Vixen 102 GP opinions

[alowen]

I have recently been offered a long term loan of a Vixen 102 refractor as i've never seen one let alone viewed through one (a refractor that is). I was wondering peoples opinion on these scopes. I know it 9.8 FL and is a complete set up. The chap said it cost around £900 back in 1996.

Any opinions or thoughts would be welcomed.

Al

[tiwar]

I wouldn`t say no to the offer!!! I think it will be an achromat but it has a good reputation even if it is a bit old.....

T x

[alowen]

Trust me....saying no was never an option. My hunch is they are / were good scopes.

[John]

Great scopes ! - I owned one in the late 1980's / early 1990's and they did cost that back then. Performance is very similar to todays TAL100R, which is a compliment as the TAL is one of the best F/10 achromat refractors around.

Your 150P will do better on deep sky objects but the Vixen 102 may surpise you on the moon, planets and double stars. It will show a little CA on the brightest objects but it's well controlled in those scopes.

Only drawback is that some are fitted for .96" eyepieces so make sure it's got a 1.25" adaptor fitted of you could be limited in eyepiece choice.

[alowen]

Does anyone know its max mag ability ? Also, do refractors as a standard take long to cool down?

Thanks

Al

[John]

Cool down will be 15-30 mins. Your should be able to use 200x with it on good nights although the UK seeing will often put a lower limit on it !.

I've got the ED F/6.5 version of that scope and love it

[alowen]

Thank you so much sir. Appreciated.

Al

[NickK]

If it's like A80Mf it should cool down very quickly.