Show us your Vixen Scope or mount

[Franklin]

24 minutes ago, F15Rules said:

A wonderful and engrossing read,Tim!

Thanks for posting.

Yes, the Italian site Dark Star has some really interesting articles, here's another on the history of Vixen

DARK STAR astronomy, instrumental tests, telescopes, astronomical mounts, planetary photography, deep sky - VIXEN: story of a myth (dark-star.it)

There's even a picture of someone's Atlux ED150 from closer to home!

Edited October 26, 2023 by Franklin

[Fedele]

VMC260 & Maxbright II
VMC on SXD2

Baader Adapter
 

[radiofm74]

New old scope day! After I posted on here that I was on the lookout for a Vixen doublet of 4" or more, a member of the forum – the nicest chap of all, whose name I won't disclose until he gives me permission – contacted me and we agreed on the sale of this beautiful ED102S + GPDX combo:

We've yet to sort out together a couple of details to make the mount fully functional, but the OTA is wonderful in every respect. I am currently using it on my HEQ5 Pro, and since the drawtube accepts M60 threads, and I had the original visual back of my SD81S lying about, I've been able to put a 2" diagonal on, adding wide field capabilities to the scope. Indeed, my William Optics 40mm SWAN eyepiece – which showed too much aberrations  in my faster refractors – is perfect for this scope. Here's the setup as I am using it:

Fun little fact, it's precisely one of the two ED102s that Roger Vine used for his review of the model. You may recognise the faded "ED sticker" and the mismatched rings: http://www.scopeviews.co.uk/VixenED102S.htm 

Needless to say, that review was a big factor in getting me interested in this model in the first place! The tube and glass are in wonderful condition:

First light was two nights ago, after suffering the customary meteorological sanction for acquiring new gear. I had bad seeing and so-so transparency gradually improving to good under the Bortle 9 sky of Milano. This is where the scope will reside for 99% of the time: it is to be my dedicated lunar, planetary and double star urban scope. I tested it accordingly. But first off, the physical impression is that the scope is handsome and, well, huge for my standards. When the HEQ5 was slewing to target I felt like I was in a professional observatory  In my cramped little balcony, I think it's as big a scope as I can swing, and it will need a half pillar for added comfort. Mechanically everything is A-OK: the focuser is simple but fully satisfactory and I find that the f9 focal ratio makes finding optimal focus easier than I am accustomed to. 

Planetary observation was inconclusive due to seeing – but very promising, with Saturn showing a hint of planetary bands and a well-incised ring shadow, and Jupiter proudly displaying its larger belts and zones and in fleeting moments turning tiger-striped. Lunar was positively fun despite, again, very bad seeing: I could enjoy lots of detail in the tiny sliver of lunar surface that was not yet fully illuminated, including the area around Eddington and Krafft (Catena Krafft was well visible at very low power), and around Grimaldi and Riccioli. No false color to be seen even at close-to-full illumination. The real blast was hopping around for doubles: colourful ones showed me the fantastic transmission of the glass (Albireo, Almach, Delta Cephei); the Double Double was a beautifully clean split in spite of turbulence, as was lovely unequal double Sigma Cas. Achird, Polaris and the Engagement Ring, beautifully matched Mesarthim… it was just a joy wandering around. As a last treat, full Moon and city lights notwithstanding, I put on the big eyepiece and went for a peep at the Pleiades: the cluster was perfectly framed and very, very beautiful with pinpoint stars all across. Same for the Double Cluster, less bright but very detailed and with stunning colours in its red giants: bright DSOs will be fun even under metropolitan sky with this scope! The next night, yesterday, I had the opportunity to take it out again and enjoy a bit of the lunar eclipse – first time I saw one through a telescope and it was fitting that "Big Vic" should be the instrument used. With the Moon now at full, with a small part of it in Earth's shadow, I could really appreciate the albedo features – bright craters and rays, dark maria – and the lack of false colour.

I think that it will be a lifer scope. Over time, there are details I want to improve, gradually. In order of importance:

- First and foremost, of course, I need to get its matched mount up and running: the seller is busying himself with sending the missing parts, so that's just a matter of days

- I'll be actively looking out for a Vixen Green half pillar. 

- I need to get a 140mm dust cap for the dust shield, and the internal 46.5 mm cap is borrowed from a scope that I'm selling so I'll need to source one… they're hard to get by!

- The mismatched rings are OK, but if I find a set of green 115mm rings, I'll pounce

- It would be nice to have the original 7x50 finder, and in the meantime I'll replace the Baader red dot (nice, but gets a little in the way) with a Vixen XY red dot

If any of you has an idea where I could get these hard-to-get-by parts, I'm all ears! But the scope is already fully usable, and I intend to use it on every coming clear night ;D

Edited October 29, 2023 by radiofm74

[Stu]

Looks fabulous @radiofm74 👍, looking forward to hearing more reports as soon as you are fully up and running 👍. I have a GP-DX too, would use it more if the weather would only improve!!

[Franklin]

6 hours ago, radiofm74 said:

If any of you has an idea where I could get these hard-to-get-by parts, I'm all ears!

Yahoo auctions Japan on BUYEE is your best bet finding those things, they all come up from time to time.

[Franklin]

8 hours ago, radiofm74 said:

this beautiful ED102S

Snap! mine is a white/blue one from around 2003, it's performance is not far behind the FL102S.

 

Edited October 29, 2023 by Franklin

[radiofm74]

1 minute ago, Franklin said:

Snap! mine is a white/blue one from around 2002, it's performance is not far behind the FL102S.

 

That's a magnificent scope Franklin! I'm trying to reconstruct the timeline of the Ed102S… all I find is rather generic info such as "in the mid- to late-nineties…". The only solid info I have is:

- My specimen with the large "ED" sticker is the second version of the ED102S – and if I'm correct, the first version was f8.8 and this one is f9

- In the 2003 Vixen catalogue the ED102S is no longer offered, and the range of f7.7 ED81, ED103 and ED115 is presented.

- Your scope would suggest that around 2002 or earlier Vixen moved to the white trim.

Am I far wrong in thinking that my large-sticker, green hammerite tube should date from somewhere around 1997-2001?

Ah… Sunday time curiosities ;D

[Franklin]

16 minutes ago, radiofm74 said:

The only solid info I have is:

I have a 1997 Vixen catalogue that lists the ED102S F9 and marks it as "New", it is shown next to the FL102S F9. Both scopes continued till 2002 and in 2003 they were superseded by the ED103S F7.7.

There was never an F8.8 ED102S, that was the earlier (1985-1991) FL102S with SP mount. 1992 saw the introduction of the F9 FL102S along with the GP mount.

There is a picture of your scope with the same stickers as yours in the Vixen 2002 catalogue. 2003 was the year Vixen changed their colour scheme to match the release of the Sphinx range of mounts(blue/white instead of the classic hammered green).

I think with all these assumptions there is bound to be considerable overlap whilst new products are released and old stock is still being sold off.

[Franklin]

Here you go, pages from the 1997 and 2002 Vixen catalogues, I think this 5 year period is when your scope was out (mine was from 2003 and very short lived as the ED103 took over not long after).

Also note that in 1997 the ED range consisted of the 102mm and 80mm only, yet by 2002 Vixen had added the faster ED102SS F6.5, ED114SS F5.3 and the very rare ED130SS F6.6.

It's also interesting to note that in 1985 when the Fluorite scopes were released on the SP mounts they came in 55mm, 70mm, 80mm, 90mm and 102mm sizes but by 1992 the little 55mm fluorite had been dropped and by 1997 just the FL80S F8 and the legendary FL102S F9 remained.

Vixen pulled the plug on them all by 2003 with the release of the ED103S which was the predecessor of the current SD103S.

 

Edited October 29, 2023 by Franklin

[Franklin]

8 hours ago, radiofm74 said:

I need to get a 140mm dust cap for the dust shield,

The ED102S, like the 102M, had a lens cap that push fitted over the lens cell inside the dew shield. 

[John]

4 minutes ago, Franklin said:

The ED102S, like the 102M, had a lens cap that push fitted over the lens cell inside the dew shield. 

Same as my ED102SS 🙂

[Franklin]

2 minutes ago, John said:

Same as my ED102SS 

Nice! The picture shows your ED102SS F6.5 with the 2" focuser in white and the three fixing bolts. This puts it at about the same time as my ED102S F9 (2003) which has a blue label on the dew shield only and no red Vixen decal as yours does. I thought the vintage Vixen decal design was from the earlier SP days? Do you think yours was added at a later date?

Trying to make sense of Vixens production timeline can be quite confusing😁.

[radiofm74]

1 hour ago, Franklin said:

Here you go, pages from the 1997 and 2002 Vixen catalogues, I think this 5 year period is when your scope was out (mine was from 2003 and very short lived as the ED103 took over not long after).

Also note that in 1997 the ED range consisted of the 102mm and 80mm only, yet by 2002 Vixen had added the faster ED102SS F6.5, ED114SS F5.3 and the very rare ED130SS F6.6.

It's also interesting to note that in 1985 when the Fluorite scopes were released on the SP mounts they came in 55mm, 70mm, 80mm, 90mm and 102mm sizes but by 1992 the little 55mm fluorite had been dropped and by 1997 just the FL80S F8 and the legendary FL102S F9 remained.

Vixen pulled the plug on them all by 2003 with the release of the ED103S which was the predecessor of the current SD103S.

 

Thanks Franklin, wonderful!

[bosun21]

5 minutes ago, Franklin said:

Trying to make sense of Vixens production timeline can be quite confusing😁.

I think you are doing a very good job already. Your knowledge of the Vixen scopes and mounts is impressive. I've been loitering on this thread too long already. Far too much temptation.

[John]

6 minutes ago, Franklin said:

Nice! The picture shows your ED102SS F6.5 with the 2" focuser in white and the three fixing bolts. This puts it at about the same time as my ED102S F9 (2003) which has a blue label on the dew shield only and no red Vixen decal as yours does. I thought the vintage Vixen decal design was from the earlier SP days? Do you think yours was added at a later date?

Trying to make sense of Vixens production timeline can be quite confusing😁.

My ED102SS originally had a Vixen green focuser.  This was fine for a few years but gradually needed more and more adjustment to keep it smooth so eventually I replaced it with a Moonlite dual speed. After a couple more years I wanted to return the ED102SS to closer to it's original state so I picked up a focuser that had been on an ED103 which was exactly the same as the original apart from being white and having different shaped focuser knobs. So at least it is an "all Vixen" scope again now 🙂

My scope dates from around 2000 I think. It was imported to the UK by an SGL member, then owned by another SGL member for a while before I became it's owner in June 2007.  

It survived falling off a mount onto concrete slabs a few years back. The only damage was to the dew shield and the diagonal. I replaced the latter and repaired the former. The optics were completely undamaged and the collimation unchanged (it's still spot on). Telescopes make a horrible sound when they fall onto concrete though as do their owners seconds later !😬

 

[Franklin]

2 minutes ago, John said:

My ED102SS originally had a Vixen green focuser.  This was fine for a few years but gradually needed more and more adjustment to keep it smooth so eventually I replaced it with a Moonlite dual speed. After a couple more years I wanted to return the ED102SS to closer to it's original state so I picked up a focuser that had been on an ED103 which was exactly the same as the original apart from being white and having different shaped focuser knobs. So at least it is an "all Vixen" scope again now 🙂

My scope dates from around 2000 I think.

That explains that then, the ED102SS is in the 2002 catalogue with green focuser and GP mount. The later SD models all have the screw-in focuser type.

[radiofm74]

Well, if I may contribute more corporate literature, here is a brochure depicting EXACTLY my scope, mount and motor controller. The filename reads "ED-S II" and the webpage displaying it dates it at 1999. Given that the graphics displayed in the 1997 and 2002 catalogues above are subtly different (no red "Vixen" logo near the focuser, no oversized "ED" sticker) I will assume that my big boy dates from around '99 and leave it at that ;D

[John]

I used to have a Sky & Telescope in depth review from 2000 by Alan Dyer comparing the Vixen 102M F/9.8 achromat, the ED102SS and the FL102S. I can't seem to find the darn thing now though 🤔

 

[John]

This came as a bit of a shock when I stumbled across it on another forum - there was a short period when Vixen made some models for Tasco including the legendary FL102 F/8.8:

 

[mikeDnight]

1 hour ago, Franklin said:

Here you go, pages from the 1997 and 2002 Vixen catalogues, I think this 5 year period is when your scope was out (mine was from 2003 and very short lived as the ED103 took over not long after).

Also note that in 1997 the ED range consisted of the 102mm and 80mm only, yet by 2002 Vixen had added the faster ED102SS F6.5, ED114SS F5.3 and the very rare ED130SS F6.6.

It's also interesting to note that in 1985 when the Fluorite scopes were released on the SP mounts they came in 55mm, 70mm, 80mm, 90mm and 102mm sizes but by 1992 the little 55mm fluorite had been dropped and by 1997 just the FL80S F8 and the legendary FL102S F9 remained.

Vixen pulled the plug on them all by 2003 with the release of the ED103S which was the predecessor of the current SD103S.

 

That's a blast from the past. I lusted over those pic's for months on end while I saved every spare penny I could so I could buy myself a FL102. Just looking at those beautiful telescopes still makes my heart race. I imagined that once I had the money I could go to a telescope shop (remember those?), and buy one off the shelf. A FL102 with GP mount with AL tripod, two or three LV eyepieces, finderscope, and RA drive was in the region of £2,200.00. For me it would have been the ultimate set-up. Unfortunately Orion Optics were the sole Vixen importer, and they couldn't have cared less! And that's the only reason I turned to Takahashi, but you couldn't get a 102 fluorite Tak on a Tak mount for anywhere close to the incredible Vixen price. I still believe Vixen offered the best refractor deals of all time.

[mikeDnight]

12 minutes ago, John said:

This came as a bit of a shock when I stumbled across it on another forum - there was a short period when Vixen made some models for Tasco including the legendary FL102 F/8.8:

 

I COULD LIVE WITH THAT! 😊

[John]

Spurred by this thread I've just put my Vixen ED102SS out to have a look at Saturn 😁

[Franklin]

6 hours ago, mikeDnight said:

That's a blast from the past. I lusted over those pic's for months on end

I still do! In fact my other half thinks I'm a bit of a weirdo because I don't keep "mucky mags" under the bed, just Vixen Telescope catalogues!😁

Edited October 30, 2023 by Franklin

[John]

3 hours ago, John said:

Spurred by this thread I've just put my Vixen ED102SS out to have a look at Saturn 😁

Jupiter now showing nicely at 140x 🙂

[Franklin]

I often see posts on here and other forums where people are asking if anyone can identify or date an old Vixen scope. Since buying a secondhand 102M back in the 80's I've been searching for this information myself and have accumulated quite a number of back catalogues and other snippets of material. Really early Vixen is mainly achromats and the more recent Vixen offerings have been much the same for many years but the really interesting stuff dates to the mid 80's through till the early 2000's and it's this 20 year period of Vixen innovation and the plethora of different designs which became of it that seems to create all the confusion. So as it's been cloudy here since forever I thought I'd try to gather up some info and put it down in a table for reference. All the info here has been sourced from old catalogues, so take it with a pinch of salt, as there is bound to be quite a bit of overlap between the release of new products and the selling off of old stock.

 

 

 

Copy of Vixen refractor timeline. - Sheet1.pdf

Edited October 31, 2023 by Franklin