Vixen GP Mount - polar scope advice

[Roc]

Hi Everyone,

I've been lurking this forum for some time as I've been preparing to give this hobby a second chance......well third chance I suppose

Firstly, thanks for such an informative and friendly forum

I first got interested in Astronomy in the late eighties....got a cheap 60mm refractor and it ended quite quickly after that.

I tried a few years ago but struggled to align the mount to be able to see anything more than the Moon or Pleiades......so again I lost interest.

I've just bought a secondhand Vixen GP Mount on a wooden tripod.....as I'm intending to buy a SW ED 80 refractor.....I intend to get a EQ6 Pro goto in the future.....but this should serve until I have a spare £900 to spend.

The mount does not have the polar alignment scope, I didn't think this was a big issue.......but didn't realise how expensive these are to buy seperately....I was thinking around £30 should cover it.

Considering I've had problems aligning an equatorial type mount previously....is this something that I should get?.....and if so, does anyone know where I could get a vixen polarscope for a reasonable price?

Although I intend getting the EQ6 Pro, I wish to keep this mount as a more portable option....so it's not completely dead money

I'm intending to start with visual observing and already have a reasonable knowledge of the sky, but would like to progress to try some astrophotography.......I'd like to try looking at anything and everything.....but I just have an attraction to Refractors.

Your help and advice would be appreciated....I'd really like to stick with the hobby this time

[John]

For visual observing you don't really need very accurate polar alignment. I just make sure that the polar axis of the mount is pointing towards Polaris and that's usually enough to keep the tracking accurate enough for visual.

My mount (Celestron CG5) is more a less a clone of yours (not so well made as the Vixen through !). For imaging (especially deep sky) more accurate polar alignment is required though so you might need the polar scope then.

John

[MartinB]

I think you will be struggling to get a polar scope for this mount Roc. It's a bit of a shame because the Vixen polar alignment scope is very accurate. I have a Super Polaris with a polar scope but don't normally bother for visual work, as John says, it really isn't that necessary. If you want to do dep sky imaging you will need to tighten things up but you can learn to drift align to do this, with a bit of practice it is surprisingly quick.

[Brass n glass]

Unfortunately Vixen prices have shot up thanks mainly to currency movements, and I'm not sure that UK dealers stock the full range any more. OL-Optic in France charges 240 euros for a GP polar finder - I think that's more than £200 these days - Hugh

[Dangerous-Dave]

Drift align it once, mark the patio/lawn and your tripod and you should be able to just carry it out and drop it on the spot for reasonable polar alignment. I use a GP for imaging (and love it!) but, being unguided, I use short lenses, high ISO and short-ish exposures to minimise tracking problems.

[Brass n glass]

I've just seen that Opticron, the new UK agents for Vixen, are asking £139 for the GPE polar scope - still not exactly bargain basement - Hugh

[Roc]

Thanks for all the replies, really helpful stuff......and no, I don't want to pay £140 plus for a polar scope, the mount and tripod only cost that

I noticed whilst searching, that someone on another forum has confirmed that the Celestron #94223 polar scope fits the Vixen GP mount. It looks like the same polar scope as the Skywatcher version which costs around £30. So I suppose that could be an option, if I feel that I need one.

For the moment I don't think I'll need one, thanks once again for your replies

[661-pete]

Roc, I have the same mount as you and I added the polar scope as an upgrade. Even then, (in 2005), ordered from Vixen direct, it cost me £110. It is a shame that it has shot up so much in price, because it's a really good polar scope and very easy to use. I would say, it's better than the one supplied with the EQ6.

If you ever go into imaging, and if you want to keep using the GP, do try your very best to get hold of one because you'll see the difference at once! The only gripe I have is that the pen torch that came with it, along with a plastic clip, is useless for illuminating the graticule - though it serves as a useful little torch. Get someone to hold a red lamp in just the right position to light up the graticule but not dim Polaris.

You set the graticule orientation using the setting circles after having done an initial fixed alignment against them, on first assembly. No messing about pointing a line at The Plough, or Cassiopeia or whatever! Then you simply position Polaris against the proper graticule marking for the year (it has separate marks spaced at 5-year intervals, to correct for precession. I don't think any other polar scope does that). It's a doddle, I find it really easy to get spot-on within one or two arc-minutes at most. A lot quicker than drift alignment!

But, as others have said, all this only really matters if you want to go into imaging. Best of luck in your hunt for one (I'm not selling mine! )

[glowjet]

You can illuminate your polarscope with a red LED, AWR Technologies do one for, I think £20, but you can make your own. Maplin sell two types of 12 volt red LED, standard brightness 3mm, part CJ66W, or high brightness 3mm part CJ70M. these are reputed to have a current limiting resistor built in, so you can connect them to your 12 volt supply. This can then be mounted in a plastic clip of your choice and mounted into the opening of the Polarscope tube,

John.