I own an original Japanese Vixen Super Polaris telescope. I bought it second hand about 25 years ago and I believe it was about 5 years old then.
It has a fully motorized EQ5 mount which is driven by a very primitive Vixen 'GOTO' controller. I feel this scope is fairly rare, especially due to it's white Vixen 60 x 700mm guide scope which sits on top of the white 102 x 1000mm main tube.
There is very little information on the Web about this scope, most are black and are marked with the Celestron brand.
I no longer use this scope and have no idea what its value would be or even if these older scopes can match the performance of a modern day equivalent. How good are they?
Perhaps it might become a collectors item one day, although it is completely functional now.
It gives great sharp views but I have noticed a purple coloured fringe around bright objects such as the moon, I have read this is quite common with some achromatic refractors.
This would have been a very sophisticated instrument 30 years ago! Any feedback on the history or rarity of this scope would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers,
Mike.
I have a couple of Vixen catalogues from 1991. It shows the 102M as a F9.8 achromatic refractor on a super polaris (green) mount with with aluminium tripod. The mount could be motor driven and if required fitted with the "Skysensor 3" controller (as you say, primitive goto). Your 102C could be a few years earlier than this. The guidescope may be the 60M guidescope which are rare and a nice piece of kit. They are fitted with a wonderful single adjustment ring.
Cannot say what it would be worth now. Not a great deal as only the early fluorite vixens can command good money at present.
Wood tripods are worth more than the aluminium ones. Hand controllers where everything works are also rare these days.
I can send you some more info or copy from these catalogues if you wish. One is in English, the other is the Japanese equivalent. Only the Japanese version gives the price of each item (in Yen).
There may be others out there with more knowledge than I in older Vixen stuff, I really like early vixen and consider it the successor to Unitron (and better as well)
Nice as they are at the end of the day the Vixens were a mass produced scope so not that rare.
I assume you mean the mount is a Super Polaris - the EQ5 is a knock-off.
I've got a similar setup but with the R150S OTA. Possibly even older as it was one of the very basic early hand controllers that would only "slew" at 8x
Thanks for the quick response guys and John B's generosity in passing on extra info if I need it , looks like there are a few of these scopes still kicking around. Yeah, it's the green Super Polaris Mount and looks almost identical to the newer EQ5s. I was just curious about their rarity, especially because this one was made in Tokyo Japan and has the extra guide scope attached which I have not seen before on these setups. As you said Ken, these scopes were mass produced so there should be plenty around but with the particular configuration that I have, I'm not sure.
Mike, the GoTo sounds interesting if it is the original Vixen one and is actually a GoTo and not simply dual axis drives. The original Skysensor came out in the mid 1980's, black hand controller with 4 arrow keys and a stop button at the top with the rest of the keypad underneath. I think the database had around 700 objects in it including the Messier catalogue and brighter NGC objects. In (I think) the late 1990's Skysensor 3 came along, which had the same database. Skysensor 2000 was later still and had a much larger object list and is far from primitive, I have 2 of these still working perfectly. Spares for all of these are very difficult to find these days.
I have owned a couple of the Vixen 102M's in the past and they are very nice refractors, a bit of false colour but nothing too distracting. The draw tube would not accept anything larger than a 1.25 visual back though, which was odd because my old ED80 has a standard Vixen 2 inch draw tube, but oddly enough came with a 0.965 visual back and a set of 0.965 eyepieces and accessories.
I am guessing from the age that the mount is a Super Polaris, the guide scope is a real bonus! a few pictures would be nice.
Mike, thanks for posting this - it really interests me. The Skysensor 2 is 1990 and before. The 3 version was new in 1991 and has a slightly more compact handset.
The guidescope you have is known in Vixen nomenclature as a "subscope" and has the two separate rings, whereas the named "guidescope" has the single spring loaded ring (I have a 60S guidescope)
As Richard says, only 1.25" eyepieces as it will have the 36.2 mm drawtube. Only the fluorites of this era have the 2" drawtube.
I can offer an estimate of valuation if you wish. This would be done on a basis of the "sum of the parts"
If I were you, this one is a keeper.
Well my wife wants it out of the bedroom. I would keep it if I had more space. I favour my 8 inch equatorial mounted Newtonian these days, easier on the back! It resides in the lounge room. If someone out there would appreciate this more than me I'd be happy to post it in the Classified section. Do you think it would sell? Everything you see in the photos plus 3x .965 eyepieces, 3x Barlow, .965 diagonal, image inverter, cords for controller, original user manual and a set of Celestron .965 coloured fiters. Otherwise, maybe eBay could be the go.
It,s a beauy , I am sure it would sell reasnobly easily , price anywhere from $900-1500 these are a big step up from the chineese 102mm achromats and having the 114mm tube have a very good baffle system that gives very sharp and contrasty views with minimal CA .
The mount is the Vixen Great Polaris , these are a very smooth and sturdy mount , I love mine , here it is under my little 60mm triplet .
+1 for Morton's comment. It is a beauty, but may have limited appeal because many people may not realise just how good the Vixen 102mm F9.8 OTA's are. I am still astounded that you have a working Skysensor.
The mount looks like a Vixen Super Polaris which pre-dates the Vixen GP Mount.
The “heavy duty” version of the Vixen Super Polaris was the "Vixen Super Polaris DX" and in a similar manner, the Vixen GP Mount becomes the "Vixen GP-DX Mount".
Thanks for all your feedback guys, I had no idea it would create such an interesting discussion. Special thanks to Dennis for posting those schematic drawings of the Super Polaris mount verifying the type of mount on my Vixen. Also Brian for showing me his old Vixen mount with the easily supported 60 mm f7 triplet on top.
I guess it goes to show that the saying 'when you're on a good thing, stick to it' applies here. These 30 year old EQ mounts haven't changed much over the years, just the technology that drives them.
I have purchased the SP mount in 1990 and still use it today as it works like a charm. Next week I'll take it to South Africa for an (astrophotography) holiday.
It,s a beauy , I am sure it would sell reasnobly easily , price anywhere from $900-1500 these are a big step up from the chineese 102mm achromats and having the 114mm tube have a very good baffle system that gives very sharp and contrasty views with minimal CA .
