Thin Film Filter Instruction Sheet

PLEASE OBSERVE THE FOLLOWING SAFETY PRECAUTIONS WITH
EACH AND EVERY SOLAR OBSERVATION!
Failure to do so could result in permanent blindness or other serious damage to your eyes!
 
 Before using your solar filter, check the filter’s fit and integrity. If your filter is damaged in any way, it must be replaced. DO NOT use if the Seymour Solar™ material has any holes or the cell is weakened and will not stay on the telescope.
 
• Slide the filter on and off your telescope and be sure that it won’t get knocked off by accident or get blown off by a gust of wind.
• We recommend that you tape the filter onto the telescope for added safety.
• Make sure the filter cell and cylinder are still securely glued together.
• Hold the filter up to the sky and look for any pinholes in the filter cell itself or light leakage where the filter cell and cylinder are glued together.
 
NEVER use the filter material at the eyepiece or anywhere else in the telescope’s optical path. The intensely concentrated light energy at the eyepiece will burn up the filter in less than a second. (Do you remember burning leaves with a magnifying glass as a child?) The filter will ONLY work when attached to the FRONT aperture of a refractor objective, in FRONT of the Schmidt plate (Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope) or in FRONT of the tube of a Newtonian telescope. .
 
Be sure that the viewfinder of your telescope is properly covered, either with a solar filter made as described above or with the original dust cover. Unprotected views through your finderscope would have the same catastrophic consequences for your eyes as a look through the main telescope itself!
A filter made of Seymour Solar™ filter material is relatively resistant to breakage in comparison to a glass filter. However, care should be taken with sharp pointed objects. A punctured filter should be thrown away and replaced with a new one (same as with a cracked glass filter). Emphasize the importance of safety to those observing with you, especially children. Intentionally removing or damaging the filter can endanger their eyesight. This is no place for jokes. Never leave the telescope outside unattended during the daytime!