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

Post Extras:

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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