70mm SolarMax® III Series Hydrogen-Alpha Solar Telescopes With RichView™ Tuning
WARNING! Looking at the Sun can be very dangerous unless the proper precautions are taken and specialized solar viewing equipment, like Coronado Solar filters and telescopes are used. Never look at the Sun directly with your eyes. When using Coronado filters on a telescope not designed specifically for solar viewing, be sure to block all non-filtered optical components such as viewfinders to prevent the suns light from passing through.
Meade Instruments has night and day covered for the amateur astronomer. Meade is the leader in night time astronomy with the most advanced optical, mechanical and electronic systems for viewing the night sky. With Coronado and the development of the SolarMax, Meade is the clear leader in solar day time observing as well.
Table of Contents About Coronado® . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Filter Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 SolarMax® III 70 Telescope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-11 SolarMax® III H-α Filter Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-14 Cleaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
About Coronado Coronado® was founded in 1997 as Coronado Technology Group. Tremendous demand changed the initial concept of producing a few hydrogen-alpha (H-α) telescopes a month for the advanced solar amateur. As word got out that these telescopes and filters produced amazing views of the Sun, Coronado grew rapidly.
Filter Safety Safety - It is widely known that there are inherent dangers involved with observing the Sun. Meade Instruments has always been, is, and always will be, obsessed with the safety of its products. A proposed new product is not released until it has been fully proven that it can be made completely safe for the user. All Coronado instruments are tested and sealed at our facilities as complete, safe, and working units.
SolarMax® III 70 Dedicated H-α Telescope SolarMax® III 70 Single Stack Features 7
Focuser Rotation Lock Unlock and safely rotate the position of the blocking filter diagonal to allow the most comfortable viewing position. Relock to a firm feel to prevent unwanted movement while viewing. Congratulations on your purchase! Meade Instruments has shipped your Coronado SolarMax III telescope fully assembled and ready for use. Be sure to read the safety and cleaning instructions on page 6 and 15 before using your SolarMax III telescope.
adjust the tuning slightly to get the best high-contrast views of the features you want to observe. After the SolarMax III telescope is pointed at the Sun and the image has been focused, rotate the RichView™ tuning ring slowly while looking at the image in the eyepiece to get the most detail and contrast. Then, adjust the tilt of the etalon with the T-Max tuner wheel to achieve the brightest image while eliminating any reflections.
Blocking Filters The SolarMax III 70 telescope is available with a BF10 or BF15 blocking filter. These are part of the diagonal with a 1.25” eyepiece holder. You MUST use the Coronado diagonal that contains the blocking filter. You cannot substitute another diagonal for the Coronado Blocking Filter Diagonal. This would create an unfiltered system and deliver light from the Sun that will cause damage to the eye. Contact Coronado if you are unsure which version you have.
SolarMax® III 70 Double Stack Features 11
SolarMax III H-α Filter Sets Congratulations on your purchase of a SolarMax III H-α filter set! Be sure to read the safety and cleaning instructions on page 6 and 15 before using your SolarMax III filter. You can refer to the diagrams below for questions regarding the components of your system. Never point your telescope at the sun until your filter set is fully assembled on the telescope. Please read these instructions in full before setting up your new filter set.
Tuning with RichView™ and T-Max™ Tuning System Because different features on the Sun are moving toward or away from the Earth, their light is Doppler-shifted off the hydrogen-alpha line of 6562.8 Angstroms. You will need to adjust the tuning slightly to get the best high-contrast views of the features you want to observe.
Double Stacking This greatly increases contrast by narrowing the bandpass to <0.5Å and gives a spectacular 3D effect showing increased surface detail. The SolarMax III filters can be double stacked by adding an additional SolarMax III Etalon with T-Max™ of the same aperture. Contact your Coronado dealer or Meade Instruments directly for pricing. Eyepieces The best eyepieces for solar viewing are Coronado’s CEMAX™ contrast enhanced series eyepieces. Conventional eyepieces can also be used.
Cleaning Should your filter get a build up of loose dirt particles on any surface use a static free lens brush to gently “sweep” it clean. Fingerprints and other residue can be cleaned using a high grade optical solution applied to an optical tissue. Using a circular motion work from the outside edge in towards the center. As these are hard coatings you can be firm but do not rub. Finish with an anti-static lens cloth. All of these cleaning items can be purchased through a camera/telescope dealer.
Additional Support and Accessories Additional support and accessories are available at http://www.meade.com/solar/solar-scopes.html. There you can browse different accessories, or download a replacement instruction manual. CEMAX Eyepieces - The best eyepieces for H-α observing. These are the only eyepieces built specifically to have their peak transmittance at H-α. Using optimized coatings to enhance contrast and minimize glare, we have set the standard for the market.
Definition of Terms Prominences — H-α emissions projecting beyond the limb of the sun, consisting of complex clouds or streamers of ionized hydrogen above or in the Chromosphere. Filaments - Prominences seen against the face of the sun, appearing as long narrow dark streamers or diffuse dark areas. Active Region - Active regions are the result of enhanced magnetic fields and appear darker than the surrounding areas with a roughly circular shape. Active regions show plage, sunspots, and flares.
Example of some common H-a Solar Features. The solar features visible to you will change daily.
Solar Facts The Sun is on average 93 million miles (150 million km) away from Earth and 900,000 miles (1.4 million km) across. The Earth is about 8,000 miles (13,000 km) across. Think of the Sun as a basketball and Earth as pin head and you have the proper proportions. It takes a little over 8 minutes for light from the Sun to reach Earth. Approximately 1 million Earths would fit inside the Sun. Solar radius =695,990 km =432,470 mi =109 Earth radii Solar mass =1.989 1030 kg =4.
Be sure to use the lowest power/widest field eyepiece available also just to make finding the Sun easier- you can then switch to higher magnification. The Meade PST has a built in Sun finder while Coronado III models come with the Sol Ranger™ finder, also available separately for those purchasing a Coronado filter set only. GOTO and Tracking: Meade AutoStar or AudioStar equipped mounts and telescopes can be “mock aligned” in the daytime by simply doing a standard Meade one star alignment.
Meade Instruments Corp. Warranty for Coronado Products Meade Instruments Corp. 27 Hubble, lrvine, CA 92618 Phone: 800-626-3233 Thank you for your purchase of a Meade Instruments’ CORONADO product. Upon receiving your instrument, please examine it thoroughly. Notify your supplier immediately should any visible signs of exterior damage to the package be present. This filter was field tested and rigorously evaluated before leaving the factory.
WARNING: UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD THE USER ATTEMPT TO DISASSEMBLE OR REMOVE ANY PART OF THE PRODUCT. THE FILTER HAS BEEN SEALED AFTER FINAL TESTING AND HAS BEEN CONSTRUCTED TO PERMIT SAFE SOLAR VIEWING. ANY ALTERATION, DISASSEMBLY, DAMAGE OR TAMPERING TO THE PRODUCT WILL COMPROMISE ITS SAFETY, VOID THE WARRANTY AND, MAY RESULT IN PERSONAL INJURY.
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2017 Meade Instruments Corp. reserves the right to change product specifications or to discontinue products without notice.
