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How a Vixen ED103s came to join my FS128

F15Rules

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F15Rules

F15Rules

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Earlier this year I sold most of my kit to raise funds for my ultimate dream scope, a Takahashi FS128 F8.1 complete with EM2 mount and some accessories. I introduced the FS128 in a thread back in April :

One of the cherished items I had to sell at the time to help fund the Tak was my little (by comparison to the Tak!) Vixen ED103s F7.7 apo. It was a wonderful scope, one of the best I have ever owned, and I really regretted the sale, but willingly went through with it to help secure the Tak, which itself is a wonderful scope, and one which I wouldn't ever have thought I would own.

Since acquiring the Tak, I've had only a very few sessions with it, and none of them in what I would call really good conditions. In fact, I only got my first view of Luna last week, when the moon was 3/4 full. The skies have not been great, lack of darkness, and the work involved in a major house move to another part of the country, and having still to work for a while longer before retirement have all conspired to make it difficult to really try the Tak out properly. But I can be patient, and am just waiting for the return of true darkness and better skies before really getting to grips with the Tak. The EM2 mount is wonderfully smooth and handles the big Tak really well. It only has an RA drive built in, with additional manual slow motions to each axis, and these work really well for me.

The Tak tripod was very nicely built, but just not really up to handling the Taks' longish (and 6" diameter) tube - it was, I think really designed more for the FS102 size of scope. So I mounted the Tak on the EM2, and the EM2 on my older, trusty and more massive home built (not by me) solid wood tripod, to which I added a lovely Berlebach bracing/accessory tray about 3 years ago. This, for my visual needs only, is an ideal setup, and not at all too heavy for me to lift in one, set up unit.

However, it's not what you could call a "grab and go" set up for quick views or taking away from home, and I really wanted to get another ED103s, which is incredibly lightweight at only 3.6kg and optically superb.

When I bought the Tak, it also came with a Vari-Extender (barlow type accessory), and a couple of Tak LE eyepieces, one of which (the 18mm) I decided to let go, to help fund a re-acquisition of my beloved LVW 22m (a cracking eyepiece, better than the Pentax XW 20). I'm not a big fan of barlows, even Tak ones, so I decided to sell the Vari-Extender and the Tak tripod and to look for another Vixen ED103s.

These come up exceedingly rarely as used items, and the new price, at £1700 for the OTA, rings, dovetail and 7x50 finder, was/is just way beyond my budget, having bought the Tak not long before. But I started trawling the usual forums and also ebay. I have to say I have become somewhat disenchanted with ebay recently, with it being dominated by ebay shops, such that it gets harder and harder to find true bargains, and such as there are can be hard to find amongst the endless chinese orthos/plossls/wide angle clone eyepieces and cheap, poor quality department store type refractors!

But I set up a search prompt for "Vixen ED103s" and after a week or two I got a notification for a private seller, who was selling some of his late fathers' equipment from his small observatory. Included in the sale was listed a Vixen ED103sWT (an older, single speed R&P version), but optically identical to the ED103s that I had owned - both all Japan made, and an Orion Optics 10" newtonian, with a Vixen GP mount on a Vixen pillar. To be honest, both scopes didn't look in great condition..the ED103 looked quite dirty, as did the Newt, which also had quite a ding in the tube. The mount didn't look too bad, but again looked as if it needed some TLC.

The seller was the son of the deceased and he said quite openly that he didn't share his late father's love of astronomy, but he really wanted to sell everything as a job lot as he needed the space. Despite this, I sent him a polite enquiry asking if he would consider an offer on the ED103s only. He replied, saying that he had been approached by dealers (I guess this is how some of them find their stock to resell?) but that they had advised him that his asking price (I think it was around £1700 for the lot originally) was unrealistic, since they would have to service and clean the items, and offer a warranty when they resold them. I offered him £300 for the scope, on the basis that the scope looked filthy and I was really taking a risk if I were to buy it. He then offered to send me some more pictures of the lens, which only made me more nervous - see pre-clean image below.

But I did feel/hope that the scope could be carefully cleaned up, hence the cheeky £300 offer for the OTA with rings, dovetail, Finder and flip mirror. He came back and said he wanted a bit more, so I bit the bullet (thinking of that lens image!) and said I would go to £350. He accepted and I arranged to pick it up while in his area on business the following week.

It turned out that the scope was in fact quite dirty, and I got the impression that his late father had not used his gear much for several years, so everything had remained in his observatory literally gathering dust (and insects, as l later found out).

When I did pick up the scope, (it was in the original box), he then said, oh, there are a couple of lenses here, you can take them if you want them. So I had a look, and in fact there were 4mm and 12.5mm Circle T Japan orthos, in reasonable condition, a 25mm Circle T Kellner and a Vixen japan 45 degree erecting eyepiece!. 

A couple of days after I got home, I put aside some time to really take the tube to pieces and give it a good clean, using a damp J cloth and some cream cleaner (not on the lens of course). There were 7 or 8 mummified large dead insects caught inside the tube, by the baffles, which I sucked out with our vacuum cleaner attachment!.To my delight, the tube came up beautifully, with just one small scrape on the underside of the tube, not visible in normal use, and a few small marks on the finder from the grubscrews. I removed the lens cell and dewshield to clean the lens, very carefully, with Baader Wonder fluid and the matching lint free cloth. I was very relieved when it came up as it has! Other than that it looks great (see the two pics in my kitchen..). The single speed focuser is very smooth indeed, dare I say it better than the previous ED103 I had - maybe it was just better bedded in, having been used over a longer period. I do have a Baader T2 prism with focusing eyepiece holder, so this gives me smooth very fine focusing capability for high power where focus is critical.

I have the original bill of sale for the scope. It was sold new by Orion Optics (then in Crewe) in December 2006, at a cost of £1300. So it's 10.5 years old and even then cost a lot of money new.

I sold on the unneeded eyepieces and flip mirror, so I reckon that the scope has effectively cost me about £220. I have just bought a Tak clamshell tube ring from an FL102s for £100 which should fit the tube perfectly (both are 115mm tube diameter) and will allow me to easily use the scope on my EM2 mount if I want to. And I still have the tube rings and dovetail for using on a CG4 (my son in law's) at the moment, and hopefully before long an altaz mount such as the Porta II or AZ5 which has just launched.

I'm living proof that ebay can still throw up the odd bargain buy:p..

First quick light on Alberio the other evening was great, very reassuring: lovely contrast and star colours, and the double double presented two beautiful mini bullseyes at x220 (Tak Hi-LE 3.6mm, FL 795mm).

I attach a few more pictures, some with the FS 128. The pics really don't show how much bigger the FS128 is than the Vixen, but they make a nice pairing, I think. 

Hope you like them.


Dave

 

 

 

ED103s pre clean 1.jpg

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IMG_20170726_203752716 (1).jpg

IMG_20170804_185200870_HDR.jpg

IMG_20170804_185251616.jpg

IMG_20170804_185433668.jpg

IMG_20170804_185507390_HDR.jpg

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F15Rules

F15Rules

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Just now, Stu said:

Great story Dave. I saw that scope too, glad it went to a good home.

Can't see the other pics, just the dirty lens shot!!

Thanks Stu. 

Ref the pics, you were just too quick on the draw...only just finished uploading them!??

Dave

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John

John

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Very interesting tale Dave - well worth the risk at that price :icon_biggrin:

Your ED103S looks just like my ED102SS except a little longer - very nice proportions !

I got my TMB / LZOS 130 F/9.2 triplet from e.bay as well. I was the only bidder and the scope was local and from someone who I knew and had bought from before. A lucky set of circumstances.

I imagine that the FS 128 is about the same size as the TMB / LZOS 130 and ther difference between my 4" inchers and even the ED120 is really quite significant.

Does make me wonder what will become of my kit when I'm no longer around though .... :undecided:

 

 

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F15Rules

F15Rules

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28 minutes ago, John said:

Very interesting tale Dave - well worth the risk at that price :icon_biggrin:

Your ED103S looks just like my ED102SS except a little longer - very nice proportions !

I got my TMB / LZOS 130 F/9.2 triplet from e.bay as well. I was the only bidder and the scope was local and from someone who I knew and had bought from before. A lucky set of circumstances.

I imagine that the FS 128 is about the same size as the TMB / LZOS 130 and ther difference between my 4" inchers and even the ED120 is really quite significant.

Does make me wonder what will become of my kit when I'm no longer around though .... :undecided:

 

 

Hi John,

I do vaguely remember seeing your scope on ebay, maybe around 12-18 months ago?

When you think what one of those would cost new nowadays if you could get one, I think you did really well. My OTA probably cost similar when you subtract the cost of the mount/tripod and the accessories that came with it.

I know what you mean with your last comment: my son's only interest in my FS128 is that if it were sold it would give him a decent deposit on his next fast car! :icon_scratch::crybaby2:

Dave

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F15Rules

F15Rules

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33 minutes ago, Stu said:

Fabulous, they look great together :) 

Thanks Stu, I'm well pleased, I feel very lucky to have two great refractors now..the only other scope I could envisage wanting at some point now would be a....deep breath.....large Dob for faint fuzzies??

Did I REALLY just say that?:help::glasses12::hello2:

You never know!

Dave

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Stu

Stu

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6 minutes ago, F15Rules said:

Thanks Stu, I'm well pleased, I feel very lucky to have two great refractors now..the only other scope I could envisage wanting at some point now would be a....deep breath.....large Dob for faint fuzzies??

Did I REALLY just say that?:help::glasses12::hello2:

You never know!

Dave

You need a 12" f5.3 Orion Optics Dave, that would suit you well I reckon. Lovely scopes.

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F15Rules

F15Rules

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Funny you should say that Stu, I know John has a 12 dob, doesn't he? And Steve (Saganite) I believe also has a large Dob.

Joking apart, I can see that for some objects they make total sense, so I'd never say never, and full respect to those who prefer them. 

I'm just a sucker for a nice white tube with glass at each end! :headbang2:

Dave

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Fozzie

Fozzie

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There's a lot to like in those photo's Dave, two fantastic set ups, with great back stories..

I agree about the Ebay.. its not on the face of it the realm of bargains anymore, but underneath nice to see with a little chance taking you can grab a great deal! What a price for that scope!

Congrats... not at all envious of the frac gang your putting together!

Ta

Fozzie 

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F15Rules

F15Rules

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2 hours ago, Fozzie said:

There's a lot to like in those photo's Dave, two fantastic set ups, with great back stories..

I agree about the Ebay.. its not on the face of it the realm of bargains anymore, but underneath nice to see with a little chance taking you can grab a great deal! What a price for that scope!

Congrats... not at all envious of the frac gang your putting together!

Ta

Fozzie 

Thanks Fozzie, and also Jules and everyone for your kind remarks?..

As John said for his TMB/Lzos 130 purchase, eBay does still turn up a bargain every now and then, and I was lucky with a happy set of circumstances.

Dave

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F15Rules

F15Rules

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9 hours ago, garryblueboy said:

Great deal I was tempted to contact also about the 103 but opted for the Tak in the end 

Cheers Garry.

A little after I bought mine, I noticed another one, this time "new old stock" ie the SWT version that I have, but apparently brand new. It went for £640, which again is a bargain for an unused apo of this optical quality:rolleyes2:.

Dave

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Alien_Photons

Alien_Photons

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Dave.

Did you find out the name of the previous owner?

I am sure he would be happy it's been cleaned up and in use by someone like himself with an eye for a good telescope.

You might send the seller a picture of it cleaned up.

Stories like this fill me with both sadness and joy. 

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