4 Sep 2008
My Review of Celestron Astro Solar Film Filter for C5’S & Nextstar 5 Telescopes.
This is a review that I submitted to Adorama about a solar filter that I bought from them. As is pretty obvious, I’m not too happy with that product. It is actually pretty simple to make a filter (direct link to PDF file). Next time, I’ll go that route and not risk my only good eye…
Oh, and the formatting is horrible, it’s what Adorama’s system came up with.
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Could be Dangerous!
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Pros: It works
Cons: Dangerous
Best Uses: Astronomy
Describe Yourself: Casual/ Recreational
The filter works, no question about that. When the filter is on the scope, aimed at the sun, the filter gets of course warm. This will soften the glue that holds the foil to the ring. There is no reinforcement on the back of the ring to hold the filter in place. Once the glue lets go of the foil, it will flap in the wind and can potentially expose the eye to direct sunlight. This is very dangerous, and I have a hard time recommending this filter to anybody.
Once the foil is pressed on the ring again, the glue will stick again. The question is just for how long.
Celestron either has to use a different adhesive, or reinforce the foil on the back so that the filter stays in place even if some of the glue comes off.
(legalese)
