Show us your Vixen Scope or mount

[Franklin]

What a great set up, the ED103 looks rock solid on the GP and pier and the hedging is growing really well behind the fence panels.

[HollyHound]

4 hours ago, Alan White said:

Have to share 'First Light' of the roughly set up, new to me, yet quite old
Vixen GP (manual only) at present and my most trusty Vixen ED103 in White Light mode.
Oh and a 12mm Vixen SLV for good measure.

 

That's a gorgeous setup 😀

[900SL]

Have vixen scopes just gone up about 30%? I'm sure they were a lot less the last time I looked!

[Alan White]

3 minutes ago, 900SL said:

Have vixen scopes just gone up about 30%? I'm sure they were a lot less the last time I looked!

I think everything has gone up since I last looked! 

[osbourne one-nil]

9 hours ago, 900SL said:

Have vixen scopes just gone up about 30%? I'm sure they were a lot less the last time I looked!

Yep! I queried this with Telescope House as it's WAY above even our current inflation rate, and the response was (perhaps not unreasonably) that raw materials go to the highest bidder and telescope manufacturers are some way down the list so don't have much negotiating power. Have Skywatcher, etc, gone up by this much though?

I did some maths on ordering direct from Japan, including the shipping and import costs, and it does offer quite a saving. I wouldn't fancy dealing with returns though!

[Alan White]

This is perhaps for another thread though, as this is a show me thread, how we all love a drift off...me included.

[F15Rules]

21 hours ago, Alan White said:

Have to share 'First Light' of the roughly set up, new to me, yet quite old
Vixen GP (manual only) at present and my most trusty Vixen ED103 in White Light mode.
Oh and a 12mm Vixen SLV for good measure.

 

 

Fantastic, all Japanese setup, Alan, so solid looking.

Vixen's ED and SD Japanese doublets are right up there with their Tak equivalents IMHO👍

Dave

[sqfab]

Vixen 80/910 OTA on my old Vixen SP

Ready to the sky😉

Pascal

[callisto]

Just a bit of white light viewing today (when the clouds allow) with my trusty 80M on the newly finished pier 

 

[Roy Challen]

3 hours ago, callisto said:

Just a bit of white light viewing today (when the clouds allow) with my trusty 80M on the newly finished pier 

 

Nice! I was just thinking, that Vixen logo is probably the best astro logo there is. Anyone disagree?😀

[Pixies]

3 minutes ago, Roy Challen said:

Nice! I was just thinking, that Vixen logo is probably the best astro logo there is. Anyone disagree?😀

Nope. I concur! 

[JeremyS]

35 minutes ago, Roy Challen said:

Nice! I was just thinking, that Vixen logo is probably the best astro logo there is. Anyone disagree?😀

Pier looks great 👍🏻 

[callisto]

1 hour ago, JeremyS said:

Pier looks great 👍🏻 

Thanks Jeremy...it's only taken me 4 years to build the thing 🤣

[Ludd]

Vixen tripod doing jellymaking duty

[Pixies]

36 minutes ago, Ludd said:

Vixen tripod doing jellymaking duty

That'll help with stability, too!

[lvan]

Here’s my submission:

ED80SF riding an eq3-2 in altaz mode with tripod upgrade. The original alu tripod has been retrofit to the skyprodigy for my goto / video astro set up. I use with NPL plossls. I find the flip mirror useful for visual as, when I raise the tripod higher for objects low on the horizon, I can put the finder up on the diagonal then switch to a shorter focal ep in the “straight through” end. Saves changing ep’s. There’s solar filtration on the lens cap hence the black velcro marks. It compromises the aesthetics somewhat but better safe than sorry. Clear skies.

Edited September 13, 2022 by lvan

[F15Rules]

On 10/09/2022 at 13:45, Ludd said:

Vixen tripod doing jellymaking duty

At first I thought you were describing the solidity (or otherwise) of the tripod!🤦😂

Dave

[Franklin]

1 minute ago, F15Rules said:

At first I thought you were describing the solidity (or otherwise) of the tripod!🤦😂

The SXG-HAL130 is quite the opposite of jelly, but the tripod supplied as standard by Vixen with the Mini/Mobile Porta is another matter.

[Franklin]

11 minutes ago, lvan said:

I find the flip mirror useful for visual

Me to, I think the Vixen flip-mirror has taken quite a lot of bad press over the years, but I find it to be a very useful piece of kit. Also, you only have to look at my signature below to see that I am totally unbiased towards anything with Vixen on the label.

[Ludd]

18 hours ago, F15Rules said:

At first I thought you were describing the solidity (or otherwise) of the tripod!🤦😂

Dave

Frankly the tripod is overkill for jellymaking, but it has the advantage over a small camera tripod that you can feed the loops of the jelly strainer through the holes in the braces and then feed a biro through each one to get the perfect hanging configuration that allows you to ladle the fruit pulp into it. 

Thankfully I was not asked whether the jelly strainer could be suspended from the secondary supports on my Lukehurst dobsonian!

[Pixies]

New toy out tonight. @Franklin was a little concerned the scope might be a bit too big for the AP mount, but it is working fine, even when it's a little breezy. Vibrations damp down in under 2 seconds if I knock it. The bigger tripod helps, I'm sure. 

The tracking and slewing are something else, compared with the old Super Polaris. So quiet.

I'll get a better picture in the daylight.

[NGC 1502]

On 02/09/2022 at 10:41, sqfab said:

Vixen 80/910 OTA on my old Vixen SP

Ready to the sky😉

Pascal

Very late indeed to the party………just noticed your Vixen 80/910.  Exactly the same as mine, not many of those early models  with the larger diameter lens cell that have 3 pairs of collimation screws.  Best guess is that Vixen quickly realised that user collimation was not needed once the scope had been properly assembled during production.

However it does show that Vixen put lots of thought into the humble 80mm achromat. Same as they always do…

Off topic comment- Their current range of excellent eyepieces are missing top end models like LVW and the short lived 83degree SSW.

Ed.

[Franklin]

6 hours ago, Pixies said:

The tracking and slewing are something else, compared with the old Super Polaris. So quiet.

Very nice Neil and I'm glad it's working out for you. I thought the AP motors were something else as well, with sidereal, Luna, Solar and King options. Also, if you ever get your hands on an SX2 in the future, the Starbook1 will operate it and give x999 sidereal rate for slewing.

[osbourne one-nil]

Here's my other Vixen scope - I rather like it!

Now, I'm happy with the imaging I do with it but, at (I think) 15 years old, would I notice a big difference between a brand new one and this one? Visually, the mirror is fine. I've done the "shining the torch through the back" test, and there's no hint of any light coming through, so could the mirror still be ok at this age?

Edited September 14, 2022 by osbourne one-nil

[skybadger]

40 minutes ago, osbourne one-nil said:

Here's my other Vixen scope - I rather like it!

Now, I'm happy with the imaging I do with it but, at (I think) 15 years old, would I notice a big difference between a brand new one and this one? Visually, the mirror is fine. I've done the "shining the torch through the back" test, and there's no hint of any light coming through, so could the mirror still be ok at this age?

 

Yea. No probs. My vc200l was purchased in 2002 and still going strong. Mind you, recoating that could be interesting due to the coating forming part of the figuring process.