Vixen | Producer of optics from astronomical telescopes and binoculars
Vixen Telescope AXJ equatorial mount
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Suggested retail price: Contact local dealer
The AXJ Mount features superior performance and ease of use while achieving sturdiness close to Vixen’s AXD Mount.
The sturdy and precision-made AXJ Mount, which is almost rival to Vixen's flagship AXD Mount, has a lightweight body that is applicable to SXG-HAL130 tripod. It is best suited for the demanding astrophotographer as a comfortable and secure imaging platform.
Vixen Telescope AXJ equatorial mount Description
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Ultimate Periodic Error Correction - VPEC offers +/- 4 arc seconds tracking accuracy.
The VPEC stands for Vixen's Permanent Periodic Error Correction. The periodic motion of each mount measured and corrected are stored in the nonvolatile memory inside the Mount at Vixen's factory before shipment. In the AXJ Mount, the periodic motions at 12 points are checked on the worm wheel at an angle of 30 degrees intervals by using a high resolution periodic motion measuring tool. The most effective correction has been calculated based on this inspection. The VPEC works automatically as you use the AXJ Mount. It provides precise tracking as accurate as +/- 4 arc seconds or less.
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Belt drive method eliminates backlash and makes the motor noise quieter.
In the conventional drive system of the Vixen equatorial mounts, motion power of the motor was conveyed to the worm gear by the gear trains. The gear trains require a minimum amount of play to move the gears and the amount of play increases as the number of gears increase. To avoid this, transmission of the motion power has been changed from the gears to a belt system. As a result, backlash originated from the gear train has been eliminated and the gear noise has been reduced dramatically. Quiet and stable motion with reliable response has been achieved.
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14 Bearings for smooth motion.
The rotational parts of the AXJ Mount have 15 pieces of bearings in total. This provides extremely smooth motion for tracking and slewing to the target objects.
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Fork arms style R.A. body pedestal combined with sturdiness and lightweight.
The R.A. body of the AXJ Mount is installed on the pedestal with two fork arms. Its design is lightweight while keeping the sturdiness.
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Polar alignment scope with ease of use.
The Polar Scope is used to accurately align the AXJ Mount to the north or south celestial pole. The polar alignment is easy, as you simply bring Polaris and two other stars into the polar scope's field of view so that each can be matched with the designated position on the scale on the polar scope's reticle (in the northern hemisphere). The brightness adjustment dial of the polar scope will illuminate the reticle in red when turned on. The brightness can be adjusted in 8 steps. The red light becomes gradually dimmer after a certain interval of time and turns off automatically.
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Versatile mount head for attaching a different optical tube.
The mount head of the AXJ Mount is an anodized aluminum plate that is resistant to scratches. Threaded holes on the mounting head for an optical tube cradle accept Vixen’s mounting plates and are designed for other manufacturer’s plates. The four screw holes for M8 metric screws and another four screws holes for UNC 5/16-inch screws.
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Loading capacity of 22 Kg.
The use of two pairs of the bearings at both ends of the R.A. axis and the distance of the both ends is wide in breadth. This helps to increase loading capacity while maintaining the lightweight mount. The AXJ Mount carries a maximum loading weight of 22Kg.
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STAR BOOK TEN star chart go-to navigation controller.
The AXJ Mount comes with the STAR BOOK TEN which features an intuitive ‘Star-Chart Go-To’ system with a high definition color LCD display. The position of the telescope, the target and other useful information are displayed on the screen in detail. The night vision mode illuminates the whole screen in red, if applied, and will limit the brightness to the observer’s eyes.
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A fusion of superior performance and ease of use.
Not only avid amateur astronomers who are keen on astrophotography but also novices will appreciate the high performance of the AXJ Mount thanks to the versatile and user-friendly STAR BOOK TEN controller.
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Advanced motor layout to eliminate excess weight.
Not only avid amateur astronomers who are keen on astrophotography but also novices will appreciate the high performance of the AXJ Mount thanks to the versatile and user-friendly STAR BOOK TEN controller.
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Retractable counterweight bar.
The counterweight bar is a durable stainless steel of 25mm thick and it is stored inside the declination body. This aids in quick set up.
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Accessory shoe on the R.A. body.
There is an accessory shoe for an optional Polar Meter which is a compass with a bubble level and an altitude scale used for locating Polaris with ease. It allows for simple set up in daytime.
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Compatible with two different types of Vixen tripods.
The AXJ Mount is attachable to the tripod head of an SXG-HAL130 tripod sold separately. With use of an optional AXJ-TR conversion adapter set, it can be installed on a robust AXD-TR102 tripod designed for the AXD Mount. Optionally available SXG-P85DX and AXD-P85DX pillars can offer you a permanent installation of the AXJ Mount in an observatory dome.
Specifications
AXJ equatorial mount
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R.A slow motionWorm and wheel gears with 225-tooth whole circle micro movement, 114.5mm in diameter, made of brass
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Dec slow motionWorm and wheel gears with 192-tooth whole circle micro movement, 98mm in diameter, made of brass
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Worm shaft gerar15.5mm in diameter, made of brass
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R.A axis40mm in diameter, made of carbon steel
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Dec. axis40mm in diameter, made of carbon steel
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Number of bearings14 pieces
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Counterweight bar25mm in diameter, retractable
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Polar axis scopeBuilt-in 6X20mm finder scope, 8 degrees field of view, automatic turn off reticle illuminator, 3 arc minutes or less setting accuracy, Brightness adjustable in 8 steps, Battery: CR2032 (supplied for checking purpose), 3 stars alignment (Polaris, delta UMI and 51 Cep in the northern hemisphere, Octantis stars in the southern hemisphere) with precession correction until the year 2040.
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Azimuth adjustmentFine adjustment with two tangent screws about 1.7 degree per rotation, Fine adjustable range about +/- 5 degrees
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Altitude adjustmentLatitude adjustable between 0 degree and 70 degrees (devided in 3 zones for high, middle and low latitude and adjustable +/- 15 degrees per zone), altitude scale in 5 degrees increments, Fine adjustment with two T-bar screw bolts about 0.7 degrees per rotation
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Motor drivePulse motors (Belt drive system), Micro-step motion control (300 pps)
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Automatic slewing/trackingAutomatic go-to slewing and high precision tracking with STAR BOOK TEN, 800× of sidereal rate at maximum slewing speed
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Photographic loading weight22 kg (Maximum torque load: 550 kg/cm at a point of 25cm from the place where the R.A and Dec axes cross.
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Controller portD-sub9pin male connector
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Power port, Electricity consumptionDC12V EIAJ RC5320A Calss4 (center plus), Electricity consumption between 0.45A and 2.5A
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Dimensions420mm x 466mm x 138mm
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Weight17.4 kg, without counterweights
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Optional accessories sold separatelyAXD-TR102 aluminum tripod, AXD half pillar, AXD-P85DX metal pillar
Star Book TEN controller
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CPU32 bit RISC processor 324MHz SH7764
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Display5-inch TFT color LCD, WVGA(800x480=384,000 pixels), 65,536 colors, with adjustable backlighting
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Power portDC12V EIAJ RC5320A Class 4, Center plus
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Autoguider port6-pole 6-wired modular jack
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LAN connecting port10BASE-T
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Mount portD-sub9pin male connector
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Expansion slotFor Advance Unit sold separately
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On-sreen R.A./Dec. display1 arc second / 1 minute
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Power sourceDC12V (supplied from the mount side)
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Battery for backup memoryCR2032
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Electricity consumption12V 0.5A(stand-alone use)
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Working temperature0 degree to 40 degrees Centigrade
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Dimensions169mm x 154mm x 30mm
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Weight380g (without battery and without cable)
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Celestial object database272,342 (SAO:258,997, NGC:7,840, IC:5,386, Messier:109*, 7 planets, q quasi-planet, the Moon and the Sun) *In the database, M91 and M102 are listed as NGC4548 and NGC5866 respectively.
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Menus and major functionsAutomatic Go-To slewing, Sidereal tracking and different tracking speeds for the Sun, the Moon, planets comets and artificial satellites, Moon map, Backlash compensation, V-PEC, P-PEC, Extrnal autoguider connection, Vight vision mode, Available in 6 languages (Japanese/English/French/German/Italy/Spanish), Screen brightness control, Hibernate mode, LAN connecting update and more.
Accessories
- Allen wrenches, one each of 6mm, 5mm, 2mm and 1.27mm
- Phillips head screwdriver
- CR2032 battery
- M8 screws (4 pieces)
- Ferrite core for LAN cable
- Cigerette-lighter plug cord
- Star Book TEN controller
- Strap for SBT
- AXJ instruction manual (This book)
