UPDATE:

The Kendricks and the Thousand Oaks are both Off-Axis type of filters...

A no go for this Chicago Astronomer - it's Full Aperture baby or nothin'.

One of the dealers suggested this one...



Still undecided on the Orion full aperture glass filter, this one... or just making my own from a hunk of Baader film.

Stay tuned.

My Seymour is bigger than yours. ;D

I ordered a 9x12 sheet so that I had extra just in case. Otherwise it looks just like yours.

I have to scrounge up something to make the frame out of.

Nice Tom.

What was the scope that you got?

Near sunsets are the best time to catch aircrafts zipping across the solar face.

Thanks and good luck!




Joe, the below RMA should tell it all. The price was right and even though I did not like it I was going to keep it but it broke.

I purchased it at Optics Plantet and went to pick it up. But they don't allow return to be dropped off by customer. That's not good. I won't say their customer service is bad if they credit me after inspecting the return items. But they are not Costco.

RMA Details:

1 Celestron PowerSeeker 80EQ Refractor Telescope Package w/ Motor Drive, Tripod 21048-OP
Reason: Defective Item - Declination axis movement failed. Locking knob is not releasing clutch when unlocked.

The price was $114.99. Hahahaa!

On it's way....



Yay....!

You know the one week rule...

And we have arrival....



I was out in the back yard, when the Fedex dude shouts down the gangway asking if I'm expecting a package.

Oh, but of course...

After my yard work, I anxiously open up the very well protected and wrapped filter...



The outside box looked good, with only a hand-grasped indentation. The inner box was wrapped in bubble wrap. (My cat doesn't seem impressed.)

The filter itself was also wrapped in bubble wrap and with a small envelope...



...Cat still isn't impressed.

And in a nice plastic bag...



The filter is a good shape, with some minor fingerprints, dust and in need of a couple of wipes...



Checking out the filtering against my desk lamp, I could view the filament easily and comfortably...



The outside rim has minor scuffs, (as mentioned in the ad), and can easily be rubbed out with polishing compound if desired...



...and the inside has a double row of cushioned tape in great condition.

The filter's nylon hold-down screws are good, but two did pop out of the ring's sockets... easily popped back in, but I would feel better with a drop of Crazy Glue...



Back to that small envelope...



In are several extra cushion pads and a soft cloth...nice.

And as we all know, this delivery brought to us, Chicago's first snowstorm of the 2011/2012 winter season.

Sorry kids.

First sunny day, we will be testing the filter on the C11. Thanks to Astromart seller, James in Georgia, for protecting the filter well for it trip up north...

Oh...at least one of my cats digs solar astronomy....



...the other one - still unimpressed...idiot.

My Bag-o Mylar came in....




Ten packets of Mylar sheets pour out.



Tightly packed, it comes out like a machine gunners ammo belt. Highly reflective and lightweight when unfolded - (84" x 52"). The material is very thin - translucent and easily seen through...



Looking over the label...



Used by space crafts.

Nice.

I think it will serve very well in Chicago Astronomer activities. I'm sure I can think of several uses for these...

Oh sweet...

I enjoy being a co-Lord of the weather.

Yes! Unless you're planning on waiting until December 2117, best to catch the one this year. Only 143 days, 7 hours, 35 minutes, 15 seconds to go.

First trial test of the Full 11" Aperture Solar Filter -



I have been anxious to try out my new Solar filter since it's arrival, but it brought with it clouds and a mini snow storm. This day had partly cloudy skies and time for an opportunity to try out a new adventure in solar observation.

On my property, there is a small window of direct-line solar angle, and I only had minutes before I lost it - not prepping in time. Not wanting to waste the chance, I set up down the alley, away from my garage at a clear patch of sky...



Slipping on the glass filter on the OTA, it fit snugly and without any additional shimming or adaptations. I tightened the lock down screws and tested the fit.

Snug and ready...



Slewing south and targeting the Sun, I was very pleased on my first view...



Details galore.

The filter imparts a orange-yellowish hue/tint to the solar disk - more yellowish - reflected closely as shown above.

Right from the start, I'm catching Unmbras, Pen-umbras, granulation and faculae in nice detail. It was difficult at first to achieve sharp focus, as the brightness of the solar disk is not very friendly to focus upon, such as objects that reflect light, but with the Crayford focuser, I was able to make small minute adjustments and bring to the best focus I could during this preliminary field test.

Spaceweather.com says that Sunspot 1402 was the "Arrow-head" that I was viewing...



I'm catching similar artifacts in my session, but it looks like things were already shifted since Spaceweather posted their pic earlier in the day. The lighter line splitting 1402 in two was easily captured, as well as smaller spots...including granulation.

I spent about an hour in the cold, (22 degrees and breeze), taking my first pics with this filter..and very pleased. Adjusting the Canon Powershot S3 white balance settings, I am able to skew the color to various light passes...



Switching to Tungsten, the disk took on a cool blue tint in images..and with more detail - and Sunspot 1402 and friends were putting on a good showing...



Neighbors stopped by to see what I was doing, and formed a small line to get the chance to view the Sun.

.... But it's not what they expected. Instead of a cool observable disk that greeted them, they expected a fireball, full of movement and action. Some could not grasp what they were observing, seeing just a white light. I attempted to explain that the full disk was in view in the 40mm 2" eyepiece, and that those dark smudges were sunspots - larger than the size of the Earth. But for most, it was not impressive. A couple of visitors were fascinated that they were able to view the Sun safely and see the surface...but for most - a passing curiosity. (Something to take into planning consideration for future solar observation sessions for the Chicago Astronomers who do such public sessions.)

I went back to my testing...



This next one is probably the best of the lot in terms of Faculae...



Popping in a 26mm eyepiece and zooming in a bit with the camera, I was able to capture the "Arrow-Head" Umbra...



My mailman stopped by for a bit, very interested in astronomy and we often talk about the subject - especially when I receive astronomical materials in the mail. This was his first time seeing my C11 and was impressed - and in awe of the Solar disk. Soon after I broke down the site, it started to cloud over and I was happy I had the chance to try out this new tool.

Summary:

This first loose test of the Full C11 Aperture Solar filter was a good one. I feel that the full aperture provides the much needed resolution clarity lost in off-axis limited aperture set-ups. I found no turbulences or gross distortions viewing in this manner - as warned by others. The OTA did not heat up, (but it was a cold day afterall), and with very small slight turns of the Crayford, different parts of the solar disk came into focus - bringing in different solar artifacts into view and losing others.

I did have the Light pollution filter already attached to the 40mm and a 80A blue filter on the 26mm from previous sessions, but wish to conduct the next solar test raw. I did barlow the 26mm to a 13mm - and viewed very good details in the Arrow-head sunspot. I am anxious to try a shoot-out between this Orion filter and the Seymour film filter I got earlier. But I think I already know that the 11" will surpass the Seymour in clarity and detail...especially in Tungsten White balance for imaging - but both have a place in observations.

This filter is well worth the funds spent on it and will recoup in no time. I highly recommend it.... #Thumbsup#

Jim,

All the images seem to be fine...even on my Smartphone.

Check again please.

Windows 95 is so 1994.

Weird....

Alright so in Firefox, I get these little images that say "This image or video has been moved or deleted - Photobucket"

Then I went to reply to your post, and when I looked at the post below the "reply" box all the images were showing up. I went back to the post (without the reply box on top) and all the images were gone again replaced by the bad image icon.

Ironically, it seems to show them fine in IE.

Very odd.

I just checked in IE8 and Google Chrome the images appear just fine.