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Suggestions for a good Astrophotography Flip Mirror

Layton

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Merlin66

Merlin66

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Not sure how you intend using a flip mirror for AP....

The quality of build and quality of the flip mirror vary... the Vixen mirror is no good for imaging!

The best now that the Meade flip mirrors are no longer available, seem to be the Telescope Service offerings:

http://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=flip+mirror&suchdas=OK

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ChrisLX200

ChrisLX200

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Excuse the stupidity but does a flip mirror do what I think it does? 

Flips the image in the eyepiece to be the right way up? Or is it something completely different...

No, the mirror is @ 45deg so it turns the image path at a right-angle (90deg) just like a standard diagnonal, 'flip' the mirror out of the way and the image path comes straight out the rear.

ChrisH

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michael8554

michael8554

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When the mirror is flipped up, there is nothing in the light path to cause problems for the camera, so I can't see why the Vixen or any other brand is no good for imaging.

So long as you have enough focus range to cope for the depth of the flip-mirror box (so a Newtonian would be unsuitable I would think) and that it is sturdily attached, without flop.

Michael

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Merlin66

Merlin66

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Re-read the comment.... it's the quality of the mirror is no good for imaging...

OK if you're only going to be imaging straight through, but a good flip mirror can also replace your diagonal, say when used on a SCT.

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JamesF

JamesF

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I have the Vixen flip mirror and have used it for centering planetary targets for imaging.  It worked fine, but as my choice of camera changed I found that it was increasing the effective focal length of my SCT far more than I wanted, so I've given up on it for the time being.

James

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Merlin66

Merlin66

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Over the years I've modified many Vixen flip mirrors - remove the mirror from the flip plate, drill a central 18mm hole in the plate and replace the mirror with a beamsplitter plate.

I originally used a 50/50 plate but ended up going for a 4/90 plate.

Fitted to the spectroscope, this allowed guiding on the 4% reflected beam and the 90% to pass through to the spectroscope slit.

Al's reticule was used to produce a "virtual slit" for acquisition and guiding.

Worked very well.....

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Marky1973

Marky1973

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Cheers everyone, and thanks for the clarification Merlin. Only just started looking at these properly, so useful to check, I was assuming people were using 'flip mirror' generically rather than specifically so my mistake!

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Layton

Layton

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The Orion I settled on came in and appears very well built and identical to the Teleskop model.  A little heavy.  First good day or night I'll get to try it out.  Curious to see how close the focus will be between the eyepiece and camera.


L

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