Commercial Spectrographs

Available commercial spectrographs

We're not even going to consider the eBay "specials" advertised as Gem "Direct Vision" spectroscopes....the prism versions are of very limited use to the amateur (other than as a source of Amici prisms!!) There is/was one notable exception to the "Direct Vision" and that was the GOTO DV instrument.

Every year the list of active spectrograph suppliers seems to get shorter and shorter.............

For the amateur wishing to purchase a slit spectrograph they currently (2020) have the choice between the instruments supplied by Shelyak (France), Baader (Germany) or Starlight (UK).

Shelyak

Over the years Shelyak Instruments has gone from strength to strength. From their initial offering of the commercial version of the HiResIII Littrow (2005), it has continued to expanded it's range to include the ALPY and LISA spectrographs. (as well as the more sophisticated - and expensive echelle eShel instrument.)

Shelyak can also supply the fibre guider head, used on their eShel. Could be adapted to suit a DIY echelle build.

Baader

The DADOS, since it's launch in 2008 by Baader Planetarium has remained in constant demand and hasn't changed much. The original 200 l/mm and 900 l/mm gratings were recently augmented by a 1200 l/mm option to increase the resolution (R=5000). Richard Walker used the DADOS to prepare his excellent Spectral Atlas. They also supply an echelle instrument the BACHES.

Starlight Xpress

The SX Spectrograph, launched in 2016 this "toroidal holographic grating" design produces a spectrum 31 mm long (340nm - 900nm) from UV to NIR with a resolution R= 2000. The manual is available here. No user results have been seen on the forums, as yet.