Vixen VC200L Catadioptric Telescope with SXD Sphinx Mount

Vixen VC200L Telescope with SXD Sphinx EQ Mount Vixen's unique catadioptric design features a high precision sixth order aspherical primary mirror a convex secondary mirror and triplet corrector lens. VISAC is an abbreviation for Vixen's Six-Order Aspherical Cassegrain. The primary mirror is held by a retaining ring instead of hooks to decrease flare and enhance contrast.The VC 200L is an 8 f/9.0 highly corrected highly specialized telescope for astro imaging. The VISAC provides high-definition star images to the edge of a wide viewing field and offers exceptionally outstanding performance in astrophotography.Even at the edge of the 35mm film format (larger CCD chips) stars are sharp ( smaller than 15 micrometers) This is smaller than the resolution of fine quality CCD cameras which means that the telescope does not limit the image quality.With its elaborate aspherical optical design it achieves an excellent image correction throughout the large illuminated field. (42mm diameter fully illuminated)With the f/6.4 reducer you get much shorter exposure times. The reducer is a highly recommended optional accessory.The basic configuration includes a piggy-back camera holder. You can take photos both through the telescope and using a telephoto lens parallel to the main instrument or you can use the VC200L for guiding while the camera sits on top. Pair this with Vixen's Sphinx SXD Mount with the STAR BOOK hand controller and you have a system designed with Astrophotographers in mind. The SXD Mount has a loading capacity of 50 pounds. The smooth RA and DEC axes provide increase your viewing experience. Package contains VC200L Sphinx SXD Mount 7x50 Finder Scope and bracket Flip Mirror NLV25mm Eyepiece and counterweights.Vixen SXD Sphinx MountWhile the outsides might look similar to the standard Sphinx Mount the changes that have happened under the hood are huge! Incorporating one piece hardened steel RA and DEC shafts with needle bearings throughout the new Sphinx D can handle a load capacity up to 50 lbs. The Sphinx D comes complete with PEC and the incredibly accurate SX Polar Finder Scope. Astronomers with larger optical tubes and all level of astrophotographers are sure to feel right at home with the intuitive controls that so many have become accustomed to with the standard Sphinx Mount. Its 4.7 Color LCD Display gives an exact position against its scrolling star chart any object is a point and look away! The innovative STAR BOOK hand controller offers astronomical navigation with a large full-color LCD screen! The color screen is a detailed star chart that acts as a navigational and GOTO guide for the mount. Zoom-In/Out buttons for the color star chart display also control the motor speed. As you zoom in closer to an object on the display screen the motor speed automatically becomes finer and as you zoom out the motor speed increases to cover larger distances. The Vixen STARBOOK Controller - A hand-held personal planetarium Vixen is known for its amazing quality and high-end performance. But what Vixen has done with their hand-controller simply makes everyone look inadequate. If you have never had the pleasure of seeing the STARBOOK controller in action get ready for something pretty exciting. There is simply nothing else like it. Vixen SX Sphinx Vixen SXD Sphinx and Vixen ATLUX mounts include the powerful STARBOOK hand controller. At first glance you would think it’s a video game device. STARBOOK is an actual map of the night sky on a LCD screen. The Vixen STARBOOK controller features a large 4.7 Color LCD display and is the command center of the Vixen mount. It features simple navigation buttons on each side of the body and are simple to navigate in the dark. Its dimensions are approximately 7.5 x 5.5 x 1 inches and weighs approximately 14 oz. At the bottom of the controller you will find a port for connecting STARBOOK to the Equatorial Mount a LAN Port for communication with a PC and for firmware updates and an Autoguider Port. Setting up the mount with the STARBOOK controller is simple. A cable connects the mount to STARBOOK and when the mount is powered on you are greeted with the Vixen logo on the STARBOOK screen. Simply enter your observing location (longitude latitude local date and time) then store the settings for current and future use. The Mount then needs to be put into the home position. Simply point the mount north and the telescope tube west. There are also alignment marks on the mounts body to assist you. From the home position you are now ready to align the telescope with the night sky. Chart Mode and Scope Mode Before we begin aligning the mount its important to know that the STARBOOK controller has two modes. CHART Mode (the screen menu will change to Blue in color when in CHART MODE) or SCOPE MODE (the screen will change to Red in color with in SCOPE MODE). In both modes the STARBOOK will display a map of the night sky with objects named. A cross hair will show its current pointing location. The difference between CHART MODE and SCOPE MODE is the movement of the cross-hair. In CHART MODE when moving the directional buttons you will NOT actually move the telescope you will simply move the cross-hair of the chart on the map to a new location. But when in SCOPE MODE if you move the cross-hair you actually move the telescope mount to that location. Alignment of the Telescope Now that the telescope is in the HOME position and the basic time/location information is stored into STARBOOK you are ready to align the telescope with the night sky. In CHART MODE simply locate a known star on the map. You could select Vega for example. Align the cross hairs to Vega on the map and select GOTO. STARBOOK will now automatically switch to SCOPE MODE and begin moving the telescope to where it thinks Vega is. Simply center Vega in your finderscope then center in your eyepiece and press ALIGN. Repeat this process for 2 or more stars. Now that your mount is aligned with the night sky you can use STARBOOK to navigate through the night sky. The Vixen STARBOOK controller can also be used without the mount. For educational learning of the night sky from indoors or on cloudy evenings STARBOOK can be powered on without the mount. You can explore the night sky in CHART MODE and begin planning your next observing session.

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