by Michael Swartz
I had my Takahashi Sky90 with Coronado 90mm H-alpha + the hi-res module for extra contrast on the surface detail, binoviewers on an Orion Skyview pro mount. It tracked pretty well even though I only guessed which way was towards polaris.
For those of you who haven't seen it, Bob Hess was there with his H-Alpha setup. He created a very unique system. He has a TV85 on an interesting rack suspended between two tripods. On the objective end he has a filter and on the eyepiece end he has a TV 4x powermate, a daystar H-A filter and a TV55mm plossl. Then after the telescope on the objective end he has a diagonal from a big dob. He positions the scope at a 45 degree angle from the path of the sun and then rotates this mirror with some nifty hand controls so that it then reflects light down the refractor. So he has a reflecting refractor setup. Very interesting concept, I've never seen anything quite like it but it worked great. The view was also very nice. The whole thing was very portable including the wire milk crate he used as an observing chair.
There were some interesting prominences, lots of filaments here and there and several interesting spot groups. The seeing was very good in the late afternoon but deteriorated as the sun approached the hilltops. We were surrounded by boaters, jetskiers, loud stereos and curious onlookers. But, we had a good time.
The offer still stands for Solar viewing get-togethers here and there, now and then. Anyone want to have a lunch time solar viewing activity sometime?