Attaching a digital camera to a Coronado PST Solar Telescope

I remember some discussion of this subject back a few months. I would
like to use a digital camera on my PST, but it seems that I remember it
is very difficult to get proper focus (?). Does anyone have any web
page tutorials on this or even comments that might be helpful. Thanks.

Henry Barwood

On 19 Jul 2006 11:26:13 -0700, wrote:

I remember some discussion of this subject back a few months. I would
like to use a digital camera on my PST, but it seems that I remember it
is very difficult to get proper focus (?). Does anyone have any web
page tutorials on this or even comments that might be helpful. Thanks.

If your digital camera has a fixed lens, you will need to use afocal
imaging. To do that, you use the camera through the eyepiece. This works
fine with the PST, but you'll need some sort of adaptor to hold the
camera in place (you can do it by hand, but the results aren't usually
very good).

For DSLRs, webcams, and other cameras that can have their lenses
removed, you usually use prime focus imaging. The problem with the PST
is that its focal plane is pretty deep down inside its eyepiece holder.
However, this EP holder is made of two parts: the upper part actually
holds the EP and has a blocking filter in it, and the lower is a simple
extension. Unscrew the entire assembly from the diagonal block, and then
separate the two parts. The upper part (with the filter) can now screw
into the diagonal directly. The focal plane is now an inch further out,
which is enough for most prime focus setups (I use it with a 300D and a
couple of webcams).

_________________________________________________

Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com