "orange peel" look on the surface. If I backed off on the tuning ring ALL the proms disappeared. I usually have it set right in the middle for proms and turn more counterclockwise for surface details. Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.
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Scott M.
Canon 40D, 50D & G9
Coronado PST
Stellarvue 80ED
Orion XT8I Dob.
Orion XT12I Dob.
Celestron 15x70
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pjstoker
sage
Reged: 04/21/06
Posts: 439
Loc: So. Calif, USA
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I had the same problem with my PST. It finally got to the point that I couldn’t get it on band around the same time that it developed the rust problem. When I dropped it off at Meade they fixed both problems. The service rep told me not to leave the tuning ring turned all the way, either one way or the other, but to move it to the center position when not in use. I never saw anything about this in the instructions nor have I ever heard of anyone else posting anything about this, but that’s what I do now.
Pat
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Patrick Stoker
http://home.earthlink.net/~pjstok/wp10_intro.htm
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darkstar528
Postmaster
Reged: 03/06/07
Posts: 6784
Loc: Hodgenville, Kentucky, USA
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Sounds like same tuning I use, probably atmospheric related....I just viewed a 2nd time and the limb was much fainter where the disk was kickin with clarity, no activity, but clear! LOL Nice shot!!!!
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Blue skies,
Stephen "Darkstar" Ames
PST(#96038), VIXEN 8-24mm,CEMAX 2x Barlow, Thousand Oaks White Light Filter and a Meade Elec EP
CFI, CFII, MEI, working on EIEIO!
BAA Member
My solar site:
http://seemysunspot.com
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bsim
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 01/04/08
Posts: 1057
Loc: New York City
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I definitely need to get a H-Alpha scope or filter.
Today, with my white light filter, the sun was a featureless orb. With the beginning of the cycle, it's going to be a couple more years before the sun is interesting with a white light filter.
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cocobolo
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 10/27/07
Posts: 1550
Loc: british columbia, canada
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Hi Scott: Nice picture. I had a very short peek yesterday, only a few minutes of sun despite the forecast, and I see quite a difference with your pic already.
My PST has had the fix, so it still tunes more or less in the middle of the tuning ring travel. It sounds like we see about the same, either the proms, or the disc, but usually not both at the same time.
I just received the observing with Coronado book, and there is all sorts of very neat info in there. You have probably noticed that as you tune out the proms and go into the disc, that initially, the outside of the disc comes into focus and you can still see the proms quite well. By the time the disc center focuses, the proms are gone.
As for having to move the tuning ring all the way to one end, I don't really know. Maybe if you just try parking it in the middle overnight and have another go later it may work. Who knows?
Has yours had the rust problem and the fix?
I have noticed sometimes that if you play with the focus and the tuning ring at the same time that sometimes has a small effect on tuning.
Any difference with different eyepieces?
Let us know what you come up with.
Keith
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cocobolo
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 10/27/07
Posts: 1550
Loc: british columbia, canada
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Hi Ben: You might want to jump on the Lunt bandwagon for a 60mm if the budget allows. A lot of scope for the $. The price is sure to go up after a very short while.
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colinsk
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 01/17/08
Posts: 2150
Loc: CA
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I believe the "spring" that returns the etalon to level is a high temp foam rubber. If this was compressed by turning the ring all the way and then left cold I could imagine how it could temporarily deform. Try letting the scope get warm inside the house with the tunning ring set to the middle. It is worth a try anyway.
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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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DAVIDG
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 12/02/04
Posts: 1985
Loc: Hockessin, De
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Before I adjusted my prism I had a similar results will my PST. Now that my prism is correctly aligned I see both proms and surface detail at the same time, there is very little if any "sweet spot" the image is much sharper.
- Dave
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Homemade 'scopes 8"f/7,6" f/5", 6"f/4, 4.25" Schief. 60mm Coronagraph,60mm H-alpha system, 4.25" White-light Solar Newtonian,solar spectroscope, 4.5" f/16 Schupmann Medial refractor, 14 Stellafane awards 7 in optics
Engineering = Taking what you have and making what you need.
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cocobolo
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 10/27/07
Posts: 1550
Loc: british columbia, canada
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Hi David: I seem to recall reading something about this earlier, to the effect that you mention above. My PST very definitely has a sweet spot, which clearly moves with the tuning ring. How does one go about adjusting the prism, or is this something best left to the experts [i.e. Meade]
Keith
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smc89
Post Laureate
Reged: 11/27/05
Posts: 4540
Loc: Northern Berks Co. PA
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Thanks for the input guys. This kinda has bummin that my PST might be defective.
The scope is always indoors until I take it out to view. When its cold out I let it out to "cool down" and until I'm done viewing for the day. Then it goes back inside.
I put the tuning ring back in the middle to see if that works or not. It's worth a try.
I did email coronado about this to see what they might say.
I just found it to be strange that this would happen in such a short time that I owned it. I'm probably about 1/4 of an inch from the end of the tuning ring for surface detail, like I said kinda strange. I'll give it another couple of views before I start to really push the issue with coronado.
If anyone else has any input I'd like to hear it. As always it appreciated.
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Scott M.
Canon 40D, 50D & G9
Coronado PST
Stellarvue 80ED
Orion XT8I Dob.
Orion XT12I Dob.
Celestron 15x70
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Erix
Toad Lily
Reged: 12/25/04
Posts: 22350
Loc: Ohio, USA
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I'm not sure if this has anything to do with your problem, Scott, but with my Maxscope, the ghost image of the Sun is so bright that it is easy to at first mistake it for the real Sun. And it has that same out of focus limb like your photo above.
The first time I accidentally centered on the ghost Sun, I was sick to my stomach thinking that my scope must have gotten bumped and displaced something inside of it to cause my inability to reach focus.
After what seemed like ages, trying to figure out the problem, I put in a 40mm EP and found the REAL Sun straight away.
It's a bit of an embarrassing story, but it happens.
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Erika
Automatic doors make me feel like a Jedi. 
Zhumell 16", 10" LX200 Classic,Orion ED80, ETX70-AT, DS Maxscope 60mm
My CN Gallery * 2007 July - tracking NOAA10963
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smc89
Post Laureate
Reged: 11/27/05
Posts: 4540
Loc: Northern Berks Co. PA
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Thanks Erica for your input.
The pic that I posted only looks funny cause of my cheap way of taking an afocal capture.
I tried a few different EPs and it didn't make any change in surface detail or the way I saw the proms on the limb. It's only when I tune to get more or less surface detail that I run into the problem. I can't get much more counterclockwise for surface and I see very little "orange peel" look. If I back off for the proms I lose them almost instantly and I get a big orange ball of nothing. And I'm still nowhere near the middle of the tuning ring.
Like I said I'm going to try it out again as soon as I get the time after work if the clouds are ever gone.
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Scott M.
Canon 40D, 50D & G9
Coronado PST
Stellarvue 80ED
Orion XT8I Dob.
Orion XT12I Dob.
Celestron 15x70
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DAVIDG
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 12/02/04
Posts: 1985
Loc: Hockessin, De
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Quote:
Hi David: I seem to recall reading something about this earlier, to the effect that you mention above. My PST very definitely has a sweet spot, which clearly moves with the tuning ring. How does one go about adjusting the prism, or is this something best left to the experts [i.e. Meade]
Keith
Keith,
It is an easy fix but the posting rules here at Cloudy Nights won't allow me to discuss the process. I've looked inside around 10 PST's and all of them had misaligned prisms. When they were correctly adjusted it made a difference that you can see in the eyepiece.
I still have a sweet spot in my unit but now it covers the full image of the Sun. When I turn my tuning ring, the on band section sweeps across the image and covers it so both proms and surface detail are visible at the same time.
- Dave
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Homemade 'scopes 8"f/7,6" f/5", 6"f/4, 4.25" Schief. 60mm Coronagraph,60mm H-alpha system, 4.25" White-light Solar Newtonian,solar spectroscope, 4.5" f/16 Schupmann Medial refractor, 14 Stellafane awards 7 in optics
Engineering = Taking what you have and making what you need.
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EmielVeldhuis
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 01/29/07
Posts: 2479
Loc: Zwolle, the Netherlands
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Nice image, Scot!
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8" LX10 SCT,Skywatcher NEQ6pro,Vixen SP,Skywatcher 150/1200mm refractor, Coronado PST's: Gold and Blue,Lunt LS60T-HA and CaK b/600, b/wToUcamSC3RAWmod.and a DMK 31AU03as.
http://astrosurf.com/obsolar/colabora/colaboradores/veldhuis.html
www.solarlive.nu
Experience our nearest GV2 star, live at SolarLive!
www.solarlive.nu
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smc89
Post Laureate
Reged: 11/27/05
Posts: 4540
Loc: Northern Berks Co. PA
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Thanks Emiel!!!!
I was hoping to get home from work today and try my luck, since here in the states we did the daylight saving time thing which would mean for me the sun has not yet set, but of course the clouds beat me home.
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Scott M.
Canon 40D, 50D & G9
Coronado PST
Stellarvue 80ED
Orion XT8I Dob.
Orion XT12I Dob.
Celestron 15x70
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