Bresser Optik Orion Newtonian (Vixen R-200S) & Vixen Sensor Mount Renovation Project

[SnakeyJ]

Looks great Jake - I'm feeling rather jealous.

 

Have you done anything to the inside of the tube?

 

And are you thinking of upgrading anything or is this going to be a total restoration with genuine parts?

Lee

Just been putting the mount back together instead of working this morning

I haven't flocked the OTA as yet as I had half a roll less than I thought left over - but thought rather than wait for the delivery it would be worth assembling and using to see how it performs before going too daft.       Assuming it works ok I'll replace some of the fixings (few rusty screws), and will probably soda blast and repaint some of the aluminium bits and possibly the mount/pier.

As I already have an 200mm F5 newt, it's probably not terribly practicle - what I really want is a 10L VX for better planetary performance, or possibly a monster 300P seeing the results that Neil has been getting earlier this season (though this would push the HEQ5Pro).....

The R200S may visually have the edge on the Skywatcher Explorer, in good seeing - though for imaging it would be impracticable and expensive to change the focuser over for a 2" crayford, If I swapped the focuser I would also need to find a new spider as the current design is one piece (ie single vain spider moves with focuser).

Truth is I'm not really sure.    On balance I think I'll probably keep it for visual and source/make a dob mount, though I might change my mind and sell or possibly even swap the mirror and flat over to the 200P.

Ultimately it would be nice to have a 10-12" VX with dob mount (and tube rings for occasional planetary imaging), for deep sky the 200/900 (with CC/FR) is probably more than enough to cut my teeth with DSLR.

[SnakeyJ]

FIRST LIGHT (or at least a few shaky photons).

Unexpected clear patch here tonight, after quite a heavy shower - I had collimated the scope earlier with cheshire, but the adjustment on this is ridiculously quick and smooth in comparison to the Explorer 200P - particularly the secondary (adjustment screws easilly tweaked by fingers).   The hotspot also showed up nicely through the cheshire, so absolute breeze and done in 5 mins flat.

Wasn't expecting to get this out until Thursday night at the IOW Star Party, but the sky looked so good I had to have a try.    No way to mount, with the Vixen Sensa mount and tube rings back in the office.   So I simply inserted a Meade/Bresser 25mm SP, clutched the ota to my chest and rested the back on the kids trampoline which I was perched on.    I really like this EP - nice and bright with great contrast, I've used it a few times recently on the Explorer 200P.     So many stars visible, and although the view was somewhat shaky, I got sharp focus and definition.     Jupiter was very bright above, and after some trial and error I was able to home in on this and hold it in the fov - difficult to discern much detail at this fl, but three Galilean moons and Jupiter itself appeared pin sharp.   I would have loved to push this to 8mm, but little chance of finding or holding Jupiter at this f/l.

The focuser is very smooth, but a little twitchy - though I'm used to the 10:1 reduction on my SW Explorer.     No doubt it will be a whole lot more manageable when I'm properly mounted and able to use my right rather than left hand.

A very brief glance at the Orion nebula was also very clear - not steady enough or probably sufficient f/l to make out the trapezium, but wonderful contrast - I really like this EP, but sure the scope is also contributing.

Praying now for some more clear moments for Thursday and Friday nights at the star party - I will have the scope mounted on its pier and Vixen Sensa mount with DD2 and dual axis motors, so should be able to relax and enjoy the views and perhaps even try some different EPs. 

[leelee970]

Sounds like you had a great time last night Jake.

I too was out until 1am. (could have stayed out longer but I have a meeting at work today).

Lee

[SnakeyJ]

Sounds like you had a great time last night Jake.

I too was out until 1am. (could have stayed out longer but I have a meeting at work today).

Lee

Hope you managed to get some good capture - good conditions between the clouds and showers, but only got a couple of runs in on Jupiter myself, though pleased to be out at all.

[SnakeyJ]

Darn it, just rounded out a grub screw on the RA motor clutch fitted to the sensor mount - it started to come, but jammed up against some corrosion in the threads and refused to budge.      Just drilling the wee devil out, but on my second rather blunt 2mm bit, a quick trip out to the shops to get some spares.    I suspect I will need to tap the hole for M4 and replace with a bigger grub screw - Drat, drat and double drat!

[leelee970]

Oh no, don't repair it - you need to give it away to someone local and not too far away - wink wink.

 

Seriously, good luck with the repair. I'm lucky I have a workshop full of tools at work.

I've just had to sort out my Canon Eos - kept locking up after two shots - found out it was the cheap memory card (from China) that was the problem.

Lee

[SnakeyJ]

One new 2mm cobalt drill and I was able to drill the grub screw out in 15 seconds - clutch block now removed and with any luck I may even be able to clean up and re-use the existing thread.

[SnakeyJ]

No joy on removing the remains of the grub screw, but at least I had drilled it concentric (not bad for a hand drill).    I had to drill the hole out to 3mm to remove the remains of the grub, picked up a couple of M4 grub screws this morning - now need to find a cheap set of taps to thread it.   No pressure, everything packed in the car ready for IW Star Party.

[SnakeyJ]

Day 2 @ IW Star Party - terrible weather all day, but conditions set to improve around midnight, so just resting up in advance.

Last night I got a good 3 hours in at the EP with the R-200S.    Everything done the old fashion way without power to the mount, but this made a really nice change from PC control = really nice to have the freedom to roam around the sky.    Conditions were at times excellent, though very gusty and some fast moving but heavy cloud was a bit of a nuisance.    The mount is superb, though really too heavy for a mobile rig, but even in gusts it was far more solid than my HEQ5.    Polar alignment was a little rushed, with the cross hairs centred on Polaris rather than the true ncp.   However more than adequate to track and maintain an object in the fov, right up to 312x on Jupiter (BST 8mm and Revelation x2.5 barlow).     

Without doubt the my best ever visual views of Jupiter, very bright with clear detail, GRS, io shadow.   Heavier EP's and barlow combinations made the focuser and secondary slide back down the ota, requiring a little friction from the focuser locking screw.   A little twitchy with the small focus knob, but manageable with a gentle touch.     The vixen 8 x 30 finder was clear and bright and very easy to get on with, though my telrad batteries were stone dead so just as well.

M42 was stunning in Meade 3000 25mm and the Bresser 25mm Possel performed equally well - I suspect these are the same EPs.   The 8mm BST Explorer was wonderful with M42 filing the fov and great conrast, pin sharp trapezium and fine wisps of detail within the nebula.    Much clearer and brighter than I had seen this before, though much of that could be the dark sky advantage.

M45 was so bright and beautiful - though the 25mm was not low enough power to properly frame/set off - I broke out a rarely used 40mm Possel.  While this may have pushed the exit pupil the view was fabulous.

I had a few looks through other scopes that were set up adjacent to me and focused on the orion nebula and jupiter.    A 10" Altair RC, with a 32mm and 15mm Panoptics (my first look through these) - the views were definitely brighter and the field correction of the TVs and slower F8 made for great views - better on M42, but not so noticeable on a smaller object like Jupiter.   I also tried an ED120, which gave a lovely widefield, but I not quite the brightness and contrast I was getting.

Overall very satisfied with this scope and hoping to get another run tonight - collimation was a little off when I checked this morning, so now have this tweaked - I'll try and star test later to see how this performs.