Image of the day

Captured by
Terry Wood

Jupiter (clearer) Nov 5th 2023 w/Mewlon 180c

My Account

New to Astromart?

Register an account...

Need Help?

Is anyone using the Vixen GPD2

Started by Nick Nitro, 12/03/2011 12:40AM
Posted 12/03/2011 12:40AM Opening Post
I just purchased my first scope, a Stellarview 102 ED and would like some feedback on this mount.

Thanks,

Nick
Posted 12/06/2011 02:16AM #1
Hello Nicholas,

Yes I have a Vixen GPD2 mount, purchased new. I managed to catch mine on sale for $750.00 head only no drives or tripod a few years ago. I had some initial problems with what turned out to be an assembly error from the factory. After some "misunderstanding" evolved out of an initial phone conversation with Mike Fowler I managed to correct the problem with a little bit of minor machining, milling on some damaged threads & shaft of the R.A. Axis shaft.

The mount has performed well indeed since that time, & is really at this point overloaded as I have it setup. I performed a "roboscope" conversion of the mount to as Autostar 497 drive system from my LXD75. The PE on the mount remains at around 12" to 15" peak to peak uncorrected, guided has never been measured as the performance is really quite good for DSLR work through either a F4.95 8" Newtonian or through the Meade 5000 F6 80mm.

The mount itself gets an A- from me for its' performance & the U.S. distributor gets a D- for the handling of the problem. Part my fault for misunderstanding what I was told via phone line & part theirs for not backing what Mike told me during that conversation & Mike's delayed & rather smartalic responses to my email communications.

For your application the mount should perform very well, however, I totally agree with Rod here. For the money a GPD2 would now cost you you would be better of with the Losmandy G8. Far better upgrade-ability & support as well the the price difference between the 2 is negligible last time I looked at such a thing. The Vixen to me is an ECONOMY GEM at the top of the heap, but in the same class as the CG-5, LXD75, Skyview Pro yada, yada, yada. Same design, same design flaws & draw backs. The Losmandy is in a better class of mounts IMHO! A better choice of upgrades available to make the mount step up to the performance levels of mounts costing much more. Losmandy will also retain a better resale value when and if you decide to move up in size of class.

From a voice of experience with the GPD2, I'd go for the Losmandy if I had it all to do over again.

Mark Jordan
www.thestardeckobservatory.com