From an FS128 to an SD115S..

[F15Rules]

Well... please bear with me, as the story that follows is true, and illustrates just how,  sometimes, a small event can lead to something very unexpected!

..after a somewhat stressed, hectic and overall exhilarating past week, the deals are done. Trinity, the Tak FS128 has now gone to her new keeper, someone who owned one 20 years ago and has regretted it ever since ( no, not @MikeDnight!😂..), and Superfox, formerly Tim's (@Franklin) wonderful Vixen SD115S, has today come to Lincolnshire..🤩

I had been contemplating the unthinkable (ie selling the FS128) for around 6 months, due to a combination of truly awful autumn and winter weather, slow but definite deterioration of eyesight, lack of "Mojo", and physical bulk of the FS128 setup. 

I've mentioned more on this in the recent thread about the sale of the Tak, but suffice to say, I had by Christmas more or less decided to downsize a bit, it was just a question of when.. I just needed that "nudge" to get on and do it. 

As far back as last March, when Tim (@Franklin) revealed his lovely new Vixen SD115S, I had decided that for me, I could only move from a Tak to another Tak..or to a big Vixen.. I've owned 2 fabulous 4" ED103S's, one of which, Foxy, is now lovingly owned by my good friend Steve (@Saganite).

The decision as to which way to go wasn't too difficult, as Takahashi only do the TSA 120 which is too expensive new, and quite heavy, and a Triplet (I've always been wary of Triplets, probably unnecessarily so) due to the 3 elements, possible expensive misalignments, etc..and not much if any of a weight saving versus the FS128.

The 100mm Tak doublets are optically superb, but I didn't want to drop down from a full 5" apo to a skinny 4 incher, (NO offence to owners, I just like a somewhat larger tube such as the oversized, but quite lightweight tubes the older Vixens and FS Taks had).

Takahashi make lovely 4" scopes but I've always loved Vixens, right back to the 1970s/80s when I drooled over their legendary SP102 F10 achromats on equally legendary GP mounts - good quality astro gear for the masses!

The problem was, the SD115S (the largest Vixen refractor they currently offer), was and is as rare as hen's teeth in the UK, (rarer, it seems than FS128s!) and very expensive new (not far short of £3k)..at which point many buyers would automatically go for a Tak, as much for the resale values as much as the optical quality.

Anyway, whizz forward to last Monday 29th January..Steve messaged me to say that Tim (@Franklin) had put up for sale his Vixen LVW set..still highly rated oculars (rightly so).. so, Steve knew that I'd wanted for some years to get some more LVWs, especially the 22mm, and he wanted a 3.5mm, so he said I should contact Tim asap before someone bought the set!

I pondered for a short while then asked Tim by message if the set was still available, and if so, would he would hold it for me for a few days while I put my FS128 up for sale. Tim very kindly said yes, but that Steve had offered first on the 3.5mm, so he felt he should have first refusal. I was very happy with that, since without Steve's heads up I'd never have even known they were available!

Moving on. On Monday I took the plunge and put the FS128 up for sale on SGL. In the meantime I remembered I'd actually seen an SD115S for sale on UKABS a few weeks back...but in Italy, so I hadnt then pursued it.

I found the advert and opened a message dialogue with the seller to confirm if it was still available.. I must he say is a lovely guy and has a longstanding history of problem free sales to the UK. He confirmed it was/is still for sale, and that he would offer  free shipping to the UK, too.

Anyway, just as I was convincing myself that the Italian SD115S was worth taking the risk of shipping from Italy, I had a message via SGL from Tim..

To my astonishment, Tim said he'd been thinking a lot about his plans for this year, and that, if I was interested, he would offer to sell me his SD115S (11 months old!), and his LVW set (minus the 3.5mm going to Steve).. and he would deliver them all in person to my home !! I was genuinely shocked..and delighted!

I was fortunate enough to have 2 firm offers to buy the FS128, plus another seriously interested party, within c 7 or 8 hours of advertising, so I was able to properly accept Tim's offer..

I also contacted the Italian seller in fairness to him..he was superb, and said that the newer scope, located in the UK, was too good a chance to miss, and he positively encouraged me to proceed!

So, there it is. I have now wound up with, for me, probably the best possible replacement for my Tak that I could have hoped for. And I will always be grateful to Steve for that heads up, and to Tim for selling me such a wonderful bundle of astro kit!

Thanks for staying with my ramblings..here are more photos of Superfox, and I"ll post much more on the scope as I get used to it in the coming weeks...Weather permitting!!😊

Dave

Edited February 5 by F15Rules
Photos added, typos

[JeremyS]

Very nice Dave. Have you selected your first light target?

[F15Rules]

Thanks Jeremy..

Not yet, but I'll probably start with 3 of my favourites as viewed when I last used the FS128 for the last time, ie M42, The Pleiades and the Double Cluster in Perseus. And Rigel and Alnitak doubles.

Dave

[Mr Spock]

Lovely scope and eyepieces 👍

[MalcolmM]

Beautiful scope! And sitting on a classic equatorial, it really looks the business. 

Malcolm 

[RobertI]

I enjoyed reading the backstory to this wonderful acquisition - may you have many happy years together under the stars.

Edited February 5 by RobertI

[F15Rules]

Thanks Robert, much appreciated. I feel very blessed and fortunate!

Dave

[bosun21]

What an interesting backstory of your new acquisition Dave. Lovely looking telescope and I’m sure will have the optics to match. Looking forward to reading your first light. Congratulations.

 Ian 

[F15Rules]

Thanks Ian, glad you enjoyed the story😉.

I'm really looking forward to first light, but I fear it may be delayed for a bit looking at the weather forecast..so my apologies to all for that!🤦‍♂️😂

Dave

[Telescope40]

Dave. This has been a great read. The Vixen has already hit the mark with you, if I may be so bold. 
As others have said I’m looking forward to your adventures with “Superfox”. 
 I’m immediately thinking it will be giving you as much viewing pleasure as you got from the Tak and maybe more so given your reasons for your very measured change of kit. 

BTW - my 128 is staying put with me and I’m still grateful for  your help when I was looking to become its custodian. 
John 

[F15Rules]

Oops, double post!

Edited February 5 by F15Rules
Double post in error

[F15Rules]

49 minutes ago, Telescope40 said:

Dave. This has been a great read. The Vixen has already hit the mark with you, if I may be so bold. 
As others have said I’m looking forward to your adventures with “Superfox”. 
 I’m immediately thinking it will be giving you as much viewing pleasure as you got from the Tak and maybe more so given your reasons for your very measured change of kit. 

BTW - my 128 is staying put with me and I’m still grateful for  your help when I was looking to become its custodian. 
John 

Thanks John.

I'm really glad you're hanging on to your FS128..they are Special, Legendary scopes and few and far between in the UK. I will always remember fondly my 7 years of owning one.

Which reminds me, now that I am Takless, to whom should I tender my resignation from the UK FS128 Owner's Club?? Mr Mike Hezzlewood (aka mikeDnight)? Or perhaps JeremyS should handle it??😆😂

Dave

[mikeDnight]

26 minutes ago, F15Rules said:

Thanks John.

I'm really glad you're hanging on to your FS128..they are Special, Legendary scopes and few and far between in the UK. I will always remember fondly my 7 years of owning one.

Which reminds me, now that I am Takless, to whom should I tender my resignation from the UK FS128 Owner's Club?? Mr Mike Hezzlewood (aka mikeDnight)? Or perhaps JeremyS should handle it??😆😂

Dave

No need to tender your resignation Dave. Vixen are cousins, and so still the same family in my mind. Do you know if Canon Optron made your objective? I'd imagine they did!

Edited February 5 by mikeDnight

[Nicola Fletcher]

Congratulations Dave on your very handsome new acquisition. It looks fantastic and I am sure you’ll be very happy with it. I wish Trinity’s new owner the very best also!

Looking forward to your observing reports.

Nicola

[Mr Spock]

Vix's as good as a Tak, nod nod, wink wink, say no more say no more. Know what I mean, say no more 

[F15Rules]

49 minutes ago, Nicola Fletcher said:

Congratulations Dave on your very handsome new acquisition. It looks fantastic and I am sure you’ll be very happy with it. I wish Trinity’s new owner the very best also!

Looking forward to your observing reports.

Nicola

Many thanks, Nicola!

I feel I did the right thing for me personally. I traded a fantastic scope for a fantastic slightly smaller scope plus a set of 6 excellent LVW eyepieces.

The new scope is a good deal smaller all around than the Tak:

The Vixen will save me I estimate around 4 -5kg in weight between the OTA tubes (Tak 7.5kg (plus the clamshell, see below), vs Vixen 6.2kg, tube only,

It will also save around 24cm in maximum extended tube length    (Tak 1176mm vs Vixen 930mm).

..and tube diameter (Tak FS128 145mm vs Vixen 125mm), so less bulky all round. 

In addition, the Tak's cast aluminium dewshield  is a hefty 185mm in diameter, and it's cast aluminium dewshield "manhole" cover (which is great), must add another 500gms or so, compared to the almost weightless, but efficient Vixen plastic dewshield.

Finally, the Tak Clamshell (which is fantastic!) must weigh 1.5 to 2 kg, much more than the Vixens' tube rings and dovetail.

All that said, in the flesh, the Vixen does still look like quite a large refractor..just not pretty huge like the Tak!

My Tak mount (think similar to Vixen GPDX capacity, perhaps slightly more) worked well with the FS128, thanks partly due to the heavy duty custom made wooden tripod..but the Vixen feels totally planted on this mount/tripod setup, like a glove on a hand!

And its nice to still be a Tak owner mountwise!👍

Dave

Edited February 5 by F15Rules
Typo

[F15Rules]

54 minutes ago, mikeDnight said:

No need to tender your resignation Dave. Vixen are cousins, and so still the same family in my mind. Do you know if Canon Optron made your objective? I'd imagine they did!

I really dont know, Mike. I thought I read somewhere that Vixen design and build their high end lenses in house? But they definitely had their earlier Fluorite objectives made by Canon..

[Nicola Fletcher]

1 hour ago, F15Rules said:

Many thanks, Nicola!

I feel I did the right thing for me personally. I traded a fantastic scope for a fantastic slightly smaller scope plus a set of 6 excellent LVW eyepieces.

The new scope is a good deal smaller all around than the Tak:

The Vixen will save me I estimate around 4 -5kg in weight between the OTA tubes (Tak 7.5kg (plus the clamshell, see below), vs Vixen 6.2kg, tube only,

It will also save around 24cm in maximum extended tube length    (Tak 1176mm vs Vixen 930mm).

..and tube diameter (Tak FS128 145mm vs Vixen 125mm), so less bulky all round. 

In addition, the Tak's cast aluminium dewshield  is a hefty 185mm in diameter, and it's cast aluminium dewshield "manhole" cover (which is great), must add another 500gms or so, compared to the almost weightless, but efficient Vixen plastic dewshield.

Finally, the Tak Clamshell (which is fantastic!) must weigh 1.5 to 2 kg, much more than the Vixens' tube rings and dovetail.

All that said, in the flesh, the Vixen does still look like quite a large refractor..just not pretty huge like the Tak!

My Tak mount (think similar to Vixen GPDX capacity, perhaps slightly more) worked well with the FS128, thanks partly due to the heavy duty custom made wooden tripod..but the Vixen feels totally planted on this mount/tripod setup, like a glove on a hand!

And its nice to still be a Tak owner mountwise!👍

Dave

I just love how substantial it looks, and on that classy mount - very, very nice.

I can imagine the FS128 was quite a bit heavier. I’m sure you’ll get a lot of use from Superfox 🦊 It’ll be great having something that doesn’t feel so big that you don’t want the hassle of getting it out. I do love my 4” Tak and find that it gets lots of use because it’s so easy to set up, light and a true pleasure to observe through. The extra aperture on yours will make for some excellent evenings ahead!

[John]

This may well have been posted here before but it might be new to some. The sub-titles are in Japanese but most of the movie is self explanatory I think. The glass making segment early on seems to have been filmed in an Ohara optical works. The scope and mount manufacture at Vixen.

 

Edited February 5 by John

[The60mmKid]

13 minutes ago, John said:

This may well have been posted here before but it might be new to some. The sub-titles are in Japanese but most of the movie is self explanatory I think. The glass making segment early on seems to have been filmed in an Ohara optical works. The scope and mount manufacture at Vixen.

 

I hate to say it, but the Tak video is cooler 🤣

 

[JeremyS]

12 minutes ago, The60mmKid said:

I hate to say it, but the Tak video is cooler 🤣

 

I think I might replace my observing cap with the cloth affair the foundary worker is wearing 👍🏻

[Nicola Fletcher]

Thanks @John, I’ve never seen that Vixen video. Really interesting to see how they make the scopes, especially the bit at the beginning where they show the lens making. I’ve seen the Tak one a gazillion times - it never gets old and makes me appreciate my refractors more and more every time I see it.

[John]

14 minutes ago, The60mmKid said:

I hate to say it, but the Tak video is cooler 🤣

 

Let's face it, neither is as cool as this one - British mirror making in the 1960's 😁

 

[The60mmKid]

On 04/02/2024 at 20:46, F15Rules said:

The telescope is beautiful, but why hasn't anyone commented on the garden?! You have a lovely garden!

[Littleguy80]

Congratulations Dave. Great story. I’m sure the Vixen will bring you every bit as much pleasure as the Tak did