amazon star diagonal

[davekelley]

I'm after a star diagonal to replace my  Tak prism.  The problem is the twist lock.  I use Baader Hyperions and Baader zoom and I keep on twisting the wrong part of the setup.  Hyperions come apart and of course zooms zoom so I want a diagonal with retaining screw.  I've seen one on Amazon that looks like quality for under £10.  Is this a case of when something looks too good to be true, it probably is? or does anybody have experience with one of these?  I know  with diagonals you need to pay huge sums to imake tiny improvements but is this thing going to be just too cheap?   I'll post a link as I believe that is allowed.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dielectric-All-Surface-Multilayer-Telescope-Diagonals-default/dp/B08KRLHRHG/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?dchild=1&keywords=dielectric+star+diagonal&qid=1624979072&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExM1Q4Tk5HR1RVWEJWJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMDI3NDM5VzhMNjJOV0lSVVhQJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTA1ODczMDkzSjFUNk1INk5NUVFQJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

 

Cheers everybody.

Come On England

 

[johninderby]

I bought one a while ago and was pleasantly surprised by the quality. Not as good as a WO one of course but still decent quality and works rather well.

Edited June 29, 2021 by johninderby

[Carbon Brush]

In true Amazon style there are conflicting statements about it being a mirror or prism diagonal🤣
Then there is mention of green multi coating on the prism.

Quite simple really. Give it a try.
If it is what you (and many others) expect for the price, send it back for refund.
If it is good, a big grin is permitted😁

A lot of optical stuff on Amazon, I wouldn't give a second glance.
However, sometimes a marketplace seller needs to shift stock to avoid storage charges and you can get a bargain.
 

If you go for it, let us know. If it is good, see how fast the remaining stocks goes to SGLers!

David.

[Dean Hale]

I purchased one a couple of weeks ago although the £8 version.  More out of curiosity than expecting something useful plus something i could let the kids use. For less than a tenner it's surprisingly good. When viewing a near full moon you do get some scatter / electricity the best i can describe it. Some pics of the internals.

[johninderby]

I replaced the side panels with carbon fibre sheet. The standard sides are silver inside and flocking the inside of the panels improves performance. 👍🏻

Edited June 29, 2021 by johninderby

[Tiny Clanger]

I bought one last winter. I needed something to go in the ST80 OTA I bought second hand , and having tried the flimsy horrid stock skywatcher one I'd got handy (which came with my mak ,but was very speedily replaced) I reckoned hardly anything could be worse.

This one you linked to was sold by so many Chinese companies via Amazon that you can see completely identical photos on dozens of listings going for anything from £9 to £35. Mine is pretty good, sturdier and brighter than the skywatcher stock one, (which is, in turn, better than the Bresser stock one !) I'd go for it ... as long  as you buy one which is being delivered by  Amazon rather than coming by post from China, you'll have no problems sending it back if it doesn't work as you wish.

One caution : I've bought a few things where the vendor sent something not quite as per the photo, sometimes they seem to just rip off an existing ad.s illustrations even if their item is different in a detail you particularly wanted, I doubt the middlemen who source the stuff appreciate the importance of some details , like which side the eyepiece locking screw is on ...

Heather

[Louis D]

1 hour ago, Tiny Clanger said:

One caution : I've bought a few things where the vendor sent something not quite as per the photo, sometimes they seem to just rip off an existing ad.s illustrations even if their item is different in a detail you particularly wanted, I doubt the middlemen who source the stuff appreciate the importance of some details , like which side the eyepiece locking screw is on ...

In that case, make sure to screen shot the original ad when ordering so you can provide it during the return process if asked to prove "not as advertised".  I've had vendors update the images and/or description later to try to avoid having to accept a return on these grounds.

[wookie1965]

4 hours ago, johninderby said:

I replaced the side panels with carbon fibre sheet. The standard sides are silver inside and flocking the inside of the panels improves performance. 👍🏻

Did you cut the carbon fibre and flocking to the very edge or wrap over? 

Thanks 

Paul 

[wookie1965]

Just sent for one of these as I have a new to me Celestron/helios 102 refractor I was given at the weekend. 

[johninderby]

14 minutes ago, wookie1965 said:

Did you cut the carbon fibre and flocking to the very edge or wrap over? 

Thanks 

Paul 

Replaced the metal sides with 1mm thick carbon fibre sheet cut to the same size as the original parts and cut the flocking a few mm smaller. 

[johninderby]

One thing I’d like to know if these diagonals can be sold at such a low price why aren’t  the likes of Celestron, Skywatcher and Bresser suppying their scopes with them. 🤔

[Louis D]

59 minutes ago, johninderby said:

One thing I’d like to know if these diagonals can be sold at such a low price why aren’t  the likes of Celestron, Skywatcher and Bresser suppying their scopes with them. 🤔

Probably because those OEMs can purchase those throwaway diagonals for even cheaper in bulk increasing their profit margins further.

[wookie1965]

1 hour ago, johninderby said:

Replaced the metal sides with 1mm thick carbon fibre sheet cut to the same size as the original parts and cut the flocking a few mm smaller. 

Can I ask where you got the 1mm carbon fibre from please. 

Paul 

[johninderby]

12 minutes ago, wookie1965 said:

Can I ask where you got the 1mm carbon fibre from please. 

Paul 

From eBay. Pretty easy to cut using a very fine saw, just wear a mask while cutting and sanding though as you don’t want to breathe in carbon fibre dust.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/353430135651?_trkparms=ispr%3D1&hash=item524a13e363:g:IrIAAOSwNJNfYber&amdata=enc%3AAQAGAAACwPYe5NmHp%2B2JMhMi7yxGiTJkPrKr5t53CooMSQt2orsSd0ReTLyM7cxPnI6zs468EPtBfX2SHA1MLF3S3RpeFdZJ3rihWoFRKJeVIm90R8G7wFWmzj4o5KhyKEdz5VbbpIjibqvPJmF2IPBLAUpSt2QBB3TE0G1AlRLdjzZbDNTTZ6ktXBArmfFtsoe8lcZNhCPvEmF0AvGldtrW65SHdne%2BnvrQtGv0u%2BKM5TGdzHHJuls%2FN15kQBBtpQXixihj8vycUDDAnUXKacAGYKslrKM7mdfd5%2F9a5Xeo8T%2Frd3pIVOnWBmeBotwm0hlu71tx5JDdgg38gbruIz39qwX%2BFdLS%2F2gdGE9Vnw2r3XUFY5rRb39D0GzvDuVEnAxNbXgjuopwExShXY04Rcad43KLlchmA6x6GJaeq%2BPmDzAl23HpwRUi4o6QWStAf2imjeksHFNIA4rHjzl7kt1sxkJ7kbpMP8MqePMlkDmyrHtaliL6tvfGBGUSdsh6ro2HUYgbIXiz%2FkHj%2FcZ2C5Q0e8QjQw2mKzKgw5NGzdVjlOhn4%2BpAmA4GPajB4uIJz6OG7576JjZU2bEuC8hAqTHHZ3BLMkx35OHr%2FrFJ2Q7yngHbHBI%2BEyZ%2FqKvyKnVytvj6MDn1wlaNCIgTixbBeYPAbxdbKc%2BkKkW%2F6Pqv0Btn9R48kyCO6wXcyOuBgl8QPzXnxYl0pU9c5MLKpsIbc7WIgXh9pdY0jrp7y10jL9KXMWmE5Q2MkwJNSLpH2BETi9gK6nSHrDJ446frJn9IFQVwqellBvTXKskPZoxouGnVCdk37sm1nTHg05G682Hdtn%2Bzt2836gF1BVbT9xSOQmudGfITCXSP8sZfGqS77g2fWNdFFlm33W%2BeAKtCIUMfQt85NSPESAEkpRGVu6ipfvquls30CKQjKYq5GU7KS4fTxGJo%2BTrS|ampid%3APL_CLK|clp%3A2334524

Edited June 29, 2021 by johninderby

[wookie1965]

Cheers John both coming on same day thanks a lot really appreciate it. 

Paul 

[johninderby]

A few quids worth of carbon fibre makes the diag look a lot more expensive than it is. 🙂

Cut the sides slightly oversize then sand down to the final size.

[Louis D]

3 hours ago, johninderby said:

From eBay. Pretty easy to cut using a very fine saw, just wear a mask while cutting and sanding though as you don’t want to breathe in carbon fibre dust.

Amazing what you can get from ebay.  I buy a lot of new old stock (NOS) stuff from there as well as new and used items.