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Hi Chris
It is difficult to answer that question, as I only ever used the set up for 35mm film photography of Jupiter and the Moon and the results were less than pleasing due to the lack of mirror lock up on my 35mm SLR, the lack of sensitivity of film and only grabbing single exposures – this was in the days before webcam imaging and the stacking 1000’s of frames to “beat” the seeing. I think that Don Parker in the US made use of the eyepiece projection technique to produce some stunning photos of Mars and Jupiter in the days of 35mm film.
I did try the rig out using the Meade LPI a few years ago, and I recollect being satisfied that the limitations were more from the LPI and the seeing conditions rather than the eyepiece + eyepiece projection unit.
All my ToUcam and DMK work has been done using TeleVue x2.5 and x5 PowerMates, so I have not used the Vixen 43mm eyepiece projection adapter for those ccds.
In terms of ease of set up, I find it is much easier to use a Barlow (a single component) rather than inserting an eyepiece into the adapter tube, assembling the body and then attaching the camera and unit to the ‘scope. A minor point, but certainly worth noting as there are a lot of screws to fiddle with, to hold the eyepiece and rotate the assembly to the optimum position.
I guess that if you can pick up a unit at reasonable cost (hah – yeah, Tak gear!) it might be worth experimenting just to see what results you can obtain using the variable projection capability of the unit, but my main recommendation would be to use PowerMates if the Barlow configuration is feasible with your set up.
I think that the current thinking tends to favour Barlows for hi-res Lunar and Planetary work, and so far that has proven so successful for me, I have not been inclined to even experiment with the Vixen Unit.
Cheers
Dennis
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