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Vixen ED150 Atlux ....... rare scope for sale

John

By John
in The Astro Lounge

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John

John

Posted
Posted

This is my dream scope - but the timing is all wrong :D

U.K. Astronomy Buy & Sell

This is the 1st I've seen for sale for years. I've seen just one "in the flesh" and it's owner then (this may be the same scope) compared it's performance very favourably to the 150mm Astro Physics F/8 that was laying next to it :)

Where is that small windfall when you need it !.

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John

John

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I would love to......

Come on John. You seem to know what this scope is about.

What I know about them is drawn from a very old Astronomy Now review (more that 10 years ago !), the comments a chap I knew a while back made who owned one of these and several other superb scopes as well. Also Damian Peach owns one, though he uses it mainly for solar work:

Courses in Astrophotography

It's a doublet with an ED element (probably FPL-51 or similar) which is the same design as my Vixen ED102SS although my scope is F/6.5 wheras the ATlux 150 is F/9. Mine is very well corrected for it's focal ratio so I reckon the 150 F/9 would be excellent as well although probably not totally free of CA - you need a fine triplet for that. It's not (as far as I'm aware) a Petzval design as some of the larger Vixen refractors are.

You would have to be a big refractor fan to go for this as obviously there are lots of other options with much more aperture at that price - but if you were not a refractor nut then I guess you would not be interested anyway :)

It's come completely at the wrong time for me as I'm picking up a 6" F/8 achromat tomorrow to use with the Chromacor corrector I've aquired - if that combo works out, I should get close-to-ED performance for much less cost - or thats the plan anyway !.

My wife is pretty understanding but I'd be asking for trouble if I show up with two 6" refractors and a £2K hole in the bank account :)

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HD-AP

HD-AP

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Hi john

I own an atlux 150ed I'm it's second owner it was previously owned by chris maddeley who used it for astrophotography .It's stock focusser was pretty sloppy for ap in his opinion so he fitted an astrophysics focusser and used a focal reducer as f9 is a bit long for ap .It suits me fine for visual use .Colour correction is simular to the meades although these vixen 150 ed's are much better figured lenses than the meades . I also own an astrophysics 180 edt but bought at a time when cost was reasonable and no waiting list .

Looking at the recent advert on astro buy sell for an astrophysics 155edf god knows what mine is worth now ! something i hadn't considered before ,not that they are for sale mind you .

But these days the market is awash with very nice well made refractor's for very reasonable prices but i'm happy with my 1990's dinosaurs

regards

clive

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John

John

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Thanks for the feedback Clive - I've always wanted one of these big Vixen's since reading the Astronomy Now review all those years ago !.

Dinosaurs maybe but lovely and desireable scopes to me :)

I guess thats because I drooled over photos of them in "Sky & Telescope" and "Astronomy" during the 1980's :)

Hi john

I own an atlux 150ed I'm it's second owner it was previously owned by chris maddeley who used it for astrophotography .It's stock focusser was pretty sloppy for ap in his opinion so he fitted an astrophysics focusser and used a focal reducer as f9 is a bit long for ap .It suits me fine for visual use .Colour correction is simular to the meades although these vixen 150 ed's are much better figured lenses than the meades . I also own an astrophysics 180 edt but bought at a time when cost was reasonable and no waiting list .

Looking at the recent advert on astro buy sell for an astrophysics 155edf god knows what mine is worth now ! something i hadn't considered before ,not that they are for sale mind you .

But these days the market is awash with very nice well made refractor's for very reasonable prices but i'm happy with my 1990's dinosaurs

regards

clive

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  • 3 weeks later...
PaulC-I

PaulC-I

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Well nobody made the move so I've made the sacrifice!

Just got back earlier, from Sheerness with the Atlux. A big thanks to a member (He knows who he is) from this site who made me aware of this. Can't believe I missed the add when it went on.

A cracking scope in great condition, and was a pleasure to meet its owner, who has a good taste for fine refractors.

Ok, is there anybody out there that has a copy of 'That review' that was done on this scope for Astronomy Now? Incidently, the owner confirmed that this was the actual scope that was reviewed for that piece, by the author/then owner, CC.

Any additional written material on this fine scope would be greatly appreciated

Anyone know how you add the big smiley faces that everybody uses?

From a happy chap on new years day

Paul

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HD-AP

HD-AP

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Hi paul

I have the articles you want i'll look them out scan and send them to you .

I post here an optical test report of mine when new by telescope house test carried out by rob pearce fras in june 1993.

Model vixen atlux 152ed ota

first inspection New intrument see below

Ronchi test Good figure and correction confirmed

Action -none required

Final inspection

Chromatic aberration none (nil high order )at visual wavelengths

spherical aberration -none

astigmatism-none

Double pass autocollimation test

Equivalent power @ 675 x 23degree's c

Text book star image obtained .Mild de-centreing at extreme power note temperature ,should not be evident under observing conditions. This is normal and accepted on a conventional horizontal optical bench ,as the sensitive ed element changes figure minutely,with it's own weight.

It is understood that ideally the ota should be tested at an angle of about 50 degrees.

We note that vixen have incorporated radial adjustment into the design as well as the normal collimating facilities.This allows infinate control of the og eliminating any concerns for the future.

R.Pearce F.R.A.S.

Technical consultant

June 1993

Hope this is of interest,and i am sure this fine instrument will give you years of observing pleasure as has mine.

regards

clive

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John

John

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Great move Paul - I only wish I'd been in a position to move myself on this one :)

I'll be watching with great interest for your reports on how the scope performs.

My research on this scope has led me to believe that very few were actually made by Vixen - as few as 10 units possibly ?.

It should be a superb instrument and give you many years of satisfaction.

Long live the 6" refractor :eek:

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PaulC-I

PaulC-I

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Clive,

Many thanks for this. The valuation on your OG certainly gives me an awful lot of hope and expectations on the views I'm looking forward to.

Have PM'D you my contact details.

Paul

Hi paul

I have the articles you want i'll look them out scan and send them to you .

I post here an optical test report of mine when new by telescope house test carried out by rob pearce fras in june 1993.

Model vixen atlux 152ed ota

first inspection New intrument see below

Ronchi test Good figure and correction confirmed

Action -none required

Final inspection

Chromatic aberration none (nil high order )at visual wavelengths

spherical aberration -none

astigmatism-none

Double pass autocollimation test

Equivalent power @ 675 x 23degree's c

Text book star image obtained .Mild de-centreing at extreme power note temperature ,should not be evident under observing conditions. This is normal and accepted on a conventional horizontal optical bench ,as the sensitive ed element changes figure minutely,with it's own weight.

It is understood that ideally the ota should be tested at an angle of about 50 degrees.

We note that vixen have incorporated radial adjustment into the design as well as the normal collimating facilities.This allows infinate control of the og eliminating any concerns for the future.

R.Pearce F.R.A.S.

Technical consultant

June 1993

Hope this is of interest,and i am sure this fine instrument will give you years of observing pleasure as has mine.

regards

clive

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  • 2 months later...
ChelseaTony

ChelseaTony

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Hi to all! I have just stumbled across this site & would like to comment on the above topic.

I purchased the second Vixen 152ED Refractor to arrive in the UK from Broadhurst, Clarkson & fuller in 1991. The first one sold here was purchased by a chap in Essex who's article in Astronomy Now pursuaded me to take the plunge!

I already owned a Celestron C8 Starbright for general viewing/Astrophotography but wanted to see if I could improve my images & general viewing experience.

I still own both scopes to this day although they are not used so much now but are always there when I have the urge to get out & have a night of observing, as far as I am concerned the images achieved by this f9 Refractor are breathtaking & was well worth the £2700 original investment. I am not sure how many were sold in this country but I am pretty sure that there cannot be many of them in existence!

All the best to all!

Tony.

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PaulC-I

PaulC-I

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Ah! Another owner!! Tony, thanks for contributing to the thread. I am aware that there were probably only 6 that came in and have now six names which supports that. Have spoken to Chris Campbell, who wrote that review. Turns out the scope I have was his own one. A circa '93'. Hoping to meet up and collect some valued history on it.

Just put the scope back together after fitting an Astro-Physics focuser and protostart flocking.

Looking forward to some decent nights

Will post up some pics once I've remembered how to!

Cheers

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ChelseaTony

ChelseaTony

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Ah! Another owner!! Tony, thanks for contributing to the thread. I am aware that there were probably only 6 that came in and have now six names which supports that. Have spoken to Chris Campbell, who wrote that review. Turns out the scope I have was his own one. A circa '93'. Hoping to meet up and collect some valued history on it.

Just put the scope back together after fitting an Astro-Physics focuser and protostart flocking.

Looking forward to some decent nights

Will post up some pics once I've remembered how to!

Cheers

Nice one Paul will look forward to seeing your pics, I am sure you will obtain great results.

My one still has the sloppy stock focusser, as an engineer I was going to modify it but never did get round to carrying it out but will do eventually. I recently sold all of my old SLR equipment & am going to invest in a cheap CCD Imager for planetary/lunar work & when I get back into a decent paid job will then upgrade to more expensive imaging equipment but thats in the future.

Likewise any reasonable pics I achieve will be posted on here in due course

It's great to communicate with other like-minded people here!

Regards, Tony.

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