Flip Mirror to go in 1.25"

[rogerg]

Hi Guy's,

I'm looking for a flip mirror thingo that will slide in to a 1.25" (not thread on to a SCT rear cell like most do) and then have 1.25" top & back for eyepiece & camera.

Where can I find one of these? I'm surprised how hard it is proving to find one that doesn't thread on to a SCT rear cell.

Cheap will do, it's for a $100 guide scope and that's it.

Thanks,
Roger.

[gbeal]

Roger,
the nearest I got to this was a Vixen, and I last saw that disappearing down my driveway with Robby, I called it a boomerang, but I doubt I will see it again.
It had the 1.25" fittings on the top and rear, but had a 2" fitting on the focuser side. Maybe you remove this and substitute a 1.25". They were quite cheap, just tell Robby that.

[[1ponders]]

I think Steve Massey at www.myastroshop.com.au may have exactly what you are looking for.
http://www.myastroshop.com.au/products/details.asp?id=MAS-264

You'll need to get a T adapter for your camera unfortunately

[rogerg]

That does look like what I want. No t-adaptor required as I want to slide a webcam in the end.

Any ideas what these things are for? They look like they'd just get in the way of sliding it in the draw tube? ... see attached circled bit.

Thanks

[[1ponders]]

That is a slide tho extend the tube to help bring your webcam to focus if you don't use a diagonal. Eg I cant focus my ToUcam in my Orion without the diagonal, this allows me to achieve focus by sliding the tube further back. But mine is slightly different to that one. I only have two screws directly opposite each other in the slots for sliding. Mine doesn't have that third screw (pointing down and further up the tube in the photo)

You will still need a T adapter as there is no screw to clamp your webcam in with the standard 1.25" adapter.

[[1ponders]]

It may be that you can remove the slide tube and secure the webcam directly into the tube with that screw

[rogerg]

I'm confused ... :screwy: :help:...

The end looks like 1.25" size, but there's no locking screw on it? ... I'm confused how I need to do the conversion from webcam 1.25" to this? ...

(I wish vendors would include more photo's of accessories, it's sometimes hard to tell what's going on with them like this..)

(hmm, tried submitting an enquiry to them though the email form (seems the only email way, and got an error.. bugger..)

Thanks

[[1ponders]]

The right hand end is 1.25" that goes into your scope, the vertical part takes your reticle and the left hand side is a sliding tube that you attach your webcam to. There is a standard T thread at one end (hence the need for a T adapter for the webcam, but I "believe" that you can remove the tube and there is a standard 1.25" hole with securing screw inside the tube, but can't swear to it.

I should have said before that didn't have the third screw, as I don't have it anymore. The mirror didn't agree with the concrete when they met with significant speed :(

Steve has his phone number at the top right hand side of the page under the "contact" link. 02-9905 0757

[[1ponders]]

I've just placed an order for one, so if you want to wait a few days I'll give a better description of it.



Damn it's dangerous shopping on the internet. ......must stay away from SBIG :P

[rogerg]

Ahhhhh, ok, that description helped. I thought from the picture that the left end was the end that slid inside the focuser draw tube, hence I couldn't understand how the lock screws would fit in there! And now I see what you mean, that the right goes in to the scope, the left may have a t-thread on it. OK, I understand better.

I'll wait to hear more from you when yours arrives though :)

Thanks for putting up with my lack of understanding :)

[[1ponders]]

np, it's been a long day for me too :lol:

[Geoff45]

I have one of these. I got it from OPT (US) for under $100. It works pretty well.
Geoff

[astrodave]

I bought one from scopehed1 (Telescope warehouse) on ebay for around $AU60. No name, but it has worked very well.

[Eternal]

I bought myself this exact item some time ago. You will need one of these:

http://www.myastroshop.com.au/products/details.asp?id=MAS-298

to connect your web camera to it. Simply unscrew the long sliding tube and attach the adaptor.

[[1ponders]]

Thanks for the heads up Eternal. I already have a T adapter for my cameras but I've been thinking of looking for a T to 1.25" adapter for a while now. Might give Steve a call and see if he has sent the flip mirror yet. ;)

[[1ponders]]

As usual, absolutely fantastic service from Steve Massey at www.myastroshop.com.au

Placed the order 3:30 Thursday afternoon and opened the door this morning and there is was sitting on the front step. What service. :thumbsup:

OK first impressions. It is different from my original one. There is no 1.25" adapter connector on the webcam side. You will need either one of these if your camera has a C/CS thread (http://www.myastroshop.com.au/products/details.asp?id=MAS-182) or one of these if you have a ToUcam style camera "ToUcam T thread adapter" (http://www.telescopes-astronomy.com.au/toucam_philips.htm) (look down the page a bit) or as Eternal has pointed out a Female T thread to 1.25" female adapter. (http://www.myastroshop.com.au/products/details.asp?id=MAS-298)

Ok some details. Aluminium construction with the label BOSMA stamped on the bottom of the mirror housing. Nice positive action on the mirror. No obvious blemishes or chips on either the mirror or housing. The two T thread adapters screwed on snuggly with no looseness or slack in the thread, screwing tight up to the mirror housing.

While I'm yet to try it out there is something that I am very happy about. Apart from the extension tube being removeable it will also take an eyepiece into a sliding sleeve for variable eyepiece project. Soon turn that 600mm scope into a 2 meter guidescope ;)

The only thing I'm not keen on is that the 1.25" male adapter that slots into the telescope appears to be hard plastic. Shame that the rest of it is alluminium and the nose piece that everything hangs off is plastic. Though to be fair it is thick and feels solid. It is also threaded but not to accept filters unfortunately. So if you want to use an IR or UV/IR blocking filter you will need to use the standard 1.25" webcam adapter and not the T adapter.

If the weather ever clears (maybe I should stop buying things :rolleyes: ) I will give it a field test over the next few weeks.

[[1ponders]]

Ok, I've been out for a quick daylight trial using a ToUcam Pro and a DMK21AF04.AS and various combination of T adapter/extension tube and eyepiece projection on an Orion ED80

NP getting focus with any of the arrangements, however I was not able to get an eyepiece to parfocal. It was either not enough inward movement for the eyepiece or too much outward distance required. I don't think this would be a problem with the T-1.25" adapter.

Also there is an issue of getting the camera imaging in the correct orientation with the eyepiece in an easily accessible angle. Using my 2 different screw on T adapters, to get the cameras to image in correct orientation (ie image not upside down or tilted at an angle) I had to rotate the flip mirror until the eyepiece was pointing roughly horizontally. It was a bit awkward but not excessively so.

At this time I'd say I'm onto a winner, but I won't commit myself until after field trials :P

From my rough trial it appears that the eyepiece and chip viewing/imaging axis are not too different. Certainly there would be no trouble getting a star image on the chip.

[rogerg]

Thanks for all the information you have provided here Paul. I only just got back to this thread so missed the replies previously. I'm going to order the required parts today.

Thanks