90 degree diagonal

[Stargazer_00]

Looking to buy a 90 degree diagonal. I have one already but it only cost 7.99. It has what appears to be a foil mirror inside it. Its cheap flimsy plastic and the screws that hold the eyepiece both mark the barrel of the ep and dont offer much confidence that the thing isnt just going to rotate on itself and drop my EP on the floor.

I would like to get something a little more sturdy, budget is around £50 tops. hopefully around £25 would be nice.

I see DiElectric everywhere, what does this mean?

The scope im buying for hasnt arrived yet, its an ST120. It comes with a 45 degree diagonal, no idea where astro scopes are sold with these useless diagonals but there it is.

I dont know whether I need a 2 inch diagonal with a reducer for 1.25 on the EP end or if just a 1.25 straight through will do. Im not sure if the scope focuser has a reducer before the diagonal or it the reducer is suppied on the EP end of the 45 degree and the focuser end is 2 inch. If this is the case id need a 1.25 inch reducer eithe ron the focuser with a 1.25 diagonal or a 2 inch diagonal inclusive of reducer.

Is it best to get a prism diagonal or mirror? I'd guess mirror isnt as good at transmitting all the light but weighs a lot less?

[RichieP]

Get a 2" diagonal, that way you will be able to use 2" eyepieces in the future if you want. They usually come with 1.25" adapters of their own, but you can use the one which comes with the scope if you prefer.

Dielectric mirror diagonals mean better reflectivity, but even if you don't want to spend the extra cash, an ordinary mirror diagonal for the price you are prepared to pay will be a big improvement.

[RichieP]

Could you stretch to this?

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/diagonals/skywatcher-di-electric-star-diagonal.html

[Stargazer_00]

yeah I think I could, that one looks good to me too. I got the impression it was a single unit item on offer though. I wont have the money for it for another month. The description makes it sound like the broke it out of a kit and this is the only one for sale. Do you get the same impression?

[Stargazer_00]

scope just arrived too. It's a beast of an improvement over the ST80 as a grab and go

[Planetesimal]

yeah I think I could, that one looks good to me too. I got the impression it was a single unit item on offer though. I wont have the money for it for another month. The description makes it sound like the broke it out of a kit and this is the only one for sale. Do you get the same impression?

In fact this is an established practice at FLO, which enables people to purchase just the parts they need. The Evo 80ED DS Pro is a very popular imaging scope, but as shipped it includes a lot of kit that people may already have (such as the diagonal), hence inflating the price. FLO have split the box so just the OTA can be bought more affordably. They can then sell the individual pieces separately, enabling people to get their hands on good quality components. See this thread by Steve from FLO which explains, it's very helpful!

http://stargazerslou...-ed-ds-pro-ota/

[Stargazer_00]

awesome then ill get one of these when the next pay packet lands

[rwilkey]

That is a good diagonal, a good way to market it as well, the full price of the SW dielectric is £102, which is what I paid for mine, great quality!