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The Baader Universal Filter Changer (or UFC for short) is a very versatile simple system for using, mounting and changing (or swapping) filters in and out of a light path. The UFC can be used for imaging where you may want to swap different filters (e.g. LRGB) between a camera and a telescope but do not want the bulk, or expense, of a filter wheel. The UFC can be used between a camera and a Celestron RASA 11/14(36) or a Starizona Hyperstar system where the overall size and shape of a filterwheel causes issues. You can also use the UFC for visual purposes where you can easily switch between different colour filters between a telescope and an eyepiece. We'll discuss more on the different uses of the UFC in a future blog.
In this first blog we will give a general brief introductory overview of the UFC system, and then follow with other blogs that cover in more detail:
The image below shows the standard "exploded" diagram of the parts that make up the Baader UFC. We've colour-coded it to highlight the main different parts (see below). At present there are 30+ parts to the whole UFC system in total. The large number of components may seem somewhat overwhelming at first glance, and can lead to some confusion, and that the system is complicated. However, we hope this series of blogs will help show how simple, and effective, the UFC is.
The Baader UFC system
The Baader UFC is really quite simple. Although looking at the diagram above it looks complicated and crowded....you will only really need.....four (4)....main parts! We have colour coded each section in the diagram above to make it easier to understand. To put it simply, you will need: a camera-side adaptor (part #1) and a telescope-side adaptor (part #2) in addition to the core part of the system called the UFC Base unit (part #3) and then a sliding filter drawer for your filter (part #4).
If we simplify the above diagram further to make things a little to make it "easier on the eye" we get the diagram below.