Today was a clear sunny day, which meant I just HAD to try out my PST + AGc again! (See the 1/16/2016 post for Day 1 results).  I began with the same setup as yesterday, starting with visual viewing through the eyepiece followed by using the MallinCam SkyRaider AGc instead of an eyepiece. I continue to be amazed at what I am seeing both visually and on my laptop screen.  Prominences were clearly visible at the edge of the disk.

And I could easily see surface detail ...

The SkyRaider AGc provides a nice high resolution 1280x960 real time image of the Sun. I really like the SkyRaider software which can control any of the SkyRaider cameras. Here is a screen shot of the SkyRaider application screen showing my settings for the AGc.  When using the AGc for autoguiding it is normally set at 640x480, but for viewing I have it set to 1280x960.  I have been using Gain = 1 for solar viewing with exposures in the 10ms-200ms range depending upon the detail I’m viewing and whether it is double stacked or not.

Speaking of double stacking, when I got the PST, I actually ordered the double stack version.  And no, it is not something you put syrup on.  Double stack means it has an additional filter you can put on the end of the PST to “double stack” it and increase the PST performance to a bandpass of 0.5 A, which enables you to see details even clearer. It comes with a price tag though of an additional $500.  Is it worth it?  I obviously am not going to say one way or another after only using the PST for 2 days, but I will provide some initial results.  All my viewing yesterday was with the standard PST.  Today I also used the second filter some.

First of all, the second filter is heavy, and placing it on the end of the telescope changes the center of gravity of the telescope noticeably.  When I put it on, the telescope slowly started rotating downward.  It was too much weight on the end of the telescope for the SkyProdigy arm to hold it in place…or so I first thought.  Thinking about the change in center of gravity, I was able to slide the PST backward on the SkyProdigy arm to better balance it, and it held OK.
 

Next I learned how to use the tilt mechanism on the second filter for maximum brightness and how to tune its etalon filter in a similar manner as the one built into the PST to see even more detail.  Here are some images I captured with the PST double stacked.

The double stack filter definitely provides more detail, and I am sure I’ll learn how to use it even better. And I have not even tried any post processing yet. My initial thoughts are the standard PST is a great beginning telescope for Solar Viewing and Solar Video Astronomy!   The PST is lightweight and very portable and provides amazing views of the Sun at the lowest price point you can find for this type of performance. And you can add the second filter later on to double stack it if you want improved performance. I’ll continue to post more as I gain more experience with the PST with and without the second filter.

I recommend you get a case for storing and carrying the PST.  Be sure to not damage your packing foam from the box your PST comes in.  If you order the PST case you will find it does not come with foam, but the packing foam from your PST box has cut marks so you can easily remove portions of the foam to use in the case.  In the picture on the left, I had already placed two of the foam pieces from the PST box into the bottom of the case to hold the PST, and I am getting ready to put the remaining foam into the top of the PST case.  I removed the two side pieces and inserted the last large foam piece into the top of the case.

The PST fits snugly into the case foam, is well protected, and the foam has places for accessories.  I have the Coronado eyepiece and 2x Barlow stored in the case with the PST.  The MallinCam AGc camera will easily fit into the other eyepiece foam slot for a nice, portable Solar Video Astronomy setup.

I have tried solar filters on my different telescopes to see sunspots ... but that is about all I could see.  Then I learned that this is called white light solar observing, and it is about all you will see this way with amateur level telescopes. If you want to see things like prominences along the edge of the Sun's disk or surface features you really need a Hydrogen Alpha telescope that is especially made for viewing the sun.

At ECVAR I saw impressive results where the SkyRaider AGc was being used on a Coronado SolarMax H-a telescope. Recently I bought a book about viewing the Sun with Coronado telescopes and learned there is a nice entry level Solar telescope called the PST (Personal Solar Telescope - $699). I already have a SkyRaider AGc, so I began thinking the PST was a way I could expand my Video Astronomy into real Solar observing.  I decided to supplement some Christmas gift money and get one. I also ordered a SkyView Pro adapter that would allow me to easily slide the PST into my SkyProdigy Mount.

 
When mounted, the eyepiece is horizontal rather than vertical.  But I realized this was fine - I could just sit in a chair next to the scope and easily look in the eyepiece.

Today I tried this out for the first time.   The PST has a built in Sol Ranger Sun spotting device that makes it easy to get the Sun in the eyepiece field of view.

I started up the SkyProdigy and did a Solar System Align using the Sun, set the telescope tracking to Solar and then learned how to focus the PST by watching the edge of the Sun’s disk.  I put a black T-shirt over my head and the eyepiece so I could see better (strange looking I know, but it really made a BIG difference).
 

I immediately found out I was going to be able to see more solar detail than I ever had been able to see before! I then learned to use the RichView tuning ring for the internal Etalon that allows you to better see different features (some features are moving toward you and others away from you). I could actually see surface features, and then with a little more tuning I saw two major prominences at the edge of the disk! I had also bought the Coronado 2x Barlow and gave it a try and could see the prominences even better.

I really only intended to visually observe today to learn how to focus and tune it to see if I could see the different features.  But I was so excited at what I could see I couldn't stop there.  I went back inside and got my SkyRaider AGc and Surface Pro laptop and took it back to the telescope.  I removed the Barlow and eyepiece and inserted the AGc and connected it to my laptop. 

After figuring out I needed very little gain and only a few ms of exposure to get a good image, I found a sunspot and further adjusted the PST focus for the best image.   I also set the AGc resolution to 1280 x 960. I realized putting a dark lightweight jacket over my head when viewing the laptop screen also helped see more detail (Yeah, this looks strange too … but it is worth it).

By adjusting the internal Etalon I could see surface features on the sun on my screen. But I was disappointed that I couldn't see any of the prominences that I saw through the eyepiece.  After a little more thinking about this, I realized our eyes have a very good automatic gain control as you move your eyes to different features … but I manually set the exposure on the camera. So I cranked up the exposure time some more, which washed out the surface detail somewhat, but then the prominences were visible on the screen!  I also gave this a try using the Coronado 2x Barlow with the AGc and had good results as well. 

Here are some screen grabs I captured on this first time trying out the PST.  And this was with some wispy clouds passing by from time to time.

 
Clouds continued to move in, so I finally had to stop. But now I am no longer just a night time Video Astronomer.  How do you see a star in the daytime?  Check out our closest star using a Coronado PST and a MallinCam AGc!

Last night was a good clear night (for my location) so I decided to give my XT-828 another try. I am VERY pleased with the results!
 
Due to the cold weather, I did all my “viewing” from inside by the fire!  I rolled my CG-5 mount and C8 telescope out to my marked place on my driveway and did a basic polar align using my polar scope.  The XT-828 was already in place with a focal reducer and Lumicon Deep Sky Filter. I turned on the mount and started a Star Sense Auto Align.  While it was aligning I unrolled my active USB cable connected to my powered hub at the telescope, routed it through the garage into my den next to the fireplace.   When I went back outside the Auto Align had finished.  The time from beginning to roll out the telescope  to Auto Align completion was less than 15 minutes.  Then using the hand controller I slewed to Capella, put my Bahtinov focus mask on the end of the telescope and adjusted the focus using a display at the scope.  I removed the focus mask and returned inside for my viewing session.

I used the MiloSlick MallinCam Control software to control the camera, view and adjust the image in real time and capture screen images.  Using the MiloSlick control software, I turned on the MallinCam color bars and adjusted the video capture brightness until the black bar turns from light gray to black (48).  I then adjusted the contrast until the white bar is a nice white color (87).  I set the XT-828 cooling to -20c (I use fans on my XT-828) and put it in hyper mode.  Gain is set to zero (yes, gain=0)! During the 3 minute startup wait, I went back outside and put a dark cloth over the end of the telescope.  I came back in and set the exposure to 20 seconds and let it process a few images, and then used the MiloSlick software to capture a 20 second dark frame and saved it.  I went out and removed the dark cloth and came back in to being my viewing session.

Below are untouched screen grabs of what I saw on my laptop inside (and you will see that something was generating faint noise interference lines that I need to track down and eliminate).  The only real time processing used was MiloSlick’s histogram and dark frame subtraction.  I used 20 second exposure time all evening.  So these are the actual images I saw on my screen, updated in near real time every 20 seconds.


M1 - Crab Nebula (Magnitude 8.4):

NGC 891 – Galaxy (Magnitude 9.9):

NCG 1514 Planetary Nebula (Magnitude 10.9):

NGC 2024 - Flame Nebula (Magnitude 10.0):

IC 434 - Horsehead Nebula (Magnitude 7.3):

M33 – Pinwheel Galaxy (Magnitude 5.7 – was low in the sky near street light area):

Although it was a clear night, I do not live in a dark sky area. As I have said before, I live near a city with notable sky glow to the south, and I am in a neighborhood with street lights.  My house blocks direct light from hitting my telescope, but if I walk 10 steps down my driveway from the telescope, here is what I see.

Street Light (Magnitude Very Bright):

It is amazing what you can see with Video Astronomy under these conditions! 

For more information on the XT-828, see my December 12/22/2015 post "MallinCam X2 camera upgrade to XT-828".