Farpoint Vixen Dovetail Plate - Armored Strip - Celestron 8 Inch SCT

Product Overview

The Farpoint FVC8-AS is a Vixen-style (V-size) dovetail plate kit for the Celestron 8″ SCT. The bar is machined from aluminum with a black anodized finish and carries a stainless steel armored strip along the edge where saddle set screws bear. Radius blocks cut to the curve of the 8″ tube and the mounting screws ship with it. Farpoint gives the shipping weight as 1.938 lb, and the parts are CNC-machined in the United States.

Who It’s For

• This is a good match if you carry a Celestron 8″ SCT on a Vixen-style saddle and want the dovetail edge protected where the set screws clamp.
• This is a good match if you move the tube between mounts often, so the bar is clamped and released repeatedly.
• This is a good match if you are replacing an original bar whose dovetail edge has already been grooved.

Key Features & Design

• Stainless steel armored strip: runs along the dovetail where set screws bear, so the point load lands on hardened steel rather than anodized aluminum.
• V-size dovetail profile: the bar is cut to the Vixen standard and seats in any Vixen saddle.
• Radius blocks included: shaped to the curve of the Celestron 8″ tube so the bar beds against the OTA rather than bridging it.
• Black anodized aluminum: the bar and blocks are machined from aluminum and anodized black.
• Mounting screws supplied: the hardware needed to attach the bar to the tube is in the box.
• Published weight 1.938 lb: light enough to leave on the tube between sessions.
• CNC-machined in the USA: Farpoint machines the bar and blocks in the United States.

Mechanical Design

A flat dovetail bar bolted straight to a round SCT tube touches it only at the bolt holes. The radius blocks in this kit are cut to the curve of the 8″ tube and sit between bar and OTA, so the clamping load spreads across a curved contact face instead of concentrating at two points. The armored strip addresses a separate wear path. Saddles and accessories that hold the bar with a set screw press a small point load into the dovetail edge, and on bare aluminum that contact pits and grooves the surface over time, which lets the clamped joint go slack. The stainless strip takes that contact in place of the aluminum.

Recommended Uses

• Mounting a Celestron 8″ SCT on a Vixen-style equatorial or alt-azimuth saddle for visual sessions.
• Moving the same 8″ OTA between a portable mount and a permanent setup, where the dovetail is clamped and released often.
• Astrophotography runs where a marked, loose-fitting dovetail would let the tube settle under the saddle mid-sequence.
• Replacing a Vixen bar whose clamping edge has already been cut up by set screws.

Compatibility and Accessory Notes

• Telescope: Celestron 8″ SCT optical tube assembly.
• Dovetail standard: V-size (Vixen). It seats in Vixen saddles; a D-size (Losmandy) saddle takes the wider D profile, and an adapter bridges the two standards.
• Kit contents: dovetail bar, radius blocks matched to the 8″ tube, mounting screws.
• Clamping edge: stainless steel armored strip.
• Material and finish: black anodized aluminum.
• Origin: CNC-machined in the United States.

Tell us your scope and mount and we’ll confirm the fit.

Good to Know Before You Order

• The armored strip earns its keep only where a set screw clamps. Saddles that hold the bar with a flat clamping bar press across the face rather than into it, and they leave a plain aluminum dovetail unmarked — the standard FVC8 covers that case.
• This is a V-size bar. A mount with a D-size (Losmandy) saddle takes the wider profile, so a D bar or a Vixen-to-D adapter is the route there.
• The telescope is not included. The kit is the bar, the radius blocks and the screws.
• Published weight is 1.938 lb. Shipping is calculated on a rounded 2 lb.
• Farpoint publishes no bar length for this model. We can measure a unit from stock if the exact length matters to your setup.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it difficult to install?

It is a bolt-on part. The radius blocks locate against the curve of the tube, the bar sits on top of them, and the supplied screws pull the assembly together with a hex key.

What does the armored strip actually do?

It gives set screws a hardened steel surface to bear against. On a bare aluminum dovetail, set screws mar and pit the edge, cutting grooves that make the clamped connection progressively sloppier. The stainless strip absorbs that contact instead.

How does this differ from the plain Vixen bar?

The profile, the radius blocks and the screws are the same. The armored version adds the stainless strip along the clamping edge.

Which mounts take this bar?

Any mount with a Vixen-style (V-size) saddle — the narrower of the two common dovetail standards, found on most small and mid-size equatorial and alt-azimuth mounts.

Bottom Line

In short: a Celestron 8″ SCT Vixen dovetail kit — bar, radius blocks and screws, 1.938 lb as published — with a stainless armored strip on the clamping edge so set screws bear on steel rather than anodized aluminum.