Captian Marvel

The Keck domes can be controlled three ways… From a set of manual controls on a panel at the base of the dome, via computer control when observing, and from a radio controller that you can use from anyplace in the dome. This radio controller has long been called Capt. Marvel around Keck, the original versions looked like a prop from a 1930’s sci-fi serial movie.

The dome radio controller, called Capt. Marvel
The dome radio controller, called Capt. Marvel
The radio controller is actually a crane controller, a standard unit you can buy that can safely control large machinery, including enormous factory or dockyard cranes. Being a standard unit it has a number of safety and security features built-in… Fail-safe operation, coded communications, and more insure reliable operation.

The unit is standard, the panel is custom. When buying the transmitter you need to specify the front panel layout including the switches and labels for your application. Thus our transmitter has a panel arranged to our specification with switches for dome rotation and opening the shutters. In the middle is a bright red-emergency stop switch to insure you can immediately stop everything if something goes wrong.

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Unsafe Solar Filters on EBay

I though these things were gone!

Eyepiece mounted solar filter
DO NOT USE! A Solar filter meant to thread into a 0.956″ telescope eyepiece.
But no, in the world of cheap e-commerce, any product can be found, even those that are notably unsafe.

What are we discussing? Eyepiece style solar filters that screw into the threads on the bottom of the eyepiece, not at the front of the telescope like proper solar filters.

I actually have one of these things, found in a kit of equipment I was given. A bright red and very cheap pot metal casting with a small glass filter. I have never attempted to actually use it, I keep it as a example of the bad and the ugly. It is a vintage bit of gear, the type that was included with inexpensive Japanese refractors of the 60’s and 70’s, sized to be used with the small 0.965″ eyepieces of the era.

An eyepiece style solar filter available on EBay
An eyepiece style solar filter available on EBay
To my surprise I find out these things are still around… I was shopping for an inexpensive solar filter for a small telescope when I came across these eyepiece style filters on EBay. They are cheap too, less than $10 with shipping, just the sort of thing to attract a young or novice telescope user into trying a product that is potentially very dangerous.

Given that the risk you are taking involves irreplaceable eyesight, this is very serious.

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