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Vixen stuff is quality but pricey...

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Hi,
I'm new to Astronomy. I got a cheap department store reflector and took it back! It was too long for me and shook like it was ill! Now I'm trying to educate myself before buying again. After allot of reading & learning my limits & wants, I've decided on a Catadioptric and I've narrowed my search down to two scopes. The AT8RC or Vixens VMC200L. I would appreciate any one weighing in on the AT8RC vs/ the VMC200L. Seems like the more I learn the less I know! I don't want a motorized goto mount yet. Thought about getting Vixens Porta 11. I want to invest in a scope I can do upgrades to and later get into astro photography & a motorized mount. I also need something light, around 20lbs a componet.
Thanks!

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Hey, Thanks to you all for the input on the tubes & mounts!
I have been leaning towards the Vixen VMC200L. Vixen ran a package deal $1200 that included the VMC200L and a free Porta 11 mount. Vixen doesn't have it anymore, but a few retailers still have the packages in stock. I need to stay in that price range for now, that's why the free porta 11 mount sounded like a easy on the wallet way to get started. I'd love the Vixen goto mounts, but have to save more $! I would love to look thru a few scopes. I'm not having any luck hooking up with some of the local clubs. My bino's are sustaining me for now, sorta, it's really bugging me not having a scope though! I've been reading up for 6 months now, my little brain is kinda ready to explode!

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I have a VMC200L and I like it a lot. I'm strictly visual for now but might dabble in AP down the road. The open tube allows for fast cool-down and good dew resistance. The fixed mirror eliminates mirror shift and flop. And there is no grease inside the tube to contaminate the optics. Be sure to learn how the collimate the scope for best results.

I haven't had the chance to look through the AT8RC. It seems like a fine scope but it is aimed at AP and may not be the best choice for strictly visual use.

I used to own a Vixen Porta mount and it was inadequate with a 4" refractor. I doubt that it would give very good results with the VMC200L. I don't know why Vixen was selling the VMC200L-Porta II combo as the scope would be seriously undermounted. You would be repeating the unhappy experience with the wobbly department store scope.

For a simple manual mount I used a William Optics EZ Touch and it worked great with the VMC200L. But for not very much more money you could get a Celestron CG-5 ASGT, which is probably the best buy in an inexpensive goto mount. I can tell you from extensive personal experience that it works well with the VMC200L. With the CG-5 you can also get started with a little AP without having to buy a new mount.

If you're on a tight budget, then perhaps consider a Celestron C8 on the CG-5 ASGT (although I prefer the VMC200L for the reasons stated above, plus the better build quality of the Vixen).

As for checking out the scope at a club star party, you may have difficulty as you do not see the VMC200L out in the field that often. But there are some of us using them. Oddly enough, I was at at my club's dark sky site one evening and there was just two of us there -- and we both had VMC200L telescopes! Rather an unlikely coincidence. The other fellow's VMC200L was mounted on a Losmandy G11 and he was fully rigged for some serious astrophotography.

EDIT: BTW, you will need to buy a few eyepieces as the Vixen doesn't include any. It is sometimes sold as just a bare tube so you would need to add a finder and diagonal. It is also sold as a package with a finder, finder bracket and diagonal. Personally, I would recommend the bare OTA and add a good finder (I use a Stellarvue 9x50 and a Red Dot finder) and a good diagonal.

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Sky conditions in San Diego, California:



Vixen VMC200L 8" corrected Cassegrain telescope on a Celestron CG-5 Advanced Series GT mount
Pentax eyepieces and Televue eyepieces & diagonal
Fujinon 16x70 Binoculars on a Manfrotto 028B/501HDV tripod
Celestron SkyScout
______________________________________________________
Avatar: Gemini North on Mauna Kea, November, 2008.

Edited by GaryML (11/08/09 12:10 AM)

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Hey,
I'm so happy to receive all these tips from everyone!
Gary,
Did your VMC 200L come with a 2" rack & pinion focuser or was it a 1.25". I find the descriptions on many suppliers sites to be contradictory. Also, was the porta mount you owned actually a Porta mount II? They have a few different kinds of Porta mounts. I emailed Vixen and asked then about the Porta II with VMC 200L and why they no longer do that package and if they had decided the 8" VMC needed a bigger mount. I'll let you know what they say. I agree with buying a OTA only and getting a different finder & diagonal. I was wondering what mm eyepieces have you found to work well with this tube? Sure nice to hear from someone who actually uses the Vixen VMC 200L !

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I just received the reply from Vixen on the package VMC200L with Porta II mount and my question about it possibly being under mounted.

Vixen QUOTE;
"Thank you for your inquiry on the VMC200L / Porta II promotion.

The promotion ended when we began our current fall rebate program. The VMC200L / Porta II sale was one of our best ever. We have no complaints about its stability. Frankly, the idea came from the fact that it’s the grab and go combination that I use myself.

One nice thing about the Porta II mount is that the head is removable and can be mounted on a half pillar on the Sphinx SX tripod. So when you move up to a motorized / GoTo mount you can just switch mount heads depending on what kind of observing you want to do that evening." END OF QUOTE.

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Sorry for the slow response to your question.

The VMC200L comes with a rack and pinion focuser that accepts 2" diagonals & eyepieces. I have a Televue 2" diagonal and a bunch of eyepieces and everything works fine. I also have a 2" to Nikon F mount adapter with a 2" long extension tube and I can bring my Nikon D300 to focus without getting close to the stops.

My Porta mount was the original version on the supplied tripod. I used it for a while with a 100mm f/7 refractor (a Vixen ED100sf) and it works ok but it was more vibration than I liked with settle times >4 seconds. The VMC200L is a couple of pounds heavier than the 100mm but better balanced. Still, with the stock tripod that would be pushing. But putting it on a sturdier tripod is an interesting idea, and perhaps that would be stable enough.

As for eyepieces, the scope is fairly slow at f/9.75, so it does not stress the eyepieces. Right now I use a Pentax XW 40mm for widest field of view with this telescope (about 1.34 degrees) at 50X. It works great with no vignetting and just a beautiful view edge to edge. I also use a TV Panoptic 24mm for about 80X for dimmer DSOs (using 1.235" filters), a TV Nagler 16mm for 122X, and a Pentax XW 10mm for 195X, which is usually the limit that the seeing will permit. On rare occasions I use a Pentax XW 7mm for about 295X, but usually the seeing in my location results in a fuzzy image with this much magnification.

This set takes me from the widest TFOV at 50X to the highest I can get away with (300X) in fairly even steps. These eyepieces are probably overkill but I like fine optics so I splurged. You could easily cover you needs with a 40mm wide, 20mm medium power, and a 10mm high power.

Collimation is important with this scope. Vixen suggests using the alignment screws on the primary mirror for fine adjustment, but I've had better luck just leaving the primary alone and doing the fine adjustment with the alignment screws on the secondary mirror. It can be a bit frustrating the first time, but once you get the idea it only takes a minute to get it perfect at high power. I have only had to adjust it twice in a year -- once to touch it up when I first got it (and I made it a whole lot worse before I figured it out) and one more small adjustment a few months back.

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Sky conditions in San Diego, California:



Vixen VMC200L 8" corrected Cassegrain telescope on a Celestron CG-5 Advanced Series GT mount
Pentax eyepieces and Televue eyepieces & diagonal
Fujinon 16x70 Binoculars on a Manfrotto 028B/501HDV tripod
Celestron SkyScout
______________________________________________________
Avatar: Gemini North on Mauna Kea, November, 2008.

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