I replaced the gear and it did have a positive effect on the use of the 114, but not by enough to enable smooth use with the 114. I actually think they felt I had damaged that gear.Īt any rate, I asked got them to send me another gear and we will call it even. If I hadn’t opened that box, that defect would have not been discovered. Think about that response! They didn’t find the problem, but I was wrong for doing what they failed to do. 2) I had voided the warranty by taking the mount apart. Instead of being pleasantly surprised, I was told: 1) that could not be the cause of my alleged issues. I took several pics and sent them off to Vixon. I had sent it to them in a hope they would discover the problem. The mount had just been returned to me from Vixon. So, I took that gear box apart and discovered a large deep scar running around the entire gear. Of course, this was after I purchased the mount.Īfter about 18 months of misery, I noticed the lower, slow mo gear seemed to slip. That’s what Vixen Tech said, but they finally came to the conclusion that the combination of that aperture plus the length of the scope was too much for the mount. In the end, the 80mm gets almost all the grab and go work and the poor 114 seldom sees the night sky. Finally, the APO can easily handle mags up to 200x. The mount easily supports the 80mm while the entire setup is very lightweight. In fact, the 80MM APO and the Vixon mount are an almost perfect combo. On the other hand, the Orion APO/Vixon combo is much easier to use. It has long spider-like legs which causes the scope and obviously the focuser to sit high above the ground. The problem is in the general construction of the mount. Its not the weigh of the mount nor is there a problem with supporting the scope. Yet, I seldom use the SkyView Pro/114mm combo because that mount is a handful to use. When my purchase arrived, I placed The 114 on the SkyView Pro mount and the 80MM on the Vixon. I was lucky, Orion had a sale on their scope/mount combos, I bought their package deal, the 80MM F7.5 ED APO, on their SkyView pro EQ 5 mount. I finally decided the scope was an easier more economic way to go, so I got the Orion 80MM. I researched this decision for a good bit, while waiting to save enough money for the purchase. They disagreed, (and I don’t know how) so I found myself looking for either another mount for the 114, or a scope for the porta mount. If there is nothing wrong with the mount, then the tech made a mistake assuring me it would support the scope. I told them if your sure this mount can adequately support this scope there must be something wrong with the mount I purchased. However the Vixon mount didn’t do the job as the scope suffered from excessive vibrations while focusing.Īfter a year long struggle with Vixon, they refused to refund my purchase or exchange it for another porta mount. To be sure the mount would work well with the 114mn I gave a Vixon Tech that scope’s specs, weight and length, etc right from the manual. So, I decided to purchase a Vixon Porta mount 2 to support the 114. However the EQ1 was a bit lacking in support especially when not polar aligned. Cool down under 15 minutes with enough apperature for good views. And the scope performed well in that capacity. I decided to use the 114mm as a grab and go. But as to why I seldom polar align the 114 on the EQ1 or for that matter any EQ mount, 114mm combo, that’s a longer story.Īfter a few years in the hobby I purchased an 8” DOB to replace the 114 as my primary scope. I was being a bit sarcastic, and unsuccessfully so. You can see the motor on the mount, as well as the battery holder held on the spreader tray with a Velcro strap. I didn't feel a need for the larger diameter until I got into imaging deep space. I found a small grommet that I slipped on the shaft, and with the increased diameter I can dial in the tracking speed very precisely. It's skinny and somewhat hard at times to dial in the motor speed. The other mod I recently made was to the speed control shaft. With the added capacity (amps) the motor speed is stable and the cells last for months with frequent use. I use a six AA battery holder that has 9V terminals. My solution was to solder a long 22ga twisted pair wire with a 9V battery snap on the end. Early on I found the 9V batteries varied speed as the night progressed. Because of the side I mounted it on, the motor direction switch is set to South instead of North to get the correct rotation. I mounted a Celestron branded motor on my CG-4 years ago and it works as well, if not better than the day I installed it. They come with a mounting bracket and hardware, use a 9V battery, and are pretty easy to install and use. RA motor drives are available on eBay for about $35-40 shipped. Only you can determine if it's worth it based on what you want to accomplish, finances, etc.
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