Solar filters

I have a question that you all may be able to answer. I am making a solar filter for my C8 and would like to know if there are advantages to making it a full apature or some part there of. I have enough Badar matierial to do either but would be nice to save enough to do my other scopes as well. Any comments?
Thanks Magic Man

I made mine 7", not quite full aperature but almost. I works great, nothing beats aperature for detail. Some will say that you can't take advantage of anything over 4" most of the time (because of seeing), but I say it all depends on when and where you observe from.

Jim,
This is the sole purpose of a solar filter, to block the heat (IR) and other types of harmfull rays therefore none will be present inside of your scope. Any heat that is generated is comming from the tube itself.


Robert W.

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I would make a full aperture filter. Over the years I have had a chance to compare scopes up to 8" aperture with quality solar filters at Astrofest. The view does improve with more aperture.

While closed systems are not recommended for solar projection, a proper filter, like the Baader, eliminates worries about too much heat entering the scope. It is safe for you and the scope to make a full aperture filter.