Vixen Great Polaris EQ Mount upgrade

[Crispy5573]

Hi all newbie looking for advice. 

I just bought a Vixen Great Polaris mount ( the old Japanese green hammered finish version) and I would like to upgrade it to GOTO . 

Any suggestions on options and kit suppliers would be appreciated 

Thanks 

[Sunshine]

Sweet mount! i have one too and love it like a newborn, i don't have a goto system for it but, i know that Skywatcher makes a system that will fit the GP mount. Below i will include the website for the skywatcher system, the Company Seven website which supplies drives for this and other Vixen mount and, a thread from CN where this same question was posed. It seems the Skywatcher synscan would be the solution which ticks off all your boxes but, have a look at the CN thread to see if someone brought up any issues with adapting the Synscan to the GP mount. On the FLO website (link below) it says that it fits Vixen GP mounts.

Good Luck! great find, the Vixen GP is smooth as silk and built like a tank.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/astronomy-mount-upgrade-kits/synscan-pro-goto-version-3-upgrade-kit-for-eq5.html

http://www.company7.com/vixen/mounts/drives.html

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/608722-synscan-upgrade-to-vixen-gp-thoughts/

Edited December 8, 2020 by Sunshine

[John]

The Skywatcher EQ5 GOTO kit, mentioned above, should fit the mount. I had a Skywatcher dual axis drive system on my GP and it fitted and worked just fine.

You might also need to fit a pole finder scope if your GP does not already have one fitted.

If you want to be braver and at (possibly) less cost, you might look out for an old Meade LXD55 motor / controller set, which can also be made to fit the GP.

 

 

[Ibbo!]

I fitted a EQ5 Go-To kit to mine when the SS2000 gave up the ghost.

Quite easy to fit and works well.

The fit could be a bit better but you cannot see it in the dark.

[Crispy5573]

Many thanks to all you who have replied so helpful  I might even try to convert it to belt driven ! But one step at a time eh 😀. Thanks again I'll post when I get the kit.