Vixen 80MF Refractor CLEARANCE

[Merlin66]

I fitted a 2" TS Crayford focuser to mine...cost about as much as the scope!!

A good idea at the time....

[pete_gamby]

The A80Mf as per FLO's offer is China-made, has 1.25" visual back and would normally retail at around £249. It includes 90º diagonal, 6x24 finder scope and two Plössl eyepieces (6.3mm and 20mm).

The A80M is Japan-made, has the 2" visual back and currently retails at £449. It includes Vixen's flip mirror and an XY red dot finder.

Cheers, Pete

[Adz]

I still cannot work out whether this is a great grab and go set up for me. I think I shall wait till I have had a change to see some other scopes at Kelling.

[Ben Ritchie]

The A80M is Japan-made, has the 2" visual back and currently retails at £449. It includes Vixen's flip mirror and an XY red dot finder.

Cheers Pete, is it the same optics as the Chinese one? That seems to be a major source of confusion, with assorted suggestions for yes or no but no hard information that i've seen.

[Uranus]

Are these the ones with the cheap china optics?

I thought the good ones had optics from Japan.

This frankly is one reason I avoid the Vixen 80MF.

[Neil English]

Actually, I rather think it doesn't really matter who makes these scopes. These instruments (small aperture, f/11 specs) are very likely to be very forgiving to design/manufacturing errors and so I'd be surprised to see significant differences between the Chinese or Japanese models.

Cheers,

Neil.

[Uranus]

Actually, I rather think it doesn't really matter who makes these scopes. These instruments (small aperture, f/11 specs) are very likely to be very forgiving to design/manufacturing errors and so I'd be surprised to see significant differences between the Chinese or Japanese models.

Cheers,

Neil.

On bright objects like the Moon and Sun?

That is most likely what these scopes would be used for.

[pete_gamby]

Vixen Japan has been on national holiday for a few days and I was in the US over the weekend so it's taken a while for the info to arrive in my inbox.

They tell me that the optics are indeed different between the two. Also, the majority of parts for the A80M are sourced in Japan too.

Cheers, Pete

[Merlin66]

Pete,

What exactly is the difference between the optics???

[pete_gamby]

That's the bit I doubt we'll ever get the detail on I'm afraid. I did ask for the nitty gritty but, as I suspected, they are reluctant to divulge details to component level.

Vixen is visiting us early next month so I'll try asking the question again in a slightly different way. It can be easier to get info in a face to face meeting than via email :-)

Cheers, Pete

[Ben Ritchie]

Thanks Pete - I should add that I have no complaints at all about my Chinese one

[A McEwan]

So given the choice for a PST-mod between one of these Vixen 80MF scopes and a Skywatcher 90mm f10, which would be the better choice? Assuming that a full aperture ERF was used...

Ant

[Merlin66]

The bigger aperture the better!

Unfortunately the 90mm clear aperture would require a very expensive D-ERF, so the economic solution usually ends up around 80mm.

I did, with some fancy footwork, manager to get an effective 88mm ERF from a 90mm filter.....

[Peter Drew]

You can place an ERF inside the focal plane provided that it isn't more than 50 percent nearer the focus. I've done this with great success on 125mm and 220mm apertures and great saving financially. I've also used this configuration for a considerable length of time with no ill effect.

[andrew63]

Well i was asking a similar question a while back but to the Chinese vixen 80ED and Japanese 81ED optics. One reply from an owner who had both was that the Japan 81ED was like a completely different instrument - indeed a reference telescope optically to compare all others with.

andrew

[Merlin66]

Can we get some "technical" details?? I like many other had assumed they were identical....(other than the focuser)

[A McEwan]

Not to hijack the thread, but Peter - if you have written up anything about the technicalities of this, I'd love to see it. Ant

[Merlin66]

Have a look here:

http://stargazerslounge.com/diy-astronomer/116286-lads-large-aperture-double-stack-ha-telescope.html

HTH

[NickH]

Proof is in the pudding so to speak with the Vixen, never had any issues with mine as anyone who's seen/used or looked through it will testify.

The sub aperture ERF idea thugh, I DO like...a lot, have an AR6 (again!) to try that out at some point..

[pete_gamby]

Can we get some "technical" details?? I like many other had assumed they were identical....(other than the focuser)

As I mentioned, Vixen is reluctant to disclose the finer details of the differences when asked about how the Japan-made products compare to the China-made units. There's always reference to quality control as well as to the sourcing of components from Japanese suppliers. However, we also know that Vixen uses its own engineers to QC the stuff that comes off the lines in China.

I suppose the comparison would be similar to that of an EQ3 to a GP2 where certain components may not last as long in use in one compared to the other or where, for example, the quality of the materials used in the castings of the mount are quite different despite the two products being otherwise apparently identical.

If anyone out there has the equipment to put the pair through some side by side bench tests to try to fathom where any subtle (or otherwise) performance differences lie, we'd be happy to supply the tubes. Sadly, we don't have such capabilities ourselves or the tests would have been done and published already!

Cheers, Pete