From the legendary Atlux range from Vixen comes the Atlux Deluxe (AXD), the flagship among the astronomical mounts!
In the past, there were two different mount models such as, for example, the Atlux mount. There was also the Star Book control unit. Each of these devices were, in their time, innovative and high-performance. With the recent increasing use of highly sensitive DSLR cameras which enable breathtaking images to be captured, the demand for more accuracy and modern technology has increased. Vixen responded to these changes with the development of the AXD mount. The aim was to achieve a high-performance mount with a high degree accuracy, which was developed with both astro-photography beginners as well as professional photographers in mind.
Even advanced astronomers will appreciate that the top performance and accurate tracking during observation and photography pays off, and superb photographic results can be achieved.
Beginner astronomers will appreciate the user-friendly operation offered by the AXD mount, giving them the opportunity to produce successful astrophotography without having to be an expert in this field. No matter what kind of astronomy you are interested in, whether photographer or observer, you will find this mount easy to operate.
- Rugged construction and a light body: the A7075 super alloy, which is the strongest aluminum alloy, is used for the RA and Dec axes. The stability of the A7075 super alloy is greater than titanium, which is well-known as a lightweight material with high strength. Its density is 38% lower than titanium. The use of the A7075 super alloy for the axes makes the AXD mount light and yet stable.
- 21 bearings: the moving parts of the AXD mount have a total of 21 bearings. This makes for a very smooth motion, in order to slew to objects and to follow them.
- Stepper motors: Vixen chose more accurate stepper motors for the mount, in order to be able to realise the full performance potential. The disadvantage of stepper motors with large steps has been eliminated through the micro-step motion control system. This system delivers 400 pulses per second at high speed. This ensures smooth tracking without vibrations. The AXD mount stepper motors have sufficient torque. This is most evident when working at high levels of magnification and CCD photography with small pixel sizes.
- Worm gears: the size of the worm gears was increased in the latest Atlux version. The AXD mount has 270 teeth in RA and 216 teeth in DC. Both axes are 50 mm in diameter. With this, the mount achieves a high degree of accuracy and stability.
- Low backlash: Due to the Vixen micro-step motion control system, the stepper motors run from low to high speed very smoothly. This eliminates the need for reduction gears in the motor and thus reduces backlash in the gear train.
- Original motor layout: the solid RA and Dec motor units are arranged in the lower part of the mount. In this way they automatically act as counterweight . Therefore you need much less weight on the counterweight shaft. For example when using smaller equipment no counterweight is needed at all. The counterweight shaft can be retracted completely into the housing.
- Polar finder telescope: the AXD mount is fitted with a 6x20 polar finder telescope as standard. With the polar finder’s built-in scale polar alignment in the northern hemisphere is simple and accurate. For observation in southern latitudes the Octans constellation is displayed, which can then be superimposed on the real stars.
- Periodic error correction VPEC: periodic errors are usually measured and corrected by the user of the mount. Since the old Star Book did not permanently store this error, this issue has been resolved in the Star Book Ten. The mount’s periodic error is measured during production and corrected prior to despatch. This is called VPEC and works automatically as soon as you use the mount. With it you can achieve an accuracy of +/- 4 arcseconds. You will be able to further increase the tracking accuracy, by saving your own recorded periodic error.
The German structure is retained in the development of the robust but light AXD mount. All electronic parts in the mount are in a printed circuit board in order to simplify the wiring. The mount is equipped with a particularly reliable printed circuit board.
The Star Book Ten controller is available for purchase as a standalone item only to upgrade the SX2 mount. It is included as standard with the SXD2, SXP and AXD mounts and is not backwards compatible with the Star Book controller supplied with Vixen’s previous generation SX and Atlux mounts.
