SPIDER VANE
FEBRUARY The robust design eliminates the need for constant collimation, holding the secondary mirror steady in all positions. As one of the trickiest aspects of using fast Newtonians, we didn’t miss fiddling about with screwdrivers dangled over expensive mirrors in the dark.
we came out of these visual tests with high expectations for the telescope when used for astrophotography, and we were not disappointed.
Using a DSLR and Bahtinov mask, we found focus to be sharp across the whole field. The corrector maintains good colour across the red, green and blue wavelengths, meaning that when used with a DSLR or colour CCD, you won’t have the issue of bloated blue stars. In fact the images produced from the R200SS and Corrector PH in combination were very good indeed, with sharp, nicely shaped stars even at the edges of the frame.
Fast scopes have a tiny depth of focus, and therefore require precise focusing. The dual-speed rack and pinion focuser supplied, whilst not silky smooth, felt firm and dependable, and more than capable of allowing the miniscule movements necessary. As the outside temperature dropped, the focus required tweaking, but that, remarkably for an f/3.8 Newtonian, was all the adjustment needed to achieve great quality images, even after several weeks of use.
Perhaps the ultimate compliment for a reflecting telescope would be that is as easy to use as a refractor. With the R200SS and Corrector PH combination, Vixen is very close indeed to that standard and has made it easier than ever to take high quality astro images in a short time.