I have a Vixen VC200L. The ONLY way it will balance in DEC with a camera attached is to use a honking big Losmandy rail (custom modified by the original owner - I am owner 3
) - there is simply NO WAY it will balance with the original Vixen rail in DEC - just way too much weight out the butt end (how Vixen expects anyone to balance the VC200L with their stuff is beyond me - even with NOTHING attached to the drawtube, it was butt heavy, and that was with the rail at it's rear stop!).
The Losmandy works well, - VERY well in fzct, and it does have central holes so as to mount rings if wanted instead of the custom modified cradle supports. I have a set of 200mm rings that will work - is the ring system attached to the Losmandy going to afford me overall better service and security than a Losmandy with cradle? The support points will be almost identically spaced regardless of system used, but will the total circumference security mean much? It is ROCK SOLID as-is.
The other thing about using rings is if I decide to, I can of course add a top rail and add my ED80 as guidescope (going to use an Orion mini-guider finderscope for the time being) - only would necessitate removing the carry handle and finder.
MAGICAL scope - just a tad out in collimation - just have to figure out if it is the primary, secondary or the flattener/focuser off whack a little. It's not MUCH, just a slight left shift (fine for visual, NOT for photography)
