Orion VX120GP VS Antares 4.7" 812gp w/Vixen optics
Jim Idone
ota on there GP eq mount sold by Orion for about $2K US versus the
Antares 4.7" 812GP which is advertised by Khan's in Canada with a Vixen
objective, the rest seems the same as other China imported scopes( comes
with an antares 2" diagonal, 3 EP's, look alike CG-5 mount and a larger
finder) for$1k US? The Orion I know is a Vixen but the Antares I don't,
this could be like the Tele Hoon scopes( they say Vixen optics but how
do you really know? ).
Thank and Happy New Year
Jim
Ross Bench
The VX120 has a second achromat to flatten the field.
It has a total of four lens elements.
The Telehoon has a two element achromat and no field correcting
lens.
The Vixen optics may very well be superior, but a two element
achromat is a two element achromat if they have similar figures.
The Chinese Achromat in the Telehoon scope is multicoated and
performs well for approximately $400.00 (USD).
Joseph O'Neil
wrote:
>Does anyone have any experience with the Orion VX120GP which is a Vixen
>ota on there GP eq mount sold by Orion for about $2K US versus the
>Antares 4.7" 812GP which is advertised by Khan's in Canada with a Vixen
>objective, the rest seems the same as other China imported scopes( comes
>with an antares 2" diagonal, 3 EP's, look alike CG-5 mount and a larger
>finder) for$1k US? The Orion I know is a Vixen but the Antares I don't,
>this could be like the Tele Hoon scopes( they say Vixen optics but how
>do you really know? ).
hi Jim;
being a dealer for both Oriona nd Antares, I hope ican fill in
some of the gaps for you.
Optically and mechanically the Vixen is superior. The Antares
is a fine scoep for visual use, but I do not reccomend it for
astro-photo use. The Vixen 120 (a "neo-achromat") will have better
colour performance and better feild flattening, in addition to a more
robust tube assembly.
What Sky Instruments does is buy Chinese (Taiwan?) made
housings, and places Japanese made optics in these tubes. I woudl say
that the optics of these lenses are better than similar Cheinse made
housings, but everytime I do I get a firestorm of protests from other
people saying this is not so. All I can do then is tell in that when
I am totally drunk, in the midst of total dementia and my most greedy,
biased personality, I consider the Japanese made optics to be better
performers than others, but then again, I'm the kind of person who
loves to eat broccolli, so I must be totally twisted in these
opinions. :) Also I only had three hours sleep last night so I
probally canot read a thing I am typing. :)
The Antares is a fine instrument if you know what you are
buying and you want a strickly visual instrument. Teh Vixen
neo-achromat is, IMO, more of a visual scope than a photographic one
(look to the Vixen ED series for astro-photo applications), but
overall it is more suited to astro-photo use than the Antares.
colour correction? Well, i am partly colour blind so you
better take my opinion with a BIG grain of salt and disbelief - after
all, what i am about to tell you is like listening to a deaf man
describe the difference between Mozart and Handell. :)
. However, if you allow to get into the same demented,
drunken mode I wander into when commenting on the quality of Japanese
vs other lenses, I would give yout eh estimate that the Antares 120mm,
at a focal ratio of F8.3, will give you the colour correction of - oh
say a "traditional" f12 achromat, while the Neoorrection-Achromat is
oh problaly closer to say an F16 achromat in colour correction (give
or take). By comparison, going really out on a limb, the ED Vixen are
probally closer to a "traditional" achromat of F20 and the flourites
F25 +.
The Gp clone mount that the Antares comes on is, IMO, at the
boarderlien of being capable of handing the tube assembly, whereas the
vixen GP mount will handle the 120 neo-achromat, but realistically,
you should mount any Vixen 4" or larger refractor on the GP-DX mount.
For what it is worth, when it comes ot mounts, I am equally demented
in my opinions - a good mount should always be twice as heavy as your
OTA, and require a hernia belt and a bottle of prescription strenght
Tylenol to move in order to be stable enough. ;)
If you have any other questions, e-mail me anytime. One last
thought - that 120 Antares is bigger than it looks, in the sense of
hauling it around and setting it up. If you are looking for something
lightweight and portable, IMO, this isn't it.
good luck
joe