Another proud owner of Vixen Atlux 150 ED!

[HD-AP]

lets count up.

forum owners:

Myself,Stu,Paul,Hd-Ap thats four.

i think i saw another name of a Uk owner over in Cloudy nights,if he is not the same as one of i have mentioned,then that should make it 5 UK owners.If there really was 6 scopes ever imported in UK,then we are missing 1.

i seem to remember someone called tonyatlux who has one posting on here sometime.

[Dude_with_the_tube]

thanks HD-Ap,we havent forgotten about you and your name was mentioned as one of the owners.I have not a clue where this storage case is coming from,it is not off the new design,but you might be correct,it might be an Astro physics one.

i seem to remember someone called tonyatlux who has one posting on here sometime.

and yes Tonyatlux is the name of the person i was referring from Cloudy Nights forum.

[Stu]

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/83450-vixen-ed150-atlux-rare-scope-for-sale/page-2

Useful thread, looks like ChelseaTony might be another owner if he still has his

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[Dude_with_the_tube]

ChelseaTony and Tonyaltux is the same person Stu,i just found his post in Cloudy Nights forum.

[John]

OTA without tube rings,dovetail is 11kgs,when you add everything then 15kgs (OTA+finder+rings+ dovetail)

i think its the massive lump of 4" focuser what adds the extra 2kgs also 4" to 2" adapter is just one massive lump of aluminium.weight of that thing alone is close to 1kg!......

So you can use 4" eyepieces then ! :

[Stu]

ChelseaTony and Tonyaltux is the same person Stu,i just found his post in Cloudy Nights forum.

I suspected as much :-)

[Dude_with_the_tube]

So you can use 4" eyepieces then ! :

i think i will give that one a go,just need to have a word with neighbors first so they dont call police when they see a massive white tube with a black thing loaded up and pointed to the skies hahahaha.

but yes,with this focuser i can use 4" and 3" Ep`s if needed.i am guessing balancing will be a dog,but that will not stop us!

[Dude_with_the_tube]

well,small update,thats the AZ-EQ6GT mount arrived,couldnt resist and set it up in living room

As i mentioned,i am purely visual as such EQ mode is not what i am interested in,mount will be only used in AZ mode.Scope will be used in "cyclops"mode or with Denk2 binos with power switch who arrived yesterday too.I might also parallel mount my 90mm Celestron.

initial thoughts: mount is very silent,i mean much more silent as my EQ 5 was.movements are very smooth,i like the new way of clutch system,built quality is great and mount does feel solid.When tube mounted,vibrations are practically non existing,unless you really try to wobble the mount,what should not be the case when observing,tried to focus on a 500 yard away tree with 30mm ES,just for testing purpose and there was no vibrations at all when using focusser.This so far looks very promissing.Hoping for first light friday evening after work,obviously weather permitting.Will keep you posted.

[John]

Very nice dude

These 6" fracs sort of dwarf otherwise chunky looking equipment though, don't they ?. Even a meaty 2" eyepiece looks a bit more dainty than usual

That 4" focuser is something else !

[Dude_with_the_tube]

fully agree John!

30mm ES does look like a normal eye piece in pics,where in real life it is a size of a normal "baked beans" can.

Still,pics without a person standing next to it do not do the proper justice of the share size of the instrument,and that relates to actually ANY telescope.even a 20" dob will look "OK" in the pics on its own,you only realize the size of that beast when you have someone next to it. 

That 4" focuser i think is good 3-4kgs ,has 3 screws for tension adjustment so can carry a ton of load,but is not rotatable,will see how it performs on the field.just in case,i do have a spare Moonlite if i find the 4" over excessive or not for my liking .Will need to turn an adapter for it,but thats not an issue.

[HD-AP]

Great looking setup

Yours with that 4 inch focusser is a one of a kind and must be the rarest 6 inch atlux ed of all

[Stu]

I've often thought about an AZ-EQ6, and in many ways I can see it is ideal. It's probably more stable than the Atlux, but I can't bring myself to split them up!!

The 4" is very nice but does it affect the balance point? I guess if anything it is a positive as it means you can have the scope pushed further forward? Easier at the zenith...

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[HD-AP]

The 4" is very nice but does it affect the balance point? I guess if anything it is a positive as it means you can have the scope pushed further forward? Easier at the zenith...

some of the 2inch atlux focussers had / have counterweights fitted inside them to improve the balance point.

[Dude_with_the_tube]

Great looking setup

Yours with that 4 inch focusser is a one of a kind and must be the rarest 6 inch atlux ed of all

so far as I know,it is only this one who has the 4" focuser ,as original owner pursued Vixen to install it on his first scope and then on the one what was returned to him back from Vixen  due to issues.Possibly focusser unit removed from the returned unit and re-installed on new scope.

I've often thought about an AZ-EQ6, and in many ways I can see it is ideal. It's probably more stable than the Atlux, but I can't bring myself to split them up!!

The 4" is very nice but does it affect the balance point? I guess if anything it is a positive as it means you can have the scope pushed further forward? Easier at the zenith...

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It does affect the balance Stu.As I wrote earlier this 4" unit is heavy glob of aluminium with another lump working as adapter,i havent removed the focuser unit from the scope to weight it up,but i would estimate the total weight to be about 3-4 if not all 5 kgs.It deffo does help in some sort as i can now push the scope forward what means i will have more normal viewing position.Hoping to have a first light tomorrow evening after work so everything will come to its true light then

[Moonshane]

Looks a good mount but will be tricky above 45 degrees?

[Stu]

Good point Shane! Probably needs at least a half pillar.....

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[Dude_with_the_tube]

Looks a good mount but will be tricky above 45 degrees?

why would you think that? i have not extended the legs of the tripod,what means eye piece will be as a minimum another 50cm higher so will be perfect.I did try when scope was pointing 45degrees with not extended legs and it was perfectly fine,i could observe either standing or sitting.

[Stu]

why would you think that? i have not extended the legs of the tripod,what means eye piece will be as a minimum another 50cm higher so will be perfect.I did try when scope was pointing 45degrees with not extended legs and it was perfectly fine,i could observe either standing or sitting.

Does the scope not hit the tripod legs when towards the zenith?

I use a half pillar with my Ercole

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[Moonshane]

why would you think that? i have not extended the legs of the tripod,what means eye piece will be as a minimum another 50cm higher so will be perfect.I did try when scope was pointing 45degrees with not extended legs and it was perfectly fine,i could observe either standing or sitting.

sorry, just looks like the current eyepiece height is about 30cm and I was assuming another 30 max with the legs extended

I prefer a metre at least other than solar

[Dude_with_the_tube]

Right,scope out and cooling,this time on fully extended legs.I measured the distance from ground to diagonal when scope is pointing 45 deg up and result:1mtr 35cm you can easily observe by standing or alternatively by using adjustable astro chair (what i dont have lol)

[Moonshane]

Cool

sounds perfect!

[HD-AP]

Right,scope out and cooling,this time on fully extended legs.I measured the distance from ground to diagonal when scope is pointing 45 deg up and result:1mtr 35cm you can easily observe by standing or alternatively by using adjustable astro chair (what i dont have lol)

SO weather permiting a first light to follow then.

[Dude_with_the_tube]

SO weather permiting a first light to follow then.

first light was there,but clouds spoiled it so i cant really say it was a first light as such,proper first light will be re-done again tonight as weather forecast shows clear skies.All i was able to observe was Moon between the clouds lol.However, i was very pleased with what i saw.There is NO CA and no false colour on the moon,used low and medium-high magnifications and tried to compromise the scope to give me some, but I failed miserably,only once i think i saw a tiny tiny fringe of false colour on the limb,but i really had to look for it.I just cant get the scope to show me any faults so far.with 20mm Meade RG erfle,Moon is presented as a 3D object floating on black background,cant wait for my second erfle to arrive so i can use them in my Denk2 binos.With 10.5mm ortho (meade Rg) image is very sharp,again,no false colours and this time i was completely unable to get colour fringe on the edge of the moon.As at present the only pair of EPs i have for bino is 10.5mm RG orthos,i did use them .Image merge was without any issue,an yes now you are feeling like an astronaut observing moon from a space craft hoovering over the planet.It is truly stunning.Another set of BGO`s is spoken for and will be with me soon,difficult to find another set or single Meade RG`s

To really get this impression,i used the mount in manual mode only,as such,you let Moon slowly drift across FOV and enjoy the views.Something new i never experienced before.Very breathtaking experience.Still,in cyclops mode,image is sharper.You do feel the loss of light grasp! Noticed also that despite me having no issues with bino,my wife didnt enjoy them as i did and she preferred mono viewing and did initially had issues with merging the image,once relaxed and adopted,it was fine.Something to work on.However, power switch on Denks is truly awesome gadget.You can get 3 magnifications out of one eye piece with a flick of a finger.

Hopefully i will get a proper first light tonight as i want to star test the scope,i want to see how scope performs on very high powers,split a couple of doubles,observe a couple of globular clusters,see how scope performs on DSO`s.

one thing for sure,scope is far less affected from unstable viewing conditions.Mount seems to be capable of handling this scope,there are very minimal vibrations when used with fully extended legs and they settle in couple of seconds and i can observe standing,no chair required.Had to put on my Telrad as original finder is OK but not impressed with it.

So far first impressions:AWESOME and I AM LOVING IT!

Clear skies to everyone and i will update on my progress hopefully tomorrow morning

[ollypenrice]

Big refractors are just nice to use. They feel like telescopes...

Olly

[HD-AP]

Hopefully i will get a proper first light tonight as i want to star test the scope,i want to see how scope performs on very high powers,split a couple of doubles,observe a couple of globular clusters,see how scope performs on DSO`s.

one thing for sure,scope is far less affected from unstable viewing conditions.

I think you might be surprised on how well it performs on Dso's in good seeing conditions.