Coronado SolarMax 40 Telescope
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- Mount Type: Unmounted
- Focal Length: 500 mm
- Optical Design: Refractor
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H-alpha solar astronomy for the masses
Pros
Provides H-alpha views at reasonable price. Full solar disc visible in 18mm eyepieces.
Cons
Few written instructions. All aspects of focusing not intuitive. Alignment difficult for beginners.
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
I would recommend this product to anyone, but I would make sure I passed along the alignment and focusing tips I found.
First, my review is of the MaxScope 40 that I bought in early 2004, with the ring mounts, as the better clamshell mount was not available for the MaxScope 40 at that time. Because I don't have the clamshell mount, I also do not have the Sol-Ranger finder scope, so keep this in mind.
The telescope has the objective filter and T-Max tuner at the objective end of the telescope, and a blocking filter in a diagonal at the eyepiece end. The T-Max works by tilting the filter ever so slightly, altering its bandpass, in order to see events which may have been shifted a little bit out of the H-alpha frequency by the Doppler effect. A carrying case is included. My telescope came with the 18mm CEMAX eyepiece, and I bought the 12mm eyepiece later.
The first time I tried using the telescope, I was trying to find the sun by trying to minimize the shadow the telescope cast on the ground, and this was very frustrating. However, after contacting other users on Coronado's web site, I found that the quickest way to find the sun with what I had was to minimize the shadow cast by the objective filter on the T-Max ring, and then I was able to quickly see the amazing views of the sun that I bought the telescope for. I would recommend the new clamshell mounting, which has a mounting for the Sol-Ranger solar finder system on it, which would make things much easier.
I definitely recommend moving the T-Max through its full range to see what details are there. I find that the solar prominences are more visible at a different setting than the one that shows some of the details of the solar disc.
One other note: The knurled knob at the eyepiece end is for focusing, but it has limited travel. There is a tube that is moved in and out for rough focusing. For ordinary eyepiece observing, pull the tube almost all the way out. I found this out by asking on the web site, it's not mentioned anywhere in the sparse instructions.
I love the views, I just wish it was a little easier to line up.
The telescope has the objective filter and T-Max tuner at the objective end of the telescope, and a blocking filter in a diagonal at the eyepiece end. The T-Max works by tilting the filter ever so slightly, altering its bandpass, in order to see events which may have been shifted a little bit out of the H-alpha frequency by the Doppler effect. A carrying case is included. My telescope came with the 18mm CEMAX eyepiece, and I bought the 12mm eyepiece later.
The first time I tried using the telescope, I was trying to find the sun by trying to minimize the shadow the telescope cast on the ground, and this was very frustrating. However, after contacting other users on Coronado's web site, I found that the quickest way to find the sun with what I had was to minimize the shadow cast by the objective filter on the T-Max ring, and then I was able to quickly see the amazing views of the sun that I bought the telescope for. I would recommend the new clamshell mounting, which has a mounting for the Sol-Ranger solar finder system on it, which would make things much easier.
I definitely recommend moving the T-Max through its full range to see what details are there. I find that the solar prominences are more visible at a different setting than the one that shows some of the details of the solar disc.
One other note: The knurled knob at the eyepiece end is for focusing, but it has limited travel. There is a tube that is moved in and out for rough focusing. For ordinary eyepiece observing, pull the tube almost all the way out. I found this out by asking on the web site, it's not mentioned anywhere in the sparse instructions.
I love the views, I just wish it was a little easier to line up.
