DIY: Homemade Vixen Mount

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mikemarotta
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DIY: Homemade Vixen Mount

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Post by mikemarotta »


I am not a fabricator. I have very few tools here. Four years ago, I bought a National Geographic 70-mm refractor used and abused from some kids down the street. Between Christmas and August they lost the eyepieces, center tray, guide handle, and cellphone attachment, and the dew shield was on backwards. (They said that they never had it outside.) I tested it with a 1.25-inch eyepiece against a traffic sign down the road and it was OK. So, I gave them $35 for it. For four years, I did what I could with the mount, taking it apart and putting it back together but rubber bands and hose clamps never solved anything.

All-in-all it has been a good little viewer and given the 70-mm limit, not half bad for backyard stargazing. At that time, I also owned a Celestron EQ-130 Newtonian, which I have since donated to the Goodwill.

Meanwhile, in October 2020, I bought myself an Explore Scientific 102-mm refractor. It comes on a First Light mount to keep the price down and I was never happy with the mount. It is difficult to control and somewhat underweight even for the 102. I was able to afford a Twilight I mount from ES, used and reconditioned with warranty. That has gone well for me. Now, I wanted to put the National Geographic on the First Light mount.
Nation G Vixen 17Oct2021 - - 2.jpeg
The easiest solution would have been to buy a Vixen mount, $79.95 plus tax and shipping, which was wholly disproportionate to my needs here. So, I went to Home Depot and searched for wood. I bought a 24-inch long quarter-inch poplar slat, cut it in thirds and glued two of them together. (I learned about Elmer's in junior high shop class.) The attachment on the telescope is tapped from the inside and I did not want to take those screws out. So, I used them to attach the new plate. Lacking drill bits, I used wood screws to make the holes. (We have an electric hand drill that my wife got as a door prize at a computer user meeting.) I ran a thin one in first, then widened it. I secured the slat to the telescope with Gorilla glue.
NatlG on ES FL.jpg
As you can see, even though I measured more than twice, I was off by an inch the first time. I also split the wood once with a screw too large. After gluing (and curing) that, I wided the holes with my Swiss Army Knife. (I cut the slats to length with the saw blade on my Gerber pocket multi-tool.)
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Michael E. Marotta
Astro-Tech 115 mm APO Refractor Explore Scientific 102 mm f/6.47 Refractor Explore Scientific 102 mm f/9.8 Refractor Bresser 8-inch Newtonian Reflector Plössls from 40 to 6 mm Nagler Series-1 7mm. nonMeade 14 mm. Mounts: Celestron AVX, Explore Twilight I Alt-Az, Explore EXOS German Equatorial
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