Is this not a thing of beauty?

[vineyard]

Hello,

Sorry if this is the wrong sub-channel, but I thought I'd share this photo.  An old Vixen Super-Polaris 102M on an original SP mount and original HAL-130 (?) tripod.  I got this from my elderly father (he's still going, but this gear is a bit bulky for him now - so I swapped him an old Vixen Porta on a Japanese surveyor's tripod (original versions both) and my little Primaluce 72ED as those are a bit easier to handle hopefully).

Looking fwd to taking it for a spin - strictly visual tonight

Stay safe all,

Vin

 

[andrew s]

Luck lad. Yes but you might damage a few plants when you use it.

Regards Andrew 

[vineyard]

Aye v lucky to be able to play with that.

And the missus would indeed kill me on the plants.  Happily some of the wee plant-lings (or whatever they're called) are put indoors at night until its warmer so I have a bit more space (wait until the tomatoes grow up though, forget it then - but the nights are short then anyway, says he consoling himself).

Stay safe & cheers!

[John]

Lovely scope !

I used to have one except mine was black and had the Bresser branding. It was a Vixen SP102M underneath though

[heliumstar]

Dad won't like that puny little 72ed

I had 80mm version both old and new disguise of this Vixen. Great scopes but unfortunately too long for my narrow balcony. Vixen mounts are smooth as a butter as well.

Edited May 14, 2020 by heliumstar
typo

[mikeDnight]

1 hour ago, vineyard said:

Hello,

Sorry if this is the wrong sub-channel, but I thought I'd share this photo.  An old Vixen Super-Polaris 102M on an original SP mount and original HAL-130 (?) tripod.  I got this from my elderly father (he's still going, but this gear is a bit bulky for him now - so I swapped him an old Vixen Porta on a Japanese surveyor's tripod (original versions both) and my little Primaluce 72ED as those are a bit easier to handle hopefully).

Looking fwd to taking it for a spin - strictly visual tonight

Stay safe all,

Vin

 

A glorious vintage vixen is definitely a thing of beauty to me Vin. Im sure your dad loved it with all his heart, and im pretty certain you will to. 

[Peter Drew]

Lovely telescope, I have one as well.    🙂

[Rusted]

I have an old 90M f/11 OTA presently "resting." [On its nose.]

I wondered about the container behind the telescope in the image:

Doing an oil change?

[vineyard]

On 15/05/2020 at 09:09, Rusted said:

I wondered about the container behind the telescope in the image:

Doing an oil change?

Ha, that would be beyond me Rusted 😂.  If you mean the green & white thing, that's something my wife got for growing vegetables.  Light & water get in, but no snails or slugs which would otherwise feast.

The scope itself was wonderful to use btw.  Pin-sharp stars edge to edge, w no discernible colour fringes from what I could tell.  I tried it w 40mm plossl, 25mm Zeiss, 18.2mm Delite & 13mm Delite (ie, EPs good enough to have shown up any weaknesses in the optics) and no problems.

In fact the scope showed me a problem I had w my old UHC-S filter!  I had put that in first just to see, and the stars kept having a definite red shadow.  I thought oh this must be the achromat, but it still seemed too much.  I realised then it might be the UHC-S b/c the glass in that shakes a bit.  Took it out and the red tinge disappeared.

Spent the rest of about 2 hrs just star-hopping, and letting stars just emerge.  At the end, split one of the Leonis twins (I think it was Zeta but I can't be sure) at 13mm, and then put a 2.5x power mate in to take it to 5mm (200x) and perfect round twins moving fast across the FOV.

A really lovely scope - my go-to visual now.

A bit long so I think putting an extension will be necessary.  You can see the metal tripod takes about 2 secs to still, so perhaps a wooden tripod at some point in the future.  But the scope itself was wow.

I think I'm going to use the SP mount as my alt-az too.  Very very smooth!

Stay safe all,

Vin

(PS @Rusted - that was a great name for that prominence you came up with 'Tower of Destruction'?)

[Rusted]

Good write-up! 

The Head Gardener suggested you hang the "Vegiebogie" under the tripod to get it off the ground.

It might help to damp [off] the vibrations.

[Nakedgun]

On 14/05/2020 at 11:32, vineyard said:

Hello,

Sorry if this is the wrong sub-channel, but I thought I'd share this photo.  An old Vixen Super-Polaris 102M on an original SP mount and original HAL-130 (?) tripod.  I got this from my elderly father (he's still going, but this gear is a bit bulky for him now - so I swapped him an old Vixen Porta on a Japanese surveyor's tripod (original versions both) and my little Primaluce 72ED as those are a bit easier to handle hopefully).

Looking fwd to taking it for a spin - strictly visual tonight

Stay safe all,

Vin

 

Nice upgrade, to be sure! The tripod is not the HAL-130, but its model number does not come to mind, just now.

 

[chiltonstar]

Lovely scope - I still have something very similar, but my mount is tattier through 20+ years use.

Interesting that you've got the head set as alt-az rather than equatorial.

Chris

[Stu]

5 hours ago, Nakedgun said:

Nice upgrade, to be sure! The tripod is not the HAL-130, but its model number does not come to mind, just now.

I think It is an AL-150. Nice and lightweight but not as sturdy as the HAL-130.

https://www.vixenoptics.com/Vixen-AL150-Porta-Tall-Tripod-p/25175.htm

Definitely a lovely scope. I have a couple of Vixens, a 102 f10 in my PST mod and a 102mm f8.8 fluorite. I really should try the the f10 out at night to see what it’s like, very good I should think.

[vineyard]

1 hour ago, chiltonstar said:

Lovely scope - I still have something very similar, but my mount is tattier through 20+ years use.

Interesting that you've got the head set as alt-az rather than equatorial.

Chris

I already have a couple of EQ setup mounts, and I prefer this as alt-az to my old WO EazyTouch (the Beat Kohler version w AOK also branded on it). That mount is really solid & smooth too, but I find the counterweight arm on the SP a better ergonomic design for me.  Also I think the manual worms (?) on the SP are a bit off and so if I tried it as EQ I don't think it would work v well.

33 minutes ago, Stu said:

I think It is an AL-150. Nice and lightweight but not as sturdy as the HAL-130.

https://www.vixenoptics.com/Vixen-AL150-Porta-Tall-Tripod-p/25175.htm

Definitely a lovely scope. I have a couple of Vixens, a 102 f10 in my PST mod and a 102mm f8.8 fluorite. I really should try the the f10 out at night to see what it’s like, very good I should think.

That would be a nice head to head. I guess the FL would "win" but it would be interesting to see the relative strengths & weaknesses.  Pls share findings if you do do this!

Stay safe all