Coronado Maxscope 40mm First Light, and Central Obstruction Question

Hi all,

My Maxscope 40mm arrived in time for the transit, but unfortunately
the weather in Nova Scotia, Canada, did not cooperate. We had a crowd
set up on a hill in the middle of town and I did two interviews for
the national news media regarding the transit, so the day wasn't a
complete wash. We shared a lot of laughswhile we waited for the cloud
deck to lift...which it did, 6 hours after the transit!

I used that 45 minuite break to try the scope out. I set it up with a
motorized Orion SkyView Pro mount. Finding the Sun was easy with the
Teleview "Sol-Searcher" attached as a finder. This was my first view
in Ha, and it was AMAZING! There were two prominences visible at the
7:00position in the view, as well as a dark filament snaking across
thesurface. Over the course of the viewing session, changes in the
appearance of the prominences were obvious. Seeing conditions limited
the magnification I could use.

The Cemax eyepieces produced a good image, and were slightly better
than in my 10.5mm Pentax SMC XL. I did notice that the solar detail
was sharpest at the very center of the field of view, and that your
eye had to be positioned "just-so" to avoid black-outs. The blocking
filter was purported to be a BF-10 from the fellow that I purchased it
from, but is in fact a BF-5. Would a BF-10 be less prone to
black-outs? Regardless, I do believe that I am addicted to Ha viewing
after just one brief session.

I also notice that the Maxscope has a central obstruction. What is
its purpose.? I thought that the 'scope was a refractor? Can anyone
shed some light on the design?

Cheers!

- Craig

Craig Levine wrote:
I also notice that the Maxscope has a central obstruction. What is
its purpose.? I thought that the 'scope was a refractor? Can anyone
shed some light on the design?

I think the central obstruction is there to main constant spacing between
the filter elements. It isn't a secondary. The central obstruction is
also present on the SolarMax 40 (the filter by itself).

Brian Tung
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