Sol Ranger on 80FD or similar

mrngbss · Post by **mrngbss** » Wed Nov 29, 2006 11:50 pm

Made an adapter for the Sol Ranger to be fitted on the WO scopes with a Red Spot Finder bracket.

I had used two plastic clips (1 inch long) which are normally used to hold the sides of a box together. These helped me to ensure the finder is parallel and perpendicular to the mounting bracket on the scope. these are readily available in DIY shops. I compared the holes of the clips and the screws on the Sol Ranger and found that they were the same distance apart. Even if they aren't you could still drill a hole. (but I didn't have a drill with me). I also cut a little slit at the holes so that the screws could be securely attached to the clips and the finder.

I used Daler mounting boards to make the thick piece of material. You can use anything, just that I only have paper, penknife and tape today. I'll be thinking of using wood ( i have a small pc of teak) so that the thumbscrew on the Red Spot Finder bracket could be screwed tight and firm (paper can be compressed).

Of course a Sol Ranger is an item which could be easily replaced with other DIY Sun finders, but I really like the dark image (with bright Sun) at the back of the Sol Ranger. I've used the TV's Sol Searcher, but still, the Sun is more easily found using the 'gold tube'.

This adapter can be modified and used on the TV Sol searcher as well, you just need different sets of screws. BTW, TV sol Searcher doesn't come with any screws....

thanks for looking. I welcome new suggestions too (for mounting on WO or other scopes).

Cheers!

cataclysm · Post by **cataclysm** » Thu Nov 30, 2006 9:03 am

Hi out of curiosity, how does the solar finder works? Is it through projection method or simply peeking through it?

mrngbss · Post by **mrngbss** » Thu Nov 30, 2006 9:07 am

I'm not sure what method, but commonly people call it a pinhole projection. You may be right to call it a pojection method.

1. Point the telescope roughly at the Sun (look for smallest shadow area).
2. Through the back of the finder, you will see some streak of bright light (amidst the darker background)
3. shift up-down, left-right until you see (from the back of Sol Ranger) a bright spot (this is the Sun's image).
4. Shift until the bright spot is in the centre of the (back of) barrel.
5. Peek through your telescope (ensure filter is ON!).

mrngbss · Post by **mrngbss** » Thu Nov 30, 2006 11:43 am

I made a short video clip to demo how the sol ranger is used. Focus on the Sol Ranger on the scope.

[video width=320 height=260]http://homepage.mac.com/ng_wee_nghee/so ... thesun.mov[/video]

You will need Quicktime 7.