First (Day)Light with Vixen VMC200L and a full disc with 140. 2021-06-15 26% Waxing

[WestCoastCannuck]

Have had two runs with the Vixen now, but yet to really power it up.   Promising though I think.   This from the 15th, in daylight after work.    Was all packed and finished well before dark.  (Early AM start to day).    Seeing was forecast to be good and it was.  My results this night at least as good as after sunset was on the 16th.  (for another post)

This was from my driveway.   First up, prime shots with Vixen VMC200L ,  290MM camera. and IR742 filter.  Details pretty good I think?   IQ suffers a little from the low contrast daytime raw data, but I am pretty happy with these otherwise after processing!   All images best 450 of 10000.

Jury still out on Vixen....  its a bear to focus,  but I think it might be a keeper.   We shall see.  Eventually, I will give up either the Vixen or the MAK probably - only two spots on mount!  haha  Vixen cools down WAY faster than MAK, and adjusts quicker with temp changes.  That might be a deciding factor.  No rush.  I will do a few shootouts. 

 

I am kind of messing about with different looks....  sorry if the post seems a bit scattered.  LOL

 

And finally, my best single frame shot with the APM 140  at prime with an IR742 filter and 183MM camera.  Best 450 of 3000 frames.

 

Clear skies!!  Hope some enjoy!

 

Mike

 

 

 

[Roy Foreman]

Looks nice and sharp considering the conditions. Well done.

[neil phillips]

Its great to have scope choices. Unless a scope underperforms. For its apeture. Worth keeping.  In my book.

At least use them all often. and digest the results. Before selling. In time with your experiance you should know what scopes are doing it for you. Hard to tell from afar the verdict on the Vixen. Even you dont sound certain yet (and its in your hands)  The early results suggest at least no glaring flaws. You mention not easy to focus. I have often had underperformers that were difficult to focus. Though of course other things can influence this, cooldown conditions ect quite a lot actually. Thats where the taking time to digest comes in.  Personally from what i am seeing here it looks great to me. lots of fine detail. Nothing feels off.

[WestCoastCannuck]

6 hours ago, Roy Foreman said:

Looks nice and sharp considering the conditions. Well done.

Thanks Roy!

 

6 hours ago, neil phillips said:

Its great to have scope choices. Unless a scope underperforms. For its apeture. Worth keeping.  In my book.

At least use them all often. and digest the results. Before selling. In time with your experiance you should know what scopes are doing it for you. Hard to tell from afar the verdict on the Vixen. Even you dont sound certain yet (and its in your hands)  The early results suggest at least no glaring flaws. You mention not easy to focus. I have often had underperformers that were difficult to focus. Though of course other things can influence this, cooldown conditions ect quite a lot actually. Thats where the taking time to digest comes in.  Personally from what i am seeing here it looks great to me. lots of fine detail. Nothing feels off.

Thanks Neil!   It looks like the scope is a keeper but need more than one daytime session and one evening!   ....  about the focusing, its the focuser that is the problem!  lol.   Single speed R and P.   If I keep it,  I will end up ponying up the ridiculous cost of upgrading it to a dual speed....  $250usd.  Not a chance finding one used.    I am finding the images very good so far!

[Trevor N]

Looks very good so far Mike. Lots of detail there. It’s always a worry at first light. I’ve had a couple of lemons  over the years which is a big disappointment. Equally well I’ve jumped to conclusions too quickly and the problem has been a run of bad seeing. You will soon decide which scope to keep after a few sessions. Double speed focusers do seem very expensive for what they are in a similar way to most of the accessories unfortunately

 

[WestCoastCannuck]

On 19/06/2021 at 14:15, Trevor N said:

Looks very good so far Mike. Lots of detail there. It’s always a worry at first light. I’ve had a couple of lemons  over the years which is a big disappointment. Equally well I’ve jumped to conclusions too quickly and the problem has been a run of bad seeing. You will soon decide which scope to keep after a few sessions. Double speed focusers do seem very expensive for what they are in a similar way to most of the accessories unfortunately

 

Thanks much Trevor!  Yeah..  need more time with the Vixen but pretty optimistic!  I like it.  :)