On Mon, 21 Mar 2005 15:25:37 -0700, Dan Mckenna
wrote:

Curvature mirrors are being made for optical communications and as the
volume goes up the prices go down. These are low voltage pizo bimorph
mirrors and could be made cheap if you knew how. (i don't)

Yes, the flexible actuated mirrors can be made inexpensively. I did a
2", 8-zone, comb driven design micro-machined from a single silicon
wafer. It could be probably be manufactured in moderate quantities for
well under $100. In fact, the MEMS processes used were compatible with
CMOS fabrication, so including circuitry directly on the mirror would
also be possible.

But as you note, that is hardly the only piece of the system required.

And I still see this as a light starved system in almost all cases, and
(in amateur usage) limited to planetary viewing/imaging. I just don't
know how large the market is for a $1000+ accessory that has no use
except sharpening the view of three objects.

_________________________________________________

Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com