Vixen VC200L - First Impressions...

[AndyH]

I remember looking into these scopes many years back.

Was the VMC more of a visual scope and the VC aimed more for imagers??

Cheers,

Andy.

[Coco]

On a note about modding the spider.. Some good success was found by this astronomer..

Mods to Vixen telescopes Photo Gallery by Alan Smallbone at pbase.com

[ollypenrice]

On a note about modding the spider.. Some good success was found by this astronomer..

Mods to Vixen telescopes Photo Gallery by Alan Smallbone at pbase.com

That is a very interesting thread because it is the stars that I find unsatisfactory in the VC200L. I really think they mar the results. However, don't Vixen say the thick spider is necessary in the design? I wonder if there will be issues arising from the machining.

Olly

[NickK]

Keeping an eye on this as the VC200L is currently the favourite for a purchase in the new year.

There have been a couple of mods for the VC200L. One is machining the spider vanes down to a slim width (I've read a few people have done this). Another is replacing the steel tube with a carbon fibre tube truss to prevent flexing and takes the loading off the side of the scope and away from the mirror completely. The steel tube is then used to act as a light guard and doesn't attach to the mirror at all either.

I think it's one of the more 'adaptable' designs if you're brave enough to take a hacksaw to a £1300 scope.

[Coco]

I'm surprised nobody has made a thin spider commercially ... there are hundreds of these out there.. MMnn...

[ollypenrice]

Indeed. Vixen need to invest some effort in sorting this instrument out because it is not far from being exceptional.

Olly

[skybadger]

I'm not sure about the vanes thing - there's good discussions out there that in the end suggest the thickness of the vanes isn't really that important. It still comes down to the sizer of the central obstruction.

I continue to tweak mine up, especially for Jupiter and have found some significant improvements but the image for visual use remains low in contrast. The imaging results however are great all across the focal plane.

Mike