One of the things I brought back from Oregon Star Party was a set of solar filters for binoculars.
The filters were from DayStar Filters who had a booth at the star party. I spent a while chatting with the gal running the booth and enjoying the hydrogen alpha views through the ‘scope they had set-up. The Daystar SS60 Hydrogen alpha ‘scope they had on sale was rather tempting.
What I did buy were a couple sets of their White Light ULF, universal lens filters. These filters used a simple die-cut cardboard cup to cover the objectives of mid-sized binoulars. I had fun assembling them and enjoyed daily solar views at the star party using the Nikon 8 x 40mm binos I had along. There is quite a bit of sunspot activity as we approach solar maximum making the views worthwhile.
Arriving home I decided to improve on these little filters, taking the filter elements out of them and installing these into 3D printed shells to replace the cardboard. Being careful with the design I ensured no possible light leakage as well as reliable attachment to the binoculars.
No, the image of the Sun shown above was not taken with these filters, but rather with a small telescope, but it is representative of the view through the binocular solar filters.
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Hi Andrew! Sounds like you probably spoke with Jen Winter. She a member of our astronomy club in Kansas City. DayStar makes great products. I didn’t realize they had filters for binoculars. I’ll have to check that out. Thanks!