vixen sphinx

will a vixen sphinx hold a 9.25 inch ota

There is an indepth review on this mount in the New July 2005 edition of Sky & Telescope.

Al Dyer wrote.....
"Fitted with a 20 lb. Celestron 9.25" SCT and a 10 lb. counterweight to balance the tube the Sphinx had a dampening time of 5 seconds, regardless of whether the tripod legs were extended. This is on the borderline of being too shaky in my opinion".

He put dampening pads under the trpod legs and it cut the dampening time to 1.5-2 seconds. For more info check out the S&T review.

I used my C9.25" on a Sphinx. Load-wise, the mount has no trouble with GOTO with the C9.25". Never felt like it was straining or close to weight limit, unlike my previous GP-DX. Tracking with the Sphinx with a C9.25" is great. I have webcammed with a ToUCam with a 3X barlow and only have had to make very minor occasional drive corrections. As folks have seen, dampening from vibration becomes troublesome at high magnifications. Three contributive sources: from the Sphinx tripod, from the mount and from the thin CG-type dovetail that the C9.25" comes with for use with a Sphinx. My personal opinion is it is 35% 45% 20%. I have thought about getting a remote focuser for the 9.25" to avoid touching the OTA.

Nonetheless vibrations are not an issue in the 100x-150x viewing range in my opinion. For long exposure DSO astrophotography, the Sphinx is inadequate with a C9.25".


Ivan