2" Flip mirrors - what is the best one on the market?

[h0ughy (David)]

I was having a little thought - 2" flip mirors, which would be the best one and why. Also wondered why i even thought of looking at one? There must be pro's and cons?

So i open it up - anyone have any ideas?

[Dennis]

Hi Dave

I’ve got the Meade 647 Flip Mirror (2”) and it is a well designed, manufactured and finished unit. I believe that it is made in Japan so it has that Vixen style quality.

It comes with several adapters and I can certainly recommend it.

Be sure to check you have the required back focus and “spare length” in your optical train.

Cheers

Dennis

[AlexN]

A good reason to have one, (perhaps not a 2")I have a Meade 1.25" flip mirror in my guide scope, guide cam inline with the scope, reticule ep on the other end. flip the mirror, look through the reticule while adjusting the guide rings to find a suitable guide star, line it up on the crosshairs, flip the mirror back, Hey-presto! guide star in the cameras FOV...

Cant complain about that.. Also turns the guide scope into my finder scope when im trying to put a target into the FOV of the main imaging scope.

Handy little item to have. but at around $200.. theres got to be a cheaper way to do it..

[[1ponders] (Paul)]

Dave, I picked up a 1.25" Meade a while back and i wouldn't be without it now. For lining up the guidescope it is a dream. I teamed it up with a 9mm illuminated reticle that has the moveable cross wire. Sweet!!! Plus you can adjust the flip mirror so that everything lines up properly, some of the cheaper ones don'e have that ability. Then the moveable crosshair reticle is essential!! jmho

[Doomsayer]

G'day Dave,
Van Slyke Instruments (VSI- made in USA) have highly functional and well made flip mirror ('slider')units. They are relatively heavy and quite expensive, but made to last and are unlikely to suffer from any flexure. I have the 2" Meade flip mirror converted to a 2" drawtube connection - it is pretty good - not in the class of VSI. I have several other VSI products and they are like engineering artworks - VSI sign their stuff with an engraver.
For serious CCD imaging setups flip mirrors are not so useful. You also need a lot of spare backfocus. I mainly use mine for webcam imaging with an SCT.

[[1ponders] (Paul)]

Originally Posted by Doomsayer

For serious CCD imaging setups flip mirrors are not so useful. You also need a lot of spare backfocus.

What he said. I use mine for finding guidestars for my guidescope, not on my imaging scope.

[AlexN]

Originally Posted by [1ponders]

I use mine for finding guidestars for my guidescope, not on my imaging scope.

What he said - I bought mine after seeing Pauls in action at Astrofest..