Rusty old Vixen Super Polaris

[skybadger]

There used to be a product called goto4all that used the Meade handcontroller and some of its  drive parts. That had a belt delivery and provided belt tensioning. Worked well and was a good replacement for a broken vixen handset. 

There are numerous belt adaptations of the SP on the onstep wiki to look at.

 

[Pixies]

On 06/06/2021 at 08:12, skybadger said:

There used to be a product called goto4all that used the Meade handcontroller and some of its  drive parts. That had a belt delivery and provided belt tensioning. Worked well and was a good replacement for a broken vixen handset. 

There are numerous belt adaptations of the SP on the onstep wiki to look at.

 

New/old stuff has arrived:

The RA output from the controller is dodgy, but I might replace with Arduino goodies.

Also - old bent rusty on left, old straight clean on right:

[Pixies]

Have posted something in the DIY forum about repairing the DMD-3 controller:

 

[Pixies]

On 02/06/2021 at 18:19, Pixies said:

 

I've probably been a bit hasty in my dismissal of the tripod. It is missing a few bits and pieces and the spreader is rusting away. It definitely requires more work than the mount itself. I do fancy a wooden one, but my woodworking skills fall far behind my metalworking. If I can't fix the legs, I'll see if I can fit the head to a wooden tripod of some kind.

This has all taken a bit of a back-seat since the summer, but the run of cloudy nights prompted me to sort out the tripod. It was a little rusty (very in some places) and some hardware was missing or broken.

 

 

I managed to find modern marine A4 stainless steel replacements for all the nuts and bolts, etc. A replacement for a broken plastic spreader bracket was fabricated by a friend into 3D printing.

The rusty spreader was sanded-down and repainted with Hammerite. The 'hinge' bolts cleaned up. I also re-painted the white parts with primer, top-coat and sealed.

  

 

 

 

et voila (all scrubbed-up with 2 coats of Turtle Wax): 

 

I can source the old triangular spreader tray, that is fixed with wing-nuts. I just need to try and find the best-suited one so that I don't need to drill holes. Bresser UK are proving very helpful.

 

Going to start on the mount next week. I might have a source from some SP spare parts.

 

Edited January 7, 2022 by Pixies

[mikeDnight]

On 01/06/2021 at 23:31, Pixies said:

I bought a secondhand Vixen Custom-80M refractor a few days ago. I wasn't after a mount or tripod, but this came with such. Unfortunately it appears to have been stored outside or somewhere not very dry. The scope is in great condition, though. The fact that this is effectively free means I can happily try to fix it and smarten it up as a summer project. When done, I can keep it or sell it on. 

The tripod looks pretty much junk. However, the actual mount appears to work perfectly but is suffering mainly cosmetic issues. All screws/bolts/grubs appear corroded on external faces. Any chrome (slo-mo controls, counterweight-bar, etc.) is peeling.

Needing fixed: The RA slo-mo rod is bent, as is the counterweight bar. The rod end is missing too. The RA clutch lever is snapped.

 

So dear reader - do you know of any service manuals or sources of spare parts? Do you have any tips or experience with such work that you are willing to share? I've seen a previous post (from many years ago) which has an exploded parts diagram. I don't imagine there are any sources of spares in Europe, let alone the UK.

Also - any suggestions for a suitable tripod?

Cheers

Neil.

 

I'm a bit late in the day for this thread, and haven't read all the posts yet, but I can assure you the tripod isn't junk. Although light weight, the Vixen tripods are all metal and seriously solid. I need to read everything now just to make sure the tripod still survives. 🇯🇵

[mikeDnight]

Well you can ignore my previous panic post Pixies. I'm glad this old classic found its way into your hands. It looks beautiful! 

[Pixies]

Quick question for any owners of said tripod. The bolts that fix the legs:

They're just plain bolts that hold the legs against the top plate, screwing into threaded holes in the plate itself. No washers were present on it originally.

There is very little adjustment possible, other than loosening them enough for desired movement, but then there would be nothing to stop them loosening with use. 

Is this the way it was designed? I assume then they could be tightened when the tripod was set up to reduce wobble and loosened again when packing away? If that's the case I might see if I can get a through-bolt and large winged nut to make this a little simpler. Otherwise, is it just a case of living with a bit of wobble and occasionally tightening then up a wee bit? Perhaps felt washers would help.

[lenscap]

1 hour ago, Pixies said:

If that's the case I might see if I can get a through-bolt and large winged nut to make this a little simpler.

Yes a hex-head through-bolt that fits the hexagonal recess, with a wing nut and a steel or ally flat washer (to protect the paint finish) on the other end will do the job. That's what my (cloned) tripods have. those socket-head bolts don't look original. Don't think you need felt washers.

[Pixies]

23 hours ago, lenscap said:

Yes a hex-head through-bolt that fits the hexagonal recess, with a wing nut and a steel or ally flat washer (to protect the paint finish) on the other end will do the job. That's what my (cloned) tripods have. those socket-head bolts don't look original. Don't think you need felt washers.

Thanks. Looking closely at some google images, it appears to originally have a long cap-headed bolt that passes through the hub, and a captive nut. As the holes in the hub are threaded for the bolt, this would mean as you turn the bolt, it will tighten both ends. If I used a captive bolt and tightened with a nut, only the nut-side would tighten. 

I'll get these parts when I order the hardware to replace the rusty parts on the mount. That's this weeks' job!