Vixen Atlux, setup finalized at last!

[Stu]

I've been heading towards this for a while, with a slight hiccup along the way in the form of the AYODigi II which is going back (Long story). Tonight is the first opportunity I've had to put it all together and have a try out. The skies are very average, but Jupiter is visible so it's worth a go.

So, the kit:

Scope:

Vixen Atlux 150ED

Baader Steeltrack 3" focuser

Baader SteelDrive motorized focuser

Leica ASPH 8.9 to 17.9mm Zoom

Zeiss Abbé Barlow

Mount:

SkyWatcher AZEQ6 with upgraded Baader Dual clamp

Meade Giant tripod

16" pillar extension

I'm running the mount in AltAz mode as I am purely visual. This evening I setup from the home position and just used the easy start mode. It got me close enough that I could find Jupiter visually and then get it in the fov with a 31nag (no finder currently!) before popping the Leica in.

I get roughly x75 to x151 using just the zoom, and x151 to x300 ish with the Barlow so most bases covered with just the one eyepiece.

The scope is still cooling and skies are not great currently so the views aren't amazing......yet! But already I can see the benefits. The mount is rock solid on the tripod, and the skewing is smooth and controllable at high power. There is enough height adjustment for comfortable viewing at the Zenith.

The motorized focuser is amazing. Very accurate and smooth, and it means I don't need to touch the scope at all so the target remains completely still in the eyepiece, allowing the detail to be caught when the seeing is good.

A very happy chap, it has taken me quite a while to get here but I am there now, finally

[John]

Terrific Stu - it's great when a plan comes together, finally

[dweller25]

Nice

[Chris]

Congrats, that is one serious setup you have there!

[nightfisher]

Very nice Stu, superb set up

[Stu]

Thanks Chaps.

Seeing was pretty horrible last night so the views weren't great. Out there again tonight and it's better, but not stunning unfortunately. Jupiter showing some nice detail but I know it has more to come. I need to check the collimation on the Vixen. I think it is out so I may have to shim the focuser in some way, not loads but it's enough that I can see it.

Still, I'm really pleased with the mount. It is nice and stable and very easy to set up and align. Even just going from a basic home position without a two star align it gets very close to Jupiter and tracks very accurately.