8 replies to this topic

[NuovaApe]

Hello Solar Souls.

 

I recently emailed Baader about their availability of 100x50cm OD3.8 AstroSolar Photo Film.
https://www.baader-p...tml?sku=2459280

 

Their website says "This product is not for sale online", which isn't the same as "out of stock".

I thought it might be available "offline" if I pleaded and signed an indemnity waiver 

 

Baader support were fantastic. Open and honest and agreed to me reiterating their reply to a wider audience:

"Unfortunately we have no possibility to sell things offline that are not available online. Our shop is connected directly with the warehouse computer and so it comes that it always shows the “true” stock situation.

The Astrosolar foil is currently not available in some sizes because we have to produce them again. Unfortunately, this is a very large and very time-consuming effort that we can only tackle every X years, because it only becomes a good price for the customer if kilometers of film are produced at once. The film then has to be cut and packed, which also takes some time. We have already started this process, but unfortunately we cannot give you a date when we will be able to deliver again as we cannot forsee it. It may well take a few more months.

 

Please use the “notify me” function on the website to find out when we will be able to deliver the film again. There is no other way to find out faster and we are not able to inform every customer separately or give regular updates on the situation.

 

Thank you very much for your understanding – and have fun using Baader products!

 

Best regards,

Support Team – MR"

 

I wanted "large" for my Celestron C9.25.

For now I've just made one from the A4 3.8.

My calcs reckon a total surface coverage of 35493mm2, which equates to a 212mm scope.
Less because of the central obstruction and the fact I had to add a glued border for the left/right naked sides.

 

Will it best my Skywatcher 150 f/8 with a Baader Wedge?

No idea - but that's half the fun!

 

Regards, Ed.

[TareqPhoto]

I wanted a roll to use with my Skywatcher 180mm Mak without success, i can't buy a frontal crazy expensive D-ERF for it so my only hope is this filter film roll, i tried with cheap ND5.0 sheet but the result wasn't much good enough and difficult to image.

[lajoswinkler]

Not really surprising for such superior product. When it appears, it's grabby time from all around the world.

Since you're from UK, try to look around shops in countries of EU, perhaps there are still some stores with a stockpile.

[NuovaApe]

I wanted a roll to use with my Skywatcher 180mm Mak without success, i can't buy a frontal crazy expensive D-ERF for it so my only hope is this filter film roll, i tried with cheap ND5.0 sheet but the result wasn't much good enough and difficult to image.

A4 3.8 sheets are available; 20x29cm which should clothe your 180?

Only 5 euros more than OD5 and 15x the flux.

 

My Altair D-ERF for my Skywatcher 150 cost me just over £1k and its without a doubt the best thing I ever bought (for Ha).

Took me over a year to pluck up the courage to spend that on a "filter".

I can't put a price on the joy it has enabled, in absolute safety, viewing the most dangerous thing in our neighbourhood.

The D-ERF is for Ha. It wont help me see photosphere stuff like granulation. Well, it can but let's keep this short.
Granulation evades me here in my small backyard in the middle of town.

 

3.8 vs 5.0 is logarithmic. 10^(5 - 3.8) = 15-ish.
15x flux, 15x faster lucky imaging. All for an extra 5 bucks or so.

 

No idea why but Amazon just gave me 20% off an Svbony SV705C (colour IMX585). £288.

So that's getting used with my homemade 3.8 on my c9.25.

 

I'm not loyal to any brand.
I'm loyal to my savings and the need to be astonished at a reasonable price 

[C0rs4ir_]

If you think about how long they promised this to customers its more realistic to take it as a polite "no, we will not produce it anymore".

Also to me the explanation given by them does not really make sense. Astrosolar film is / was their core business, why would it take so long to produce more of it : )

[Andrea Salati]

Informally, they have told a few people "No sooner than sometimes in 2025". Not sure what to make of it.
I was able to source what I needed from Adorama, thanks to some NOS they had.
I wish I could buy at least a sheet (A4). For what I do, moving from ND5.0 to ND3.8 made a HUGE difference. I doubt I am the only one.

[TareqPhoto]

A4 3.8 sheets are available; 20x29cm which should clothe your 180?

Only 5 euros more than OD5 and 15x the flux.

 

My Altair D-ERF for my Skywatcher 150 cost me just over £1k and its without a doubt the best thing I ever bought (for Ha).

Took me over a year to pluck up the courage to spend that on a "filter".

I can't put a price on the joy it has enabled, in absolute safety, viewing the most dangerous thing in our neighbourhood.

The D-ERF is for Ha. It wont help me see photosphere stuff like granulation. Well, it can but let's keep this short.
Granulation evades me here in my small backyard in the middle of town.

 

3.8 vs 5.0 is logarithmic. 10^(5 - 3.8) = 15-ish.
15x flux, 15x faster lucky imaging. All for an extra 5 bucks or so.

 

No idea why but Amazon just gave me 20% off an Svbony SV705C (colour IMX585). £288.

So that's getting used with my homemade 3.8 on my c9.25.

 

I'm not loyal to any brand.
I'm loyal to my savings and the need to be astonished at a reasonable price 

I have the sheet but i never used it yet as it is only for small scopes like up to 100mm aperture or close, i might try it with my FRA400 or 106mm scopes rather than reflectors, and i think A4 can't cover that 180mm perfectly, if it is slightly sized to A3 then yes, my Mak outer diameter is about 222mm, so there will be gaps by sides, and i don't like to glue two sheet to have larger area.

 

I am also not loyal to any brand, i can buy expensive or cheap as long i can afford something or need it, for example i want to buy a solar wedge, there are cheap options out there, but i feel i still want to get Baader wedge which is almost most expensive wedge out of few out there including Lunt, and that is why i didn't use that sheet yet until i can buy the wedge first, i asked and all told me the wedge is superior, i bought the sheet because it wasn't expensive and i know it will always go out of stock so i got one as backup if needed. 

 

I don't know why other brands didn't make that 3.8ND filter as Baader did, Thousand Oaks is a good company but sounds they are just a shadow of Baader, and many Chinese 3rd party are just making 5.0 ones for visual and none thought about making one for photographic, sometimes in this life it is so stupid making something that could be less demanding or it is not the only option we want to have and they don't care to make the other options available. 

[BYoesle]

My Altair D-ERF for my Skywatcher 150 cost me just over £1k and its without a doubt the best thing I ever bought (for Ha).

Took me over a year to pluck up the courage to spend that on a "filter".

I can't put a price on the joy it has enabled, in absolute safety, viewing the most dangerous thing in our neighbourhood.

 

The notion that it's only a "filter" comes from the nighttime side of the hobby, by folks who have little understanding of what producing a high-quality full aperture filter for solar observation entails. Just applying coatings to maintain a 1/4 wave optical tolerance is daunting, let alone the polishing requirements for two optical surfaces.

 

 

Also to me the explanation given by them does not really make sense. Astrosolar film is / was their core business, why would it take so long to produce more of it : )

I'm not sure that Astrosolar film was/is a core part of their business, otherwise you would be correct. It appears Baader has all manner of eyepieces, nighttime filters, telescopes, etc. that likely constitutes the majority of their business.

 

Given that the quality of the AstroSolar base material (TurboFilm) is generally superior to most all other film-based solar filter products and indeed requires specialized production techniques; the production issue seems to be a reasonable explanation. Further, I speculate production might be outsourced to a larger industrial plastic film supplier which would likely need the economies of scale for the larger production run that is cited.

 

[NuovaApe]

I don't know why other brands didn't make that 3.8ND filter as Baader did. 

Most likely because it's very hard to design such a niche thing from scratch.
To design a process that can make kilometers squared of perfect product.

 

I say this with insight. I used to work in a factory that made wallpaper.

We made posh Laura Ashley stuff, grungy stuff for Marshall Amps coverings, fluorescent stuff for first responder jackets.

If it deviated by 0.25mm it got scrapped.

 

This AstroSolar stuff is thin as a hair. The older I get the less reference material I have  

And to continue from Bob above - this would be outsourced.
Lunt has its own private collection of firms it entrusts to make their etalons etc.
And so will Baader, to make their films or design their telecentrics.

Alas these firms can't halt their current obligations and make us stuff when we demand.

I would note to project managers at any firm manufacturing solar astronomy stuff that demand is emphatically driven by the 11 year solar cycle. It should come as no surprise demand increases prior to and during this "seasonal" period.
Please add it to your diaries