Farpoint Vixen Dovetail Plate - Armored Strip - Meade 7 Inch Mak

Product Overview

The Farpoint FVM7-AS is a 17.25″ Vixen-style (V-size) dovetail bar machined for the Meade 7″ Maksutov-Cassegrain optical tube assembly. It carries the same profile as the standard Farpoint Vixen bar, with the addition of a stainless steel armored strip along the face where saddle set screws bite. The kit ships with the dovetail bar and its radius blocks, CNC-machined in the USA from aluminum with a black anodized finish. Published weight is 1.813 lb.

Who It's For

This is a good match if you…

• own a Meade 7″ Maksutov-Cassegrain and want it on a Vixen-style saddle.
• use a mount or accessory that clamps with a set screw pressed against the dovetail.
• have seen grooves or pitting develop on a bare aluminum bar and want a harder clamping surface.
• are replacing or upgrading an existing V-size bar on the same tube.

Key Features & Design

• Stainless steel armored strip: a hardened strip runs along the dovetail where set screws clamp, taking the bite in place of the aluminum underneath.
• 17.25″ bar length: sized to the Meade 7″ Mak tube, giving a long clamping run for balance adjustment fore and aft.
• V-size profile: cut to the Vixen-style dovetail standard, the narrower of the two common standards.
• Radius blocks included: blocks machined to the curve of the tube ship with the bar.
• Black anodized aluminum: a non-reflective finish over machined aluminum.
• CNC-machined in the USA: produced by Farpoint in the United States.

Mechanical Design

Many Vixen-size saddles and accessories hold the bar with a set screw pressed directly against the dovetail. Over repeated sessions that screw mars the aluminum and pits the edge, and the grooves it cuts let the screw wander — which shows up later as slop in the connection between tube and mount. The armored strip places hardened stainless steel at exactly that contact point, so the clamping force lands on steel rather than on the softer bar. The radius blocks work on the other face of the same problem: they are machined to the curve of the 7″ tube, so the bar seats against the contour of the optical tube and spreads the load across the contact surface instead of concentrating it at the bolt holes.

Recommended Uses

• Mounting a Meade 7″ Mak on a Vixen-style saddle for visual observing.
• Long imaging runs where a set-screw saddle is clamped and unclamped repeatedly.
• Rebalancing the tube fore and aft along the bar when a camera or diagonal changes the centre of gravity.
• Replacing a bar whose dovetail edge has already been grooved by set screws.
• Travel setups where the tube comes on and off the mount at every session.

Compatibility and Accessory Notes

The bar is cut to the V-size (Vixen-style) dovetail standard and fits any mount with a Vixen-style saddle — the smaller of the two common dovetail standards, found on most small and mid-size equatorial and alt-azimuth mounts. The radius blocks and hole pattern are machined for the Meade 7″ Maksutov-Cassegrain optical tube assembly. Farpoint's related Vixen kits cover other Meade tubes: a 13.5″ bar for the Meade 8″ SCT and a 17.25″ bar for the Meade 10″ SCT, each offered with or without the armored strip. A D-size (Losmandy-style) saddle takes a D-size bar rather than this one. If you are unsure which standard your saddle uses, we are glad to check the fit — your telescope and mount model is all we need.

Good to Know Before You Order

• The armored strip matters only with set-screw clamping. Saddles that hold the bar with a flat clamping bar, including Farpoint-style saddles, press against the dovetail without marring it; on those the standard version of this bar does the same job.
• This is the Meade 7″ Mak kit. The bar length and radius blocks are specific to that tube, so other Meade models take their own kits.
• V-size only. The bar clamps into a Vixen-style saddle and does not seat in a D-size saddle.
• Published weight is 1.813 lb. That figure is the bar and blocks as shipped.
• No mount or saddle is included. The kit is the dovetail bar and its radius blocks.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the armored strip do?

It is a stainless steel strip along the dovetail where set screws clamp. Set screws mar and pit bare aluminum, cutting grooves that eventually make the connection sloppy. The hardened strip takes the bite without that damage.

Do I actually need it?

It earns its place when your saddle or accessories clamp with a set screw. Saddles that use a clamping bar press flat against the dovetail and leave it unmarked, and in that case the regular version covers the same ground.

Is it difficult to install?

The bar bolts to the existing mounting holes on the Meade 7″ Mak tube with the radius blocks seated between bar and tube. It is a hand-tool job with hex keys, done once, and the tube can stay on its cradle while the bar goes on.

What mounts will this work with?

Any mount with a Vixen-style (V-size) saddle. That covers most small and mid-size equatorial and alt-azimuth mounts.

Are the radius blocks included?

Yes — the kit is the dovetail bar together with its radius blocks.

Bottom Line

In short: a 17.25″ V-size dovetail bar for the Meade 7″ Mak, with radius blocks and a stainless steel strip that puts hardened metal where set screws clamp, machined in the USA and weighing 1.813 lb.