Franklin

Genesis SDF 102mm?

1 hour ago, Mark_C said:

I'm just wondering is it worth asking FLO to look in to this being a warranty issue or is this normal and to be expected?

I think these Ha solar filters all exhibit this to some degree and it's a consequence of their design. My Chromosphere Quark had it but it wasn't obtrusive, not visually anyway.

14 hours ago, Petrovich007 said:

What is remarkable is "620g" for 8x42. I can't read the Japanese so not sure if this is net weight or gross. Both samples I have are ~570g net and 890g gross (bino + case + straps, covers). So probably they didn't come from the batches corresponding to this catalogue but were manufactured later (well, on the other hand sometimes weight grown after improvements or some optimization  ). 

They may have just taken the net weight to include caps and strap? There's a lot of "cut and paste" in astro catalogue specs, I've spotted many inaccuracies over the years and Vixen are no exception.

Just been having a flick through my old catalogues and the Vixen Ultima is not listed in the 1985 one, the earliest catalogue I have is 1992 showing the Ultima range and the last catalogue to list the Ultima was in 2004.

So the timeline for the Ultima range is post-1985 to 2005.

On 04/04/2024 at 17:17, Petrovich007 said:

I would really appreciate any ideas.

The Ultimas were Vixen's deluxe binocular for many years and they were rebranded for Celestron as well. Production began in the 80's and continued into the early 2000's. The earlier models came in a tan leather case but the later ones had a black case. Superb, lightweight porro binocular, I've had the 7x42 and the 7x50 models and they were both excellent. 

On 05/04/2024 at 13:09, F15Rules said:

I'm now done!! 😂

Tee-hee! 😁

15 hours ago, AlcorAlly said:

True but I 'd like to have a system of some sort because I draw a lot of double stars and the sizes of airy disks and relative distances seem important when referencing past sketches.

If you make a note of the optics used for each sketch, then you should have a rough idea of the scale of each drawing. Knowing the True FOV that your eyepieces/scopes  produce is a useful thing.

23 minutes ago, AlcorAlly said:

how do you quickly determine which way is north when using an EQ mount and an diagonal at an unusual angle? 

Find West by turning drive off, the other directions are relative to this depending on scope/diagonal configuration.

8 hours ago, woldsman said:

I decided not to risk running off mains powered usb and used a battery usb power pack. The controller lit up red. So I turned it off again quickly. The D battery pack lights up the sd-1 handset as green.

Any comments - red must be bad, I guess.

I've had a number of SD-1 controllers and some have had red, others green lights. I think it's just a power indicator light and I've never had a problem when using it when red. Could be more to it though, I guess?

This is something I've actually had to do recently and the winner is....... the Vixen SD81S, small but perfectly formed.

I also think that, due to the terrible British weather, UK stargazers have far too much time on their hands and this is what allows threads like this one to be so popular.

Not being able to get out and use our scopes, regardless of how many we may have, can be frustrating at times.

1 hour ago, saac said:

Exactly how physicists can predict what conditions were like during such incomprehensible timescales is always a source of amazement to me !

Mind blown!

As a "Stargazer" I love looking at the night sky, it's massive and beautiful and not of this world, but practically everything I see up there is in our own galaxy, the Milky Way. 

The Universe is full of countless other "Milky Ways" and I find trying to make sense of all this impossible. This is a subject which is undoubtably scientific, but because of it's very nature can't help merging with other not so scientific ideas. I'm no scientist but when I talk to my friends about these things they always come back to me with the same questions, "What happened before the Big Bang?", "How can that be possible?", "Something must have existed before existence began?". 

All I can come up with is "Hats off to whoever solves the puzzle"😁.

I don't understand politics or cosmology, but inflation is what I do to my tyers.

On 13/03/2024 at 10:14, Wanderers said:

At £350 I'll steer well clear!

That's an epic dodge on your part!

Take a zero off and it might be worth a punt though😁.

1 hour ago, GenoRokTok said:

it appears just to the right of that line about 40% the distance from Procyon, 60% to Sirius. 

Delta Monoceros is about there but it shouldn't be flashing. 

No and don't use any 12v supply for it, you'll fry it. They run off 9vDC centre negative, if you haven't got the original battery pack, you can get, off Ebay, a 5vDC USB step up lead which converts a USB powerbank into 9vDC centre negative. These leads are intended for use with electric guitar pedals like BOSS pedals which are made in Japan and are 9vDC centre negative. These leads cost less than a fiver and then you can run your SD-1 from a rechargeable USB powerbank, 10,000mAh works best and will power your scope all night long off a single charge. 

USB 5V to 9V 5.5x2.1mm USB to 9V Power Supply Cable for Guitar Effects Pedals | eBay

I hope you read this before you plug the Halfords in! It will tick over on tracking at 12v but as soon as you use the fast forward button the circuit will overheat, do so at your peril!

8 minutes ago, wookie1965 said:

So the Vixen will be better even with the chips.

Yes.

Vixen still produce their 4" achro, the A105M and it retails around £950 whereas a SW Evostar 4" is currently on offer at FLO for £194. Both usable scopes but the difference in price is reflected in the quality of the optics.

1 hour ago, John said:

That is a chinese made one IMHO.

I'd agree with that as well, it's got the wrong sticker on it. Still a nice achro, but not as good as the original Japanese version.

4 minutes ago, wookie1965 said:

the celestron ota is slimmer than the vixen

Yeah, your older Vixen model is from the 80's because it has the attachment on the focuser for a swivel finder and Vixen have always had oversized tubes (115mm for a 102mm scope), the later (90's) Celestrons were made for the US market and may have had narrower tubes to allow for after market focuser upgrades? Not sure on that one, but the two scopes will have the same objectives, 102mm f9.8

1 hour ago, wookie1965 said:

To be Honest John I dont know I will take a picture of the label maybe you can find out from that. I know its an old scope.

Paul

This is an old "Vixen made" for Celestron 102M, @wookie1965 it's the same scope as the Vixen 102M you've just bought, apart from the colour that is.

10 hours ago, wookie1965 said:

I do hope so or it's going the tip.

The internal thread on the old Vixen drawtube is 43mm and the internal of the stepdown ring is 36.4mm, so if you're going to throw anything out it should probably be your calipers not the scope😁.

Bresser UK | Vixen reducing sleeve 36.4–31.7 mm | Call 01342 837 098 for advice and sales.

This is the Vixen part, £22 for a little eyepiece adaptor, but it's the same as what you have but for 1.25" rather than the old fashioned .965. The Baader you've ordered is a better holder all round, plus you'll have fine focusing.

The .965 visual back you have is made of two parts, unscrew the .965 holder from the 36.4-43mm ring and replace this ring into the drawtube. Your Baader helical will fit straight in. Shame about the chip but the rest of the glass looks good, it will still work well.

3 hours ago, AlcorAlly said:

I'm extremely fortunate to have your ED102S now. Didn't know it came with the plastic knobs – thank you for upgrading them. It's a beautiful telescope, I think it's just perfect and I've enjoyed every minute with it so far 😊

It's not just a very capable 4" ED F9 refractor but that particular model, the WT version, is actually quite scarce. Enjoy☺️.

3 hours ago, F15Rules said:

"as far as she was concerned, they are made of ABS!)

When Vixen scopes changed to white around 2002, the stock pinion knobs were indeed made of ABS but of the same design of the current metal ones. My old ED102S F9 from 2003 that is being passed around the forum at present, did have these "plastic" focuser knobs, but I thought a scope of that calibre deserved better and so put a new pinion with metal knobs on it.

1 hour ago, Alan White said:

Interesting about the pinion as my ED103 Lazarus will benefit from a new one.

PM me.