Telescope Reviews: New Vixen Porta II at Orion

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Carl Kolchak
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 08/02/06

Loc: Northeast, Florida

New Vixen Porta II at Orion
#3027584 - 04/06/09 11:53 AM

Hi everyone,

Has anyone order the new Vixen Porta II Altazimuth Mount from Orion? Any upcoming reviews?

peace & clear skies

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Manny Myles
Postmaster

Reged: 11/29/05

Loc: Far South of the flyover city ...

Re: New Vixen Porta II at Orion new

[Re: Carl Kolchak]
#3027637 - 04/06/09 12:24 PM

Seems to be not instock yet, I'll probably get one to do make sure my mods will still work with it then retire my V1 Porta.
m2

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Jim7728
Postmaster

Reged: 04/10/05

Loc: Stoop Landing Observatory, NYC

Re: New Vixen Porta II at Orion new

[Re: Carl Kolchak]
#3027846 - 04/06/09 02:07 PM

Seen it announced at Vixen Japan, has made it over to US site.

http://www.vixenoptics.com/mounts/porta2.html

Some nice improvements.

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mathteacher
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 05/13/07

Loc: Oakland, CA

Re: New Vixen Porta II at Orion new

[Re: Jim7728]
#3027898 - 04/06/09 02:31 PM

Uhhh, looks the same as the old one. Just a different mounting screw on the bottom. And different handles for the slo-mo shafts. Am I missing something? They are still saying it handles 20lbs?

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Jim7728
Postmaster

Reged: 04/10/05

Loc: Stoop Landing Observatory, NYC

Re: New Vixen Porta II at Orion new

[Re: mathteacher]
#3027977 - 04/06/09 03:06 PM

It does look the same, thought the original had a 15lb limit.

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Waduino
sage

Reged: 10/24/08

Loc: Richmond Hill, Ontario

Re: New Vixen Porta II at Orion new

[Re: Jim7728]
#3028099 - 04/06/09 04:02 PM

You can now easily put it on a "standard" tripod, and the motion control knobs won't fall off (from the looks of it). Evolution.
Wad.

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Manny Myles
Postmaster

Reged: 11/29/05

Loc: Far South of the flyover city ...

Re: New Vixen Porta II at Orion new

[Re: Waduino]
#3028195 - 04/06/09 04:45 PM

Same weak link with the same type tripod???
Why not sell the head seperately
m2

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mathteacher
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 05/13/07

Loc: Oakland, CA

Re: New Vixen Porta II at Orion new

[Re: Jim7728]
#3028209 - 04/06/09 04:51 PM

Quote:

It does look the same, thought the original had a 15lb limit.

If you look on Vixen's website, it says the capacity of the original is 20lbs. Vendors' websites spec 10-15lbs. 10lbs is more reasonable IMO. My 100ED is lighter than 10lbs and the porta can't really handle it (I realize it is long). My ST80 works great with it; though it only weighs ~4lbs with diagonal and EP.

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Starlighter
Post Laureate

Reged: 08/03/07

Loc: Sunny California

Re: New Vixen Porta II at Orion new

[Re: mathteacher]
#3028700 - 04/06/09 08:45 PM Attachment (49 downloads)

Quote:

Uhhh, looks the same as the old one. Just a different mounting screw on the bottom. And different handles for the slo-mo shafts. Am I missing something? They are still saying it handles 20lbs?

No, you're not missing anything. They made it so the head can be easily detached from the tripod. And they replaced the push on slow motion controls with what appear to be short flex cables with different handles as well as set screws so the handles don't slide off. It still has the lousy aluminum legs. I dumped mine in favor of wooden ones from Hands On Optics and that made a huge difference in stability. I also replaced the stock slow motion handles with spares I had from a CG4 EQ mount.

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Carl Kolchak
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 08/02/06

Loc: Northeast, Florida

Re: New Vixen Porta II at Orion new

[Re: Manny Myles]
#3029670 - 04/07/09 11:49 AM

Quote:

Seems to be not instock yet, I'll probably get one to do make sure my mods will still work with it then retire my V1 Porta.
m2

Hi Dave,

It's good to hear you will provide your upgrades to the new model. I love the improvements you did to my Portamount!

peace & clear skies,

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insinu8
sage

Reged: 01/22/08

Loc: Sunnyvale, CA

Re: New Vixen Porta II at Orion new

[Re: Carl Kolchak]
#3030476 - 04/07/09 06:26 PM

Richard,

I purchased one of these and am successfully using it with my 120ST. I find it a nearly perfect GnG set-up. The only thing I changed was to get replacement slo-mo knobs from Orion which are metal instead of the included plastic ones (they get all wobbly after a few used and fall off).

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ranger
sage

Reged: 04/30/08

Re: New Vixen Porta II at Orion new

[Re: insinu8]
#3045289 - 04/15/09 12:42 PM

I am going to give it a try. I'll report back once I get it.

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Manny Myles
Postmaster

Reged: 11/29/05

Loc: Far South of the flyover city ...

Re: New Vixen Porta II at Orion new

[Re: ranger]
#3045943 - 04/15/09 07:07 PM

I just ordered mine and ships Friday AM.
So I can harldy wait for this to get here.
m2

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Carl Kolchak
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 08/02/06

Loc: Northeast, Florida

Re: New Vixen Porta II at Orion new

[Re: Manny Myles]
#3046300 - 04/15/09 11:27 PM

Christopher, ranger, and Dave,

Thanks for your replies. I look forward to seeing each review. I guess it's time to start setting some money aside now!

peace & clear skies,

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Tom Machtemes
super member

Reged: 06/09/08

Loc: Evergreen Park, Ill.

Re: New Vixen Porta II at Orion new

[Re: Carl Kolchak]
#3046911 - 04/16/09 11:01 AM

Hi,

I'm going to get mine on April 21, I'm going to use it with a SV102ED2, which weights about 15 Lbs. My Porta Mount I tigten the tension too much, and the Alt-Slo-Mo now has to be repaired.

Tom

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Terrance
professor emeritus

Reged: 08/11/04

Loc: Near Portland Or.

Re: New Vixen Porta II at Orion new

[Re: Tom Machtemes]
#3047855 - 04/16/09 08:03 PM

The issue for me is what size connecting bolt the new Porta II mount head could take, if you tried to transfer the mount head to another tripod?

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Manny Myles
Postmaster

Reged: 11/29/05

Loc: Far South of the flyover city ...

Re: New Vixen Porta II at Orion new

[Re: Terrance]
#3047905 - 04/16/09 08:46 PM

We'll let you know as soon as I get it or maybe some one else will share this info.
m2

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ranger
sage

Reged: 04/30/08

Re: New Vixen Porta II at Orion new

[Re: Manny Myles]
#3049315 - 04/17/09 02:41 PM

I have read that the Porta II takes a 1/4 inch thread to mount the head to the tripod. This is a standard thread size for tripods. It is unclear if the mount head is flat on the bottom or if there is an attachment that is needed in addition to secure the head to a camera tripod. I'll let you all know when I get mine.

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ranger
sage

Reged: 04/30/08

Re: New Vixen Porta II at Orion *DELETED* new

[Re: ranger]
#3059091 - 04/22/09 09:17 AM

Post deleted by ranger

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Starlighter
Post Laureate

Reged: 08/03/07

Loc: Sunny California

Re: New Vixen Porta II at Orion new

[Re: ranger]
#3059382 - 04/22/09 11:28 AM Attachment (45 downloads)

Do yourself a favor. Dump the cheap, flimsy aluminum legs and get the wooden ones from Hands On Optics. They're a breeze to install. I use my SV102ED on the Porta and it works well. I have the SV with the FT focuser so the scope weighs more than 10 lbs. With the SV finder and a hefty eyepiece I think it weighs in at around 14 lbs and it's quite stable on the Porta.

GTO Mounts

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ranger
sage

Reged: 04/30/08

Re: New Vixen Porta II at Orion new

[Re: Starlighter]
#3059446 - 04/22/09 12:08 PM

Thanks for the advice Starlighter. I am going to try getting the adapter and use the head on a sturdy photo tripod. If that doesn't work I will go the replacement leg route. It's odd that such a great head would be paired with such a *BLEEP* set of legs.

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Starlighter
Post Laureate

Reged: 08/03/07

Loc: Sunny California

Re: New Vixen Porta II at Orion new

[Re: ranger]
#3059530 - 04/22/09 12:47 PM

If Vixen made the Portamount available with these wooden legs which I'm sure cost no more to make, they would start off with a very solid mount.

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ranger
sage

Reged: 04/30/08

Re: New Vixen Porta II at Orion *DELETED* new

[Re: Starlighter]
#3059568 - 04/22/09 01:03 PM

Post deleted by ranger

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codemonkey
super member

Reged: 09/16/08

Loc: Lafayette, CO

Re: New Vixen Porta II at Orion new

[Re: ranger]
#3060176 - 04/22/09 05:17 PM

I added the wooden legs to my Porta I - definitely an improvement. Still some play in where the legs bolt to the head, and in the plastic spider where the pins go through, so I made "bushings" from some brass tubing. Tightened things up a little more.

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Terrance
professor emeritus

Reged: 08/11/04

Loc: Near Portland Or.

Re: New Vixen Porta II at Orion new

[Re: Starlighter]
#3060281 - 04/22/09 06:10 PM

Well I did the same thing-bought the wooden legs from Hands-on Optics and put them on my original Vixen PortaMount.

Then I took them off again and put the original aluminum legs back on. I noticed no difference in damping time of the legs.

Furthermore, the original tripod legs, like most tripods, but unlike the wooden set, have a simple knob to turn for shortening or extending the legs, allowing a quick length change with a single hand, while the wood replacements have 2 simple screws with wing nuts on each leg making a length change in the legs a pain and requiring 2 hands, one on each side of the leg done twice for each leg. They are now sitting unused in my garage.

Other people may have different results, but mine would make me cautious about recommending this modification for either the Portamount or Porta II.

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codemonkey
super member

Reged: 09/16/08

Loc: Lafayette, CO

Re: New Vixen Porta II at Orion new

[Re: Terrance]
#3060287 - 04/22/09 06:15 PM

Quote:

Furthermore, the original tripod legs, like most tripods, but unlike the wooden set, have a simple knob to turn for shortening or extending the legs, allowing a quick length change with a single hand, while the wood replacements have 2 simple screws with wing nuts on each leg making a length change in the legs a pain and requiring 2 hands, one on each side of the leg done twice for each leg. They are now sitting unused in my garage.

I have noticed the lack of a quick-turn knob for the wooden leg screws, but on the aluminum legs I could never get the knob on the aluminum legs tight enough to keep them from slipping. Very frustrating.

Neither are perfect, that's for sure. The II with the ability to put it on a real tripod is a big improvement.

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Starlighter
Post Laureate

Reged: 08/03/07

Loc: Sunny California

Re: New Vixen Porta II at Orion new

[Re: Terrance]
#3060288 - 04/22/09 06:15 PM

Having two sets of wing nuts on each leg is most reassuring. One thing I'd hate to witness is suddenly a tripod leg loosening up thus causing the entire mount to fall over.

Ever since I began using an adjustable height observing chair, I discovered I never have to readjust the height of the tripod.

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Starlighter
Post Laureate

Reged: 08/03/07

Loc: Sunny California

Re: New Vixen Porta II at Orion new

[Re: Starlighter]
#3060296 - 04/22/09 06:17 PM

One other benefit of the wooden legs from Hands On Optics is the metal accessory tray. It's attached with three screws and once in place it really firms up the tripod. Nothing flexes.

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JAFE
sage

Reged: 07/04/07

Loc: Yavin IV rebel base,

Re: New Vixen Porta II at Orion new

[Re: Terrance]
#3061160 - 04/23/09 02:11 AM

Quote:

Furthermore, the original tripod legs, like most tripods, but unlike the wooden set, have a simple knob to turn for shortening or extending the legs, allowing a quick length change with a single hand, while the wood replacements have 2 simple screws with wing nuts on each leg making a length change in the legs a pain and requiring 2 hands, one on each side of the leg done twice for each leg. They are now sitting unused in my garage.

I think the same. The more simple you get the mount the more you use and enjoy it

. I do prefer recomended to get a set of vibration supression pads, that´s works very good. I do not had any issues with the legs of my Porta I and I like my new G&G setup very much.

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JAFE
sage

Reged: 07/04/07

Loc: Yavin IV rebel base,

Re: New Vixen Porta II at Orion new

[Re: Starlighter]
#3061162 - 04/23/09 02:13 AM

Quote:

One other benefit of the wooden legs from Hands On Optics is the metal accessory tray. It's attached with three screws

Oh no

more screws to deal with. Make it simple

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Starlighter
Post Laureate

Reged: 08/03/07

Loc: Sunny California

Re: New Vixen Porta II at Orion new

[Re: JAFE]
#3062082 - 04/23/09 01:11 PM

The metal tray is anchored at three points. It stabilizes the already much more stable wooden legs. It takes me no more than a minute to attach the tray.

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