Meade SolarMax II User Manual

SolarMax® II Series

H-a Telescopes

™

With RichView

Tuning

WARNING!

Looking at the Sun can be very dangerous unless the proper precautions are taken and specialized solar viewing equipment, like Coronado Solar ﬁ lters and telescopes are used. Never look at the Sun directly with your eyes. When using Coronado ﬁ lters on a telescope not designed speciﬁ cally for solar viewing, be sure to block all non-ﬁ ltered optical components such as viewﬁ nders to prevent the suns light from passing through. An inadvertent glance thought an unﬁ ltered or improperly ﬁ ltered optical system can cause immediate and permanent damage to the eye. Never allow unattended children to operate or be near a solar telescope system.

Coronado SolarMax and SolarMax II hydrogen-alpha telescopes and ﬁ lters are designed and tested to provide safe viewing of the Sun. These systems consist of two critical parts: The etalon ﬁ lter that may be mounted at the front of the telescope or internally inside the telescope tube and the blocking ﬁ lter that is mounted at the back of the telescope. Both of these components must be properly installed to provide safe solar viewing. Most Coronado blocking ﬁ lters (BF ﬁ lters) are installed in a special diagonal that mounts at the rear of the telescope and holds the eyepiece. Do not replace this diagonal with any other diagonal. Without the blocking ﬁ lter inside the dedicated Coronado diagonal, light from the sun is not fully ﬁ ltered and looking through the system can result eye damage even with a quick glance.

READ THIS MANUAL COMPLETELY BEFORE ATTEMPTING TO USE YOUR NEW CORONADO PRODUCT. IT CONTAINS SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS REQUIRED FOR THE SAFE USE OF YOUR PRODUCT.

Meade Instruments has night and day covered for the amateur astronomer. Meade is the leader in night

time astronomy with the most advanced optical, mechanical and electronic systems for viewing the night

sky. With Coronado and the development of the SolarMax II, Meade is the clear leader in solar day time

observing as well. Whether you are imaging deep sky objects with your Meade astronomical telescope and

DSI or gazing at our nearest star through a Coronado SolarMax telescope, keep an eye on the Meade team

to provide you with the most technologically advanced and innovative product to enhance your enjoyment of

astronomy. No matter where, or what time of day your interest in astronomy calls to you,

we will be there with you.

Night and Day, we’ve got you covered.

Table of Contents

About Coronado®. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Filter Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Personal Solar Telescope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-6

PST

SolarMax

II 60 Telescope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-8

II 90 Telescope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-10

II 40mm, 60mm and 90mm Filter Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-12

Cleaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Replacement Manuals and Accessories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Deﬁ nition of Terms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Solar Facts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Warranty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Observation Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18-19

About Coronado

Coronado® was founded in 1997 by David Lunt and Geraldine Hogan as Coronado Technology Group. David Lunt’s 40 plus years experience at the forefront of optical design and innovation translated into patented technology allowing the classical FabryPérot etalon to be constructed in a novel way. Tremendous demand changed the initial concept of producing a few hydrogen-alpha (H-a) telescopes a month for the advanced

solar amateur. As word got out that these telescopes and ﬁ lters produced amazing views of the Sun, Coronado grew rapidly. As demand vastly exceeded the small company’s ability to produce, the owners of Coronado decided to sell their operation to a company with the experience in higher volume manufacturing but still had then dedication to quality and detail that Coronado was known for. That company is Meade Instruments.

Since 1997 Meade Instruments’ Coronado brand has grown to become the largest selling solar telescopes and ﬁ lters. We now manufacture four lines of H-a telescopes and ﬁ lter systems from the low cost, high performance PST (Personal Solar Telescope) to the ultimate 90mm SolarMax II along with the specially designed Cemax series of eyepieces and custom solar accessories. In June of 2010 Meade Instruments Corp. announced the introduction of the revolutionary SolarMax II line of solar observing telescopes and ﬁ lters. The new SolarMax II represents a breakthrough in solar observing with the new RichView™ tuning system. This patented system allows direct tuning of the primary etalon ﬁ lter. No other commercially available H-a telescope can provide the tuning range and accuracy of the SolarMax II. Observers can now tune for the highest contrast views of active regions, ﬂ ares, ﬁ laments, and other surface detail, or quickly and easily re-tune for prominences on the solar limb.

We continue to maintain the founders philosophy for building ﬁ lters — Safety, Quality, and Performance. You can rest assured that your new instrument has been hand assembled and tested before being sealed in the box. In fact, every telescope and ﬁ lter is ﬁ eld tested on the Sun so we are conﬁ dent you can look forward to a lifetime of fantastic H-a views of our dynamic Sun. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us.

Filter Safety

Safety - It is widely known that there are inherent dangers involved with observing the

Sun. Meade Instruments has always been, is, and always will be, obsessed with the

safety of its products. A proposed new product is not released until it has been fully

proven that it can be made completely safe for the user. All Coronado instruments are

tested and sealed at our facilities as complete, safe, and working units. Do not attempt

to disassemble any Coronado product, doing so will void your warranty and could compromise your safety. Before each use make sure your ﬁ lter does not appear damaged in any way, if you have any doubts please call our customer support. Meade is obsessed with safety and you should be too.

We recommend you establish a safety checklist for each viewing session, ensuring that all adaptors, ﬁ lters and blocking ﬁ lters are installed and secure before aligning the system to the sun. Make this safety check part of your observing routine. Never leave a solar telescope unattended.

An additional safety consideration is exposure to the Sun. Always use sunscreen, and wear a hat and long sleeved shirt while observing.

PST® Personal Solar Telescope

Congratulations on your purchase! Meade Instruments has shipped your Coronado PST dedicated H-a telescope fully assembled and ready for use. Be sure to read the safety and cleaning instructions on page 4 and 13 before using your PST telescope. You can refer to the diagrams below for questions regarding the components of your system. Please read these instructions in full before setting up your new PST telescope and contact customer service if you have any questions.

Mounting – Meade manufactures and sells separately three (3) mounts suitable for the PST: the MALTA™ mount (Manual ALTitude Azmuth), the DSM altazimuth computer controlled mount and the LXD75 German equatorial computer controlled mount. The threads on the bottom of the PST are compatible with any ¼ 20 thread. Most standard photographic mounts and mounting hardware can be used to provide a safe, stable, and reliable set up. This is also compatible with piggyback mounting systems.

The Meade MALTA™ mount is a dedicated rugged, portable altazimuth mount designed for the PST. To use the MALTA mount, attach it to the PST using the two screws included with the MALTA mount Then secure the mount head to the base using the tension screw going through the top down into the base. The individual legs then thread into their holes. By loosening the tension screw one can adjust the azimuth or horizontal axis, retighten the tension screw to freeze that axis. The silver tension screw on the mount head will adjust the altitude or vertical axis when loosened and hold the PST ﬁ rm when tightened down.

Meade also makes a dovetail mounting block (product #DT-LXD75) compatible with the LXD75 mount and many other mounts on the market.

WARNING!

Do not insert your eyepiece until you have conﬁ rmed that the

telescope is securely mounted and all ﬁ lter elements attached

and secured.

Finding the Sun - The P.S.T.™ has been designed with an internal

Sol Ranger™ Sun spotting device. There is a small pinhole on the front face of the P.S.T.™ body and a small opaque window on the top, near the eyepiece holder. When properly aligned on the Sun the pinhole will let in light that will be projected onto the opaque glass in the form of a small harmless ball. It is NOT necessary to put your eye up to the opaque glass. Best alignment will be found when this ball of light is near center but it is not always dead center. Adding a SM40/T-Max™ will obstruct the Sol Ranger- Do not put your eye up to the opaque glass.

Tuning and Focusing the PST - Because different features on the Sun are moving toward or away from the Earth, their light is Doppler shifted off the hydrogen-alpha line of 6562.8 Angstroms, you will need to adjust the tuning slightly to get the best highcontrast views of the features you want to observe. The PST is equipped with a tuning mechanism that allows the user to adjust performance of the solar ﬁ lter. The purpose of this adjustment is to compensate for possible detuning of the ﬁ lter due to the change

Focusing Knob

PST

RichView™ tuning ring for internal Etalon

PST® Personal Solar Telescope

in operating conditions (such as barometric pressure that can change with elevation changes.) The adjustable tuner is located right at the end of the optical tube assembly where it merges to the rectangular body of the PST, and is easily recognized by the knurled rubber ring (see Pg. 5). The minute spectral adjustment of the etalon ﬁ lter is accomplished by simply rotating this knurled ring in either direction. In most instances the ﬁ lter adjustment will not be required – the PST is delivered properly tuned by Meade engineers. The judgment about occasional adjustment is made based on overall image quality and the ability to see the image details with a satisfactory contrast.

NOTE: The maximum possible extent of a (relatively tight) rotation of the adjustable tuner is approximately 130°. No excessive force should be applied in an attempt to rotate the knurled ring further than mechanically allowed. The best achievable contrast of the image will be found within the limits of adjustment, and, once such image is obtained, no further improvement of the image quality can be gained by forcing the tuner.

In search for a better solar image, the astronomer should ﬁ rst ﬁ nd the “sweet spot” by appropriately focusing the telescope using the focusing knob. Once the PST is appropriately focused, the edge of the solar disk will appear sharp. However, if, for example, the prominences are not seen after the telescope has been focused, the tuning lever for the internal etalon may be of help. In this case the knurled ring of the adjustable tuner should be appropriately turned until the sought contrast of the Sun’s chromosphere is apparent.

Surface details will generally require one setting, while prominences will require a different setting for maximum detail.

Tuning PST Double Stack 40 with RichView tuning - With a double stack system, follow this procedure for best results: After the PST telescope is pointed at the Sun and the image has been focused, rotate the knurled ring on the telescope in either direction slowly while looking at the image in the eyepiece to get the most detail and contrast. Now adjust the tilt of the external Etalon on the front of the telescope with the T-Max wheel to achieve the brightest image while eliminating any reﬂ ections. Finally, adjust the RichView tuning ring on the external Etalon to get the most detail and contrast for the feature you are viewing. Because double stacked systems operate at a very narrow band pass of only 0.5 Angstroms or less, more tuning is needed for different areas and features on the Sun.

Double Stacking - This greatly increases contrast by narrowing the bandpass to <0.5Å and gives a spectacular 3D effect showing increased surface detail. The PST 40 telescope can be double stacked by adding an additional PST Etalon with T-Max (Product #SME-40). Contact your Coronado dealer or Meade Instruments directly for pricing.

PST Personal Solar Telescope

Aperture - 40mm

Focal Length - 400mm

f/Ratio - f/10.0

Bandwidth (Single Stacked)- <1.0 Å

Bandwidth (Double Stacked)- <0.5 Å

Thermal Stability - 0.005 Å/°C

Blocking - Full blocking >10

-5

from EUV to far IR

Focusing Knob

PST

RichView™ tuning ring for internal Etalon

PST® Personal Solar Telescope

Tmax™ tilt wheel

External Etalon unit

RichView™ tuning ring

Double Stacked

+ 14 hidden pages