Show us your Vixen Scope or mount

[Highburymark]

3 hours ago, Saganite said:

Hi Mark,

The FT 3" is on the 6" APM at the back.  The Vixen has the 2.5" FT 2525 HD focuser.  This can be bought with the adapter ring shown. The problem is it has a 88.5mmx 1.0mm pitch thread. It was this adapter that I sent to Mark along with the Vixen focuser shown.  The Vixen tube is threaded 88mm x1mm pitch, so it would not fit, but I knew that a competent machinist could 'chase ' the thread and make it fit, which is what Mark did, superbly well.

Thanks - I  wasn’t aware they even did a 2.5” range. What a great option for your Vixen. Though FT focusers are not easy to get hold of these days, new or used. Starlight seems to have a long waiting list.

Edited April 16, 2023 by Highburymark
Wrong figures

[Franklin]

4 hours ago, Pixies said:

Anyone know the difference between the two?

The only difference is the label, the black label is older (80's) and the red/silver from the 90's. They're all pretty much the same mount and as noted above, you could get a weight bar for the front called the Custom-D. Much better than the AZ3 synta clones.

 

[The60mmKid]

On 27/03/2023 at 17:06, Froeng said:

Vixen SP-DX with SP60l refractor and Vixen 45mm Plossl eyepiece.

I was looking at double stars tonight

the 60l is a f/15, 910mm refractor. I have recently acquired a second copy as my original one has a few dents, due to it being used in guide-tube-rings. A fine instrument, showing very nice Airy-disks and first diffraction rings. Highlights of the evening included Algieba, Castor and Tegmine...

Plus a cursory look at the moon, which took 150x tonight. Hardly any false colour in these long refractors!

I find your setup inspiringly gorgeous ☺️ Can our telescopes be friends, please? Mine is an interloper in this thread, but the mount and tripod pass the test.

I'll also mention that I'm the buyer of a Vixen 120S OTA that just sold online... and a Rowan AZ75 that just sold from FLO... I am silly excited.

[Alan White]

The SD103 on my GP mount, had forgotten how enjoyable a GP is in full manual mode on Solar

A real Vixen fest this afternoon going on.


 

Edited May 14, 2023 by Alan White

[JeremyS]

48 minutes ago, Alan White said:

The SD103 on my GP mount, had forgotten how enjoyable a GP is in full manual mode on Solar

A real Vixen fest this afternoon going on.


 

Cracking set up Alan 👍🏻

[Franklin]

Pretty much sorted now with my Vixen scopes, the SD103s now gone to Alan, leaves me with these. The SD115s as my main scope, the SD81s as my grab and go and the tiny FL55ss for travel. (Oh, and the good old 3" achro, the A80M, I can't get rid of that because Sir Patrick Moore told me I needed to get one back in 1978 after reading his "The Observers Book of Astronomy" when I was 10 years old.)

 

[JeremyS]

48 minutes ago, Franklin said:

Pretty much sorted now with my Vixen scopes, the SD103s now gone to Alan, leaves me with these. The SD115s as my main scope, the SD81s as my grab and go and the tiny FL55ss for travel. (Oh, and the good old 3" achro, the A80M, I can't get rid of that because Sir Patrick Moore told me I needed to get one back in 1978 after reading his "The Observers Book of Astronomy" when I was 10 years old.)

 

Nice collection 👍🏻

The FL 55 looks like a beautiful piece of jewellery….. 😊

[Franklin]

16 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

The FL 55 looks like a beautiful piece of jewellery….. 😊

It is indeed very jewel-like though I could probably get a couple of bangles to fit around the dew shield for an extra bit of verve and sparkle😁.

[Stu]

A cracking set @Franklin, really nice 👍

[Naughty Neal]

 Classy bunch of Vixens, not at all envious.   

[The Lapwing]

Lots of lovely scopes display. Really takes me back to the old Super Polaris days. In the day they were considered to be just about as good as it for a 4 inch refractor, not cheap back then either. I loved mine.

 

[Franklin]

1 hour ago, The Lapwing said:

Really takes me back to the old Super Polaris days.

Those old SP mounts are still going strong to this day, 40 years on! (and never needed a re-grease😁)

[Stephenstargazer]

On 04/06/2023 at 14:07, Franklin said:

the tiny FL55ss for travel

What is it like for visual, or is this for the EEVA kit??

[Franklin]

3 minutes ago, Stephenstargazer said:

What is it like for visual, or is this for the EEVA kit??

Both Steve, but for visual it is an absolute beauty of a scope, optically speaking. Limited only by it's aperture, it takes silly high magnification with the HR's well. I've been using it with the Lunt wedge and the solar detail is amazingly crisp. With a photo tripod and travel alt-az, the whole set up weighs about 3kg and fits easily in a small backpack so hopefully I can get it out to some remote sites with darker skies.

[Franklin]

On 14/05/2023 at 15:52, Alan White said:

had forgotten how enjoyable a GP is in full manual mode

There is something satisfying about a totally manual GEM, no wires or batteries, nothing to go wrong. A quick polar alignment and you're good to go.

[LDW1]

3 hours ago, Franklin said:

Both Steve, but for visual it is an absolute beauty of a scope, optically speaking. Limited only by it's aperture, it takes silly high magnification with the HR's well. I've been using it with the Lunt wedge and the solar detail is amazingly crisp. With a photo tripod and travel alt-az, the whole set up weighs about 3kg and fits easily in a small backpack so hopefully I can get it out to some remote sites with darker skies.

Is the 55SS a Petzval design same as my 62SS ?  It sure is a a one hand scope, tripod / mount and all !

Edited June 6, 2023 by LDW1

[Franklin]

13 hours ago, LDW1 said:

Is the 55SS a Petzval design same as my 62SS ?  

No it's a Fluorite doublet, 55mm aperture, 300mm fl and F/5.4.

It has been described as a very expensive finder!

[Stu]

I suppose we really need a ‘Show us your Tak on a Vixen mount’ thread as it seems a popular combo 😉.

I wonder how long I’ll get away with this lovely pair in the corner of the lounge? 😱🤣

Just need some of those clear skies back to give it a go, ideal for some lunar observing.

 

[dweller25]

Did someone say “Tak on a Vixen mount” 😂

 

Edited June 20, 2023 by dweller25

[John]

Variations on the "scope X on a Vixen" theme.

The mount under the Tak is the Celestron branded version of the Vixen GP.

The mount under the TMB/LZOS 130 is the Vixen GP-DX.

 

[The60mmKid]

Here's the first Vixen scope I've ever owned: a 120S 5" Petzval refractor. It came in the mail yesterday after a long wait. It is a beautiful scope with plenty of charm and, I daresay, mystique. (Ignore the black telescope photobombing the picture... What an attention hog.)

Edited June 25, 2023 by The60mmKid

[The60mmKid]

On 20/06/2023 at 19:05, Stu said:

I suppose we really need a ‘Show us your Tak on a Vixen mount’ thread as it seems a popular combo 😉.

I wonder how long I’ll get away with this lovely pair in the corner of the lounge? 😱🤣

Just need some of those clear skies back to give it a go, ideal for some lunar observing.

 

I think it's basically impossible to put together a more beautiful setup than this.

Yep... You did it.

[moriniboy]

Not sure if I have posted this before, my Vixen Super Polaris FL-80S with replacement Baader diamond steeltrack focuser.

 

[The60mmKid]

1 minute ago, moriniboy said:

Not sure if I have posted this before, my Vixen Super Polaris FL-80S with replacement Baader diamond steeltrack focuser.

 

That looks great, and I really like those focusers. Did you require an adapter to fit the focuser?

[moriniboy]

5 minutes ago, The60mmKid said:

That looks great, and I really like those focusers. Did you require an adapter to fit the focuser?

Yes, got a local guy to machine it for me as nothing was available in the Baader catalogue.