SOLAR SKREEN ADAPTION Last updated: 8 November 2006

Subject:	Solar Skreen Adaption For Mercury Transit
Sent:	Wednesday, November 1, 2006 06:42:39
From:	ericb760@netzero.net (ericb760@netzero.net)
With the upcoming Mercury transit I figured I'd try to view it with my 
ETX-125. A local camera shop was going out of business so I was able 
to pick up an old Tuthill Solar Skreen for $5.00. The problem was that 
it was 4.5" in diameter. To solve the problem I stole one of my 
daughter's black plastic notebooks, cut it into a rectangle and 
attached velcro strips to the edge so that it makes a cylinder that 
slides over the OTA. Next I cut a 5 inch circle out of cardboard and 
a 4 inch circle inside of that so I had sort of a cardboard doughnut. 
I placed the Solar Skreen on this and used short lengths of duct tape 
to secure it. Next I used duct tape to secure it to the tube that I 
hade made. After first verifying that the whole thing had no stray 
light sneaking in I slid it onto my 125 and, Voila, instant solar 
filter! It works perfectly and cost me about $5.50. Thought I'd tell 
you about it in case anyone would like to duplicate it. Be warned, I 
did remove the spotting scope while viewing the sun.  

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