F15Rules

I think all the above comments have answered your questions.. I've owned a good few Halloween plossls over the years (odd name!) and found them actually pretty good optically..a longer focal length pair would make for excellent binoviewing😊👍. Dave

Hi, and welcome to SGL and this Vixen thread😊. It's great to sense your enthusiasm for your new hobby, and in particular for Vixen Japan's excellent range of scopes, especially refractors. You say that you aspire to own a Vixen 4-5" ED scope? There are two fine scopes within that size range..the SD103s (formerly the ED103s, they are virtually identical), and the SD115s (formerly ED115s, they too are virtually identical). I've owned 2 ED103s models, and both were truly excellent: one of them is now owned by a good friend and he absolutely loves it. Our resident UK Vixen guru, @Franklin, aka Tim, has recently become the proud owner of a beautiful new SD115s model. Both these scopes perform superbly, and I only sold my second ED103s back in 2017 as I had the opportunity to acquire a mint Takahashi FS128, a full 5" Fluorite doublet..had a similar sized Vixen been available, I would happily have bought one. I can heartily recommend a used Vixen ED103s in good optical condition as offering top drawer performance at a significantly lower cost than a similar sized Takahashi 4" scope..👍🙂. Above: later model ED103s with dual speed focuser on Celestron CG4 equatorial mount..note the scope in this photo sits in a Takahashi Clamshell ring (originally supplied with a Takahashi FS102 apo 4" refractor - both the FS102 and the Vixen SD/ED103s have an oversized 114mm tube diameter. Below, same scope on Vixen Porta II Altaz mount, this time the tube sits in Vixen original white tube rings. Dave

Just lovely, Tim, thanks for sharing! 👍✨ Dave

Alan, I thought you'd installed a fan to cool the motors..🤦‍♂️😂 Dave

I have less experience with BVs than many colleagues on here, but for what it's worth I have decided to narrow down my pairs to just three, to save the time spent "faffing around" with too many configurations. I use: - 32mm Meade 4000s for lowest power (approximately 50-52 degree fov) for 32.5x low power views) - 20mm W.O. 66 degree wide angle for 52x wider angle views - Takahashi Abbe 12.5 mm Orthoscopics (approx 44 degree fov) giving 83x. I use all the above natively in my FS128. I also have a Baader 1.7x Glasspath Corrector and Baader Hyperion Zoom 2.25x Barlow for higher powers when needed. These deliver significantly higher views, although I don't yet have enough sessions with these as yet to enable me to estimate the actual magnifications delivered with these. Whatever combination you go for, I definitely think that the excellent optics and ergonomics of the MBII's make it unnecessary to over complicate things with too many pairs.. just get them in your scope and marvel at the ease of use and great views!👍😊 Dave

🥱🥱🥱🥱🥱🥱🤪😋

It's an interesting question, but as a relative oldie of 67 orbits, other factors come into play too, usually to do with getting older.. I am fortunate enough to own a lovely Tak FS128..for visual, arguably as good as it gets. However, not long after I acquired it 6+ years ago, my right (observing) eye began to deteriorate. I had to re-train my better left eye to become my cyclops observing eye..I now find for much of my viewing that binoviewers are more comfortable for me, especially on Lunar and planets. I actually think that c10 years ago, I got as good, and sometimes better views through my then main scope, a 5" F 15 D&G achromat..because my eyes were better. So, at least in my experience, I would take "Beautiful Imperfection" in a scope over "Frustrating Deterioration" in my Mark 1 eyeballs, any day! Several posts have mentioned the older and relatively cheap 120mm - 127mm achromats positively..I'd heartily endorse that view. I had an older Meade AR127L F9 I think it was called (John, I think you bought it from me?), and I got loads of great viewing through this scope, despite it's CA on bright objects and too short, stubby dewshield. And my eyes then were significantly better than they are now.. So no one will ever hear me belittling those scopes - Galileo would have given his right arm for one!😁 Dave

Me want those LVWs...😍😂 Dave

I don't know if there's any formal research on this, but in practical terms if you just look with your eyes the evidence is obvious. We have a log burner in our lounge. If it's burning in cold weather and I look through a scope over the chimney, the image dances about like crazy. This also can happen in daytime when just looking over a building or garage for example. But local seeing conditions are also affected by topography and local weather: I live in a village almost surround by low hills, and I definitely get interference with seeing when colder or warmer air rolls down into our village, causing temperature inversions etc. I find that this type of seeing interference can often lessen later in the night after the atmospheric turbulence has eased. Dave

No.... Please DO post a review! The rarity and age of your scope only add to the interest, and I for one would love to read such a write up. Dave

I love Vixen gear..so much so that I started this thread over 5 years ago..😊. However, while their 30mm finders were optically fairly good, I've always disliked the straight through design as I find it very uncomfortable to use for any length of time. So on my mid 1980s Vixen 80mm F15 ota I've installed a nice Skywatcher right angled 6x30mm unit which fits the standard Vixen finder foot..much more practical IMHO👍😊. Dave

If that Chat GPT question had been a real person, I'd have lost the will to live after 2 paragraphs and ignored it..🤪😝.. Dave

Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga 🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃😇 Just fine 🥴🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️ Dave

Thanks John👍. The Pentax is a good size but not too heavy..here are the dimensions from the Flo website (I bought my first one of these from them in 2016 and you can read my review on their site..): Weight: 550g (1.2lb) Length: 114mm (4.5") Width: 69mm (2.7") The setup for these bigger eyepieces isn't back focus critical when using them in cyclops mode (and they're too big to even contemplate using them in binoviewers). However, when using the binoviewers with the FS128 and smaller eyepiece pairs, I can simply use the provided knurled ring on the Maxbright IIs body to thread the Zeiss BBHS prism straight onto the prism itself, so guaranteeing the shortest possible light path. On my scope, I can get native focus of all my eyepiece pairs with no OCS or Barlow this way..although I understand that some scopes can't do this, depending on their tube length and focuser. Having used a fair few binoviewers in the past, I can say that ergonomically and optically the MBIIs are a real step up and a joy to use by comparison. Dave

That's very interesting, but I am very happy with the overall low power, wide angle views that my setup provides🙂. Dave

Hi all, I haven't done much observing lately for various reasons as well as short nights, cloudy spring etc etc.. But I have been doing a few bits of experimentation in my mancave to make my actual sessions more rewarding and dare I say, efficient?😁 My accessories setup ie eyepieces, diagonals, binoviewer etc have been stable for a little while now and consist of ; Fixed focal length eyepieces for Cyclops viewing: Pentax XL 10.5mm, Pentax XL SMC 8-24mm zoom, Celestron Axiom LX23mm and 31mm..usually used in 2" mode. I can also Barlow the zoom and 10.5mm to achieve higher magnifications with no loss of eye relief. For Binoviewing I have an excellent set of Maxbright IIs which I use with pairs of Tak Abbe Ortho 12.5mm, WO wide angle 20mm and Meade 4000 32mm. I also have a Baader 1.7x GPC, Baader Hyperion Zoom Barlow 2.25x and W.P 1.6x nosepiece for higher powers. I have just two diagonals but they are good ones: Baader Zeiss BBHS T2 prism and Astro Tech 2" Dielectric mirror diagonal. I do definitely tend to see the Baader BBHS prism as my preferred diagonal lately, as it's so versatile. The BBHS version has a 34mm clear aperture and, if I attach a 2" click lock to the prism eyepiece side (I use a Baader short 2" nosepiece threaded into a basic 2" click lock body, see photos below), I can use all the above cyclops eyepieces in 2" mode.. all of them have field stops under 34mm apart from the big 31mm Axiom, and even this one works great with the prism..if there is any vignetting, I can't see it..and the whole rig feels very solid. I use the two Pentax eps, which are technically 1.25" eps, with Revelation 2" to 1.25" self centering adapters. These add some weight to the eps, meaning that there is little, if any, re-balancing of the OTA needed, no matter which cyclops eyepieces I'm using. For binoviewing, all 3 eyepiece pairs are quite small and light, so swapping in a session between cyclops and binoviewing mode is just a one or two minute job👍. In case it might help someone else, or just be of interest, I thought I'd just share below a few photos of the configurations I use😊. Thanks for reading. Dave Baader Zeiss prism with 2" nosepiece, left, and barebones 2" click lock, also with 2" nosepiece which threads onto the prisms' M48 male eyepiece side thread, see below. Above setup with 2" uncloaked Axiom 23mm in the click lock. Above with Pentax zoom and 2" self centering adapter. Below with Pentax stack ready for insertion into Tak's 2.7" focuser.

Here are a few shots of my 1980s Vixen made, SBS branded 80mm F15 achromat. I believe this was originally sold in France (the ID plate is in French), and I think "SBS" was the trading name of the reseller. The scope has clearly led an "active life", and has had a 2" dual speed Crayford focuser added to it. I've added a Skywatcher Raci 6x30 finder and found a nice replica vintage Vixen logo transfer online, which I think is period correct for that time. A previous owner flocked the dewshield and lower tube forward of the focuser. The scope is a fine double star splitter, although I haven't yet tried it on the Moon, I expect it to do well in the current waxing lunar cycle..😉 Shown here on vintage Vixen SP mount and SW steel tripod.. Dave

The Lzos 130 looks great on the GPDX John..👍. How does the mount handle it? I've had my FS128 on one in the past, and it worked quite well: but the 8.1 Tak is only about 8.5kg including finder, diagonal etc, whereas I'd imagine the Lzos F9(Triplet?) is a fair bit heavier? The sturdy wooden tripod will help stability of course..is that one a Tal tripod? Certainly looks like one😊. I remember holding an Lzos of c106mm/F6 spec I think it was, when I visited someone to view a different scope some years ago, and I was amazed at how solid and heavy the Russian scope was. Thanks for sharing. Dave

I would tend to agree.. It was favourable online comparisons with the "Terminagler" 31mm on the other site that convinced me to buy the Axiom LX 31mm. Although even heavier than the T31, the Axiom LX, when decloaked, loses about 1/3 of its weight.. (see photo below). (Top L-R: Morpheus 9mm, Nagler T2.12mm, Axiom LX 23mm (decloaked) and Axiom LX 31mm (also decloaked). Notice how, when decloaked, the Axioms look much more in size like the Morph 9mm and Nag 12mm). I'm not claiming the Axiom 31mm is as good as the T31, as I've not used the Nagler. And I respect the opinions of SGLers such as Michael and John who have used them a lot.. However, a good used Nagler T31mm can cost £400-£500, and an Axiom LX 31mm can be had for £150 or less. So if if I can get 90%-95% of the performance of the Nagler from the Axiom LX at1/3 the price, I'm well happy.😊 Dave

I can't speak for the ES 30, but I have the Axiom LX 31mm which preceded the Luminos, and is a fabulous (and heavy) eyepiece. My reading tells me that the Axiom LX range were much better than the later Luminos, certainly in longer focal lengths. The Axiom LX 31mm is shown on the far right.. HTH, Dave

I don't know the answer to that question..but I do know that it's never, ever taken me 8 minutes 45 seconds to unbox one and shove it in the focuser.. 🙂🙃 Dave

Great little microfocuser upgrade, Josef! I have one on my FS128 and it's excellent, makes very fine focus adjustments at high power so much easier.. Dvae

Well done you, and such a generous gesture👍😊 Dave

Interesting review Niall, thanks for posting and I look forward to further updates as you use the BVs even more. I have looked with interest at Linear binoviewers in the last 12 months, but my heart was really set on the new Maxbright IIs, which of course were just impossible to buy for much of the past couple of years. Having recently managed to buy an MBII, the truly awful night time weather in Lincolnshire this year so far has not yet allowed me to properly evaluate the new Maxbrights: however, what I can say already is that Baader have listened to their customers regarding the ergonomic issues which IMHO held back the original Maxbrights' performance. These include the fiddly 3 way eyepiece holders, which proved to be an exercise in frustration for me with the Mark 1s, the limited clear aperture which meant longer focal length eps could vignette and also limit the brightness of images as compared to single eye viewing. I'm pleased to say that the new clicklock type eyepiece holders and the increased clear aperture of the new MBIIs, PLUS their superb new T2 connectivity , have fully addressed the failings of the old model. It would be fascinating to see a head to head comparison of the Linear Design with the new Maxbrights.. Dave

Hopefully the O.P. has had his questions pretty fully answered with the helpful replies posted above. Speaking as an enthusiastic member since 2009, when I really had the chance to re-engage with this great hobby after a decade or so hiatus from Astronomy due to work and family commitments, I consider SGL to be an important and rewarding part of my life. I've made some good friends on this forum, some of whom I have met in person, and I have learned so much from other members about equipment, observing skills, interesting targets to observe, etc.etc. I find that questions are answered quickly, advice is freely given, (and gratefully received), and all of this is "lubricated" with some great humour and banter. Full credit to FLO for having the foresight to set up and offer this great resource, free of cost to us users, and for supporting a reliable and easy to use platform for our wonderful member community. Of course, FLO gain something for all this effort, in terms of market awareness and growth of their brand and business. But they have actually increased the size of the astro market in the UK for ALL suppliers, which in turn generates competition between suppliers in terms of product choice and customer service. Long may all this continue, and a big thank you to SGL, the Moderator team and all the brilliant members of SGL for making g SGL such a great place to spend time..🙂🫡 Dave