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

Product Overview

The Farpoint FVM8-AS is a 13.5″ Vixen-style (V-size) dovetail bar machined for the Meade 8″ Schmidt-Cassegrain optical tube assembly. It carries the same profile as the standard Farpoint Vixen bar for this tube, with the addition of a stainless steel armored strip along the face where saddle set screws bite. The bar is CNC-machined in the USA from aluminum with a black anodized finish, at a published weight of 1.938 lb.

Who It's For

This is a good match if you…

• own a Meade 8″ SCT 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.
• 13.5″ bar length: sized to the Meade 8″ SCT tube, with clamping run to shift the tube fore and aft for balance.
• V-size profile: cut to the Vixen-style dovetail standard, the narrower of the two common standards.
• Black anodized aluminum: a non-reflective finish over machined aluminum.
• Matches the standard bar otherwise: identical to the regular Farpoint Vixen bar for this tube apart from the strip.
• 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, at the worst possible place in the system, since every tracking error at that joint is amplified by the focal length above it. The armored strip puts hardened stainless steel exactly where the screw bites, so the clamping force lands on steel rather than on the softer bar and the dovetail keeps its original profile. On an 8″ SCT that joint carries a fair amount of mass at a long focal length, which is why the clamping surface holding its shape over years of use is worth the hardened strip.

Recommended Uses

• Mounting a Meade 8″ SCT on a Vixen-style saddle for visual observing.
• Long imaging runs where a set-screw saddle is clamped and unclamped repeatedly.
• Planetary and lunar sessions where a stiff tube-to-mount joint keeps a long focal length steady.
• Rebalancing the tube along the bar when a camera or diagonal changes the centre of gravity.
• 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 hole pattern is machined for the Meade 8″ Schmidt-Cassegrain optical tube assembly. Farpoint's related Vixen kits cover the other Meade tubes: a 17.25″ bar for the Meade 7″ Mak and a 17.25″ bar for the Meade 10″ SCT, each offered with or without the armored strip. A mount with a D-size (Losmandy-style) saddle takes a D-size bar rather than this one; Farpoint's FDM8 kit covers the Meade 8″ f/10 SCT in the D standard. 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 8″ SCT bar. The 13.5″ length and hole pattern are specific to that tube, so other Meade models take their own bars.
• V-size only. The bar clamps into a Vixen-style saddle and does not seat in a D-size saddle.
• The listed kit contents are the bar itself. Farpoint's published specification for this item covers the dovetail bar; if your tube needs radius blocks as well, we can tell you what the tube takes.
• Published weight is 1.938 lb. That figure counts toward the mount's payload along with the tube and any imaging train.

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 8″ SCT tube. It is a hand-tool job with hex keys, done once, and the bar can then stay on the tube between sessions.

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.

How does this differ from the FDM8?

The FDM8 is the same tube in the D-size (Losmandy-style) standard and ships as a kit with radius blocks and screws. This bar is the V-size version with the armored strip, for mounts with a Vixen saddle.

Bottom Line

In short: a 13.5″ V-size dovetail bar for the Meade 8″ SCT with a stainless steel strip that puts hardened metal where set screws clamp, machined in the USA and weighing 1.938 lb.