Equipment
My telescopic setup included a Losmandy GM8 (stepper motor drive) mount on a home-made (disposable) tripod. The electronics are powered by a 36W solar panel, backed up with an 18AH gel cell battery. The battery powers the mount through a solar panel charge regulator at ~13V, and the camera at 9V via a separate switching regulator. The telescope is a 4" Borg (640mm focal length) with Thousand Oaks solar filter, feeding a Nikon D700 full-frame camera with a 2x teleconverter. |
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The pinhole image photo setup consists of a tripod-mounted holder with a projection screen at one end, and the pinhole pattern with camera port at the other end. The tripod has a video pan head for easy tracking of the sun (see time-lapse video).
The pinholes were made in aluminum foil using a 1/16" punch from an art supply store.