MN61 Mirror Problem

My Intes MN61 has some type of nearly football shaped defect in the mirror about 1" across and it is adjacent to the center portion of the mirror. I can't really notice it hurting performance except when trying to view Jupiter and Saturn. The view of Jupiter is accompanied by some type of flare and I can't make out the rings of Saturn at all. Any suggestions on how I can either get this mirror fixed, repaired, or replaced?

Thanks,

Glenn

Hi. I think if the bad region is only 1" across
and is near the center of the mirror (partially
hidden by the secondary mirror), it probably cannot
explain the poor views of Jupiter and Saturn.
I suspect the poor views might be related to something
else, like air currents inside the tube
(due to being slightly warmer than outside air), or
turbulence in the atmosphere (poor seeing).
I suppose the problem could also be that the scope is
grossly out of collimation -- that would cause
"coma" aberration, which resembles a flare on
one side of the image.

A 1" bad region of the mirror is only about 3
percent of the light, so its not going to kill
the scope. It would just reduce contrast a tiny
bit -- so slight that only an expert would
notice anything.

Getting back to the bad place on the mirror:
Is it possible for you to tell if light goes
through the bad spot? Do you have easy access
to the back of the mirror? If you
shine a flashlight at the back of the mirror and
look in the front of the scope, can you see if the
light goes right through the bad spot? If so,
then the coating is shot, and the mirror would
need to be removed and re-coated. Probably
cost $50 and someones time to remove and re-install
mirror.

If the mirror is still opaque at the bad area, it
probably just needs to be carefully cleaned. There
are probably lots of places on WWW explaining how
to do this.

I think Orion has a service department, and also sell
these scopes. I would check with them first.
Also check with ITE; they might be able to help.

Best of luck, - John B.

Ummmm... Can you elaborate on the nature of the "defect"?

Are you referring to a visible flaw on the mirror's surface (spot, smudge, etc.) or something present only in the viewed images?

Maybe a stupid question on my part, but if it is the latter problem, have you checked collimation?

Paul