Safety First!
•
Always check any telescope or filter before use. Do not use any telescope or filter
that appears to be damaged. Verify that all glass and filters are in place. Contact
Lunt Solar with any questions before use!
•
The Blocking Filter diagonal must ALWAYS be used with the Lunt Telescope or
Filter. Lunt Filters and Blocking Filters are NOT interchangeable with products
from other vendors.
So you have your LS100THa setup on a mount. Let's take a look!
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Place a ~25mm eyepiece in the focus end so you have the largest field of view to look
at.
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Pull the diagonal slide tube out about 50mm.
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Put the focus tube at about 50% of travel.
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If you do not have a Sol Searcher you can use the shadow cast by the Sun on the front
objective cell against the clamshell. Center one on the other and you should be close.
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Look thru the eyepiece. You should see a fuzzy red ball? If not, make sure you have
removed the dust cap from the front. Try to re-align the shadows or the Sol Searcher
and look again. After some trial and error the Sun should appear in the eyepiece. Once
the Sun is centered now is a good time to do a final adjustment to that Sol Searcher.
•
Focus:
I am amazed how many people walk up to a solar telescope and take a quick
look thru without ever focusing. Course focus is achieved by moving the diagonal
drawtube in and out. Medium focus is achieved using the larger knobs on either side of
the focuser assembly. Fine focus is achieved with the 10:1 reduction (smaller Gold
knob). The fine focus is often too fine for visual use, but comes in very handy if you are
imaging. Focus so that the edge of the Sun is as sharp as possible.
•
Tuning:
On the side of the scope is a large black cylinder. This cylinder is the tuning
system for the LS100T. We will explain how it works later, but for now we will simply
describe how to bring 656.28nm wavelength on band. The black handle of the cylinder
system has a 4 start thread attaching it to the brass cylinder body. Unscrew the black
handle completely. There may be some resistance and a faint pop as the air enters the
cylinder. This is normal. This has reset the system for your altitude. Carefully re-thread
the handle onto the body and engage the threads about one turn. While looking thru the
eyepiece gently turn the black handle onto the cylinder body. There will be little
resistance at first, but as the pressure in the cylinder builds the resistance will increase
slightly. As you turn the cylinder you should see features come into view thru the
eyepiece. Continued turning will result in the wavelength shifting thru 656.28nm and
detail will begin to disappear. Fine-tune the cylinder for the best performance.
•
A few details regarding the pressure tune system. The amount of pressure being supplied
to the etalon cavity is minimal. It is the equivalent of going from -500ft below sea level to
about 10,000ft. Or a few PSI. There is NO risk of explosion. We are dealing with only a
fraction of 1 atmosphere. When not in use we recommend that you release the pressure
by simply backing off the black handle from the cylinder body. If the system unthreads
completely, simply thread it back on 1 turn. It is not necessary to re-set the system every
time it is used. Re-setting may only be required if the system has been sitting for a long
period of time.
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Re-Focus. When you feel you have tuned effectively, re-focus the telescope. The finer
details should come into view. Try to relax the eye while observing and let the details
come to you.
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Change the eyepiece. When you have a good feel for observing at lower magnifications
try to increase the magnifications in small steps. Place an interesting artifact in the
center of the field. Replace the ~25mm with a ~12mm eyepiece. Look thru the eyepiece
and re-focus carefully. The image has dimmed slightly due to higher magnification but
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Lunt Solar Systems * 2520 N. Coyote Dr. #111 Tucson, AZ 85745 * 520-344-7348
www.luntsolarsystems.com
