Vixen Custom 90

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Brand and Model:	Vixen Custom 90
Price ($USD):	400/500
Type:	Achromatic Refractor
Attributes:	Go-To PEC
Aperture:	90
f Ratio:	11.1
Focal Length:	1000
Finder:	6x30
Electric Power:
Mount:	Alt-Azimuth
Tripod:	Wooden
Weight (lbs):	20
Dimensions (w/h/d):
Description:	Discontinued model. Superior quality Achromatic refractor on a basic alt-azimuth wooden stand.

Vote Highlights

Vixen Custom 90

An excellent achromatic refractor. I use mine mainly for moon and planets and it is capable of resolving good detail. For example, on Mars last month (well before opposition) under good seeing conditions I was able to use x250 with a Naglerzoom eyepiece to show detail which was comparable witha good 6" reflector. Saturn can also take high powers with this telescope -at the last apparition the Cassini division in the rings was black and sharp with glimpses of the C ring in moments of best seeing. The polar hood was very obvious as well as equatorial banding.
Jupiter revealed detail in the main equatorial belts as well as 4 other belts - shadows of the moons in transit sharp and crisp with the moons themselves visible against dark cloud belts if seeing was good enough.
I've found the Vixen capable of revealing intricate detail on the Moon -chromatic aberration is well suppressed and barely noticeable on the limb - no sign of colours in shadows.
I haven't used it much on deep sky (use my 8" Newtonian for that), but it performs well on double stars - Epsilon Lyrae for example is cleanly split at x80 with dark sky between all 4 components.
All in all a very good telescope -the Custom altazimuth mount is both stable and easy to use. It makes a good grab and go scope with virtually no cool down time - you can take it complete out of the house and be observing in a couple of minutes.

Overall Rating: 8
Optics:9 Mount:8 Ease of Use:9 Value:8
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date: 10/14/2005 05:02:15 am PST
By: Anonymous (xxx.xxx.88.186)
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=463448

Reply Replies: 0

Vixen Custom 90

Had this scope since the late 80s. It was expensive, at least in comparison to the plethera of Chinese made refractors available now. However, I believe the optics and build quality is much better than these Chinese scopes. At a focal length of 11.1 this scope is ideal for the planets and double stars.

Living in England, viewing opportunities are not all that regular. My last opportunity was last week and I had the pleasure of viewing the moon (nearly full) and Jupiter and Saturn that are both very prominent at the moment. Turning the scope of the (nearly) full moon showed that there is some hint of chromatic abberation but not so much that it distracted from the view. As for Jupiter and Saturn, they both showed up well. Saturn in particular was stunning - the Cassini division was very clear, a hint of shadow on the rings and some banding clearly visible on the planet's surface.

I would recommend anyone who can obtain a Vixen refractor as they are undoubtedly a cut above the ubiquitious Chinese refractors around - the only downside is the cost of these scopes, even second-hand (e.g. I saw one 4 inch scope going for something in the region Â£200 on Ebay a few weeks ago).

Overall Rating: 9
Optics:9 Mount:8 Ease of Use:9 Value:8
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date: 04/08/2005 01:38:57 am PST
By: Anonymous (xxx.xxx.196.240)
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=430915

Reply Replies: 0

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