Mirror vs mirror

leehai1980 · Post by **leehai1980** » Fri Sep 17, 2010 9:29 pm

RF Royce Conical Premium Primary vs Zambuto primary mirror

orly_andico · Post by **orly_andico** » Sat Sep 18, 2010 12:14 am

As I mentioned in my other post, at this level, where the mirrors are "named," they are all pretty much equivalent.

One big advantage of Bob Royce is that there is no super-long waiting period. I don't think Carl Zambuto sells to the general public much (the Portaball guys get all his mirrors).

There's also Swayze, Normand Fullum, Terry Ostahowski...

Some less famous but comparable mirror makers are Mark Harry and Cary Chleborad (Optic Wave Labs).

Personally I'd get a Royce. He has a big operation (mainly government/military customers) so he's not dependent on amateur astronomers for his livelihood. Also the conical mirror (with matching cell) is much easier to mount and more lightweight.

orly_andico · Post by **orly_andico** » Sat Sep 18, 2010 12:15 am

And don't forget.. the secondary is just as important. A bad secondary would ruin the optical perfection of your named primary. So you'd want a Protostar.

rlow · Post by **rlow** » Sat Sep 18, 2010 8:09 am

I don't think Carl Zambuto sells to the general public much (the Portaball guys get all his mirrors).

ZOC mirrors has been available to anyone for quite a few years. I posted his announcement on this before, just do a search here. Or go to his website: http://zambutomirrors.com/

While there are many good mirror-makers around, I would still go for a Zambuto mirror. There is a good reason why this one has a long waiting time, and it is worth waiting for.