cupton

Not available on Amazon anymore, but I got the Orion 144mm rings. Fit like a glove. Im assuming that any 144mm rings would work. https://www.telescope.com/144mm-ID-Orion-Telescope-Tube-Rings/p/7374.uts I was also looking at an L adapter from ADM that they had made specifically for the Porta II side mount. It was a more costly option, but it was an option. Maybe ADM has something for you that you could use? Might be worth just shooting them an email and asking them. They were super friendly and helpful when I had asked the question a couple years ago. Scopestuff is another vendor I have purchased a lot from over the years. Maybe they have something? After mounting in the rings...

I had the same issue with my Starmax 127 when trying to mount on my Vixen Porta II. The finder would be lower left and the focuser would be behind the eyepiece. Not optimal and I might of been able to live with it in due time but life is too short, so I put the 127 in a couple of rings, and rotated the 127 till all was right in the world again. I did have to remove the existing dovetail on the 127 so that I could put the rings on, but my Starmax is 20 years old and they weren't securing their dovetails with a bolt inside of the OTA at the time, so it was an easy task.

Most nights (and days) I automatically gravitate and default to my Pentax ZD 8x43 which seem to be my go-to binoculars for most things handheld. Every once in a while I will grab the Vortex Diamondback 10x50's. Both are roofs. If I want a little more steady of a view with the monopod, I will grab the Pentax SP 10x50's or even the Pentax 20x60's porros.

I use my Explore Scientific Dielectric 99% of the time in my ED80 and in my 127 Mak the Takahashi gets used 100% of the time. Pic of the Takahashi below is it sitting in my ED80.

Vixen ED80Sf and/or Pentax 20x60 bins on a monopod along with 10x50's which are also at the ready. Guess it all depends on how darn cold it is out. Lately its been all about the bin's!

Congrats on the purchase. Let us know how you like them. I have the same pair and can use for short spurts handholding during the day but I also use with a ball head pistol grip on a monopod for stargazing. Great for moon'gazing too!

I mainly use my Tak prism diagonal in my 127 MAK since its a 1.25 diagonal. The contrast and clarity is a huge step up from the mirror diagonal that came with the scope. In my Vixen ED80 I have used the Tak as well, but the focuser racked almost all of the way out for anything to come into focus. It works though and I do notice a little less light scatter with the Tak compared to the 2 inch dielectric diagonal I normally use. Its minimal, but I do see it when viewing the planets. I mainly just use the 2 inch diagonal since the ED80 is my only scope that can use it and I can just keep it in the focuser along with the 1.25 inch adapter.

Added some Pentax 20x60's to the Astronomy set. So now my primary astro binos are my Vortex Diamondback 10x50's for most nights and the more specialized Pentax 20x60's for when I have a specific target in mind. Been cloudy for weeks here, so not much time behind them yet.

Hearing great thinks about the Oberwerk 2000 Monopod and Trigger Grip Head as I peruse though forums and reviews. I fired off an email to Kevin at Oberwerk asking a couple of questions and he got right back to me and said he loves using monopods and thinks the 20x60's would work great with them. I think I will give it a try since I can also use the monopod with my 10x50's as well. For now, I am looking to go light and portable for instantaneous viewing since the window of opportunity where I live in the fall and winters is short. Good news is if I decide I want to get a tripod down the road I can pick one up and I would already have the head and binocular adapter. Thanks for all the info and advice. Also, last night I realize that I may of hijacked this thread so many apologies to the OP of this thread. 😬

Good to know! You have about 4" on me.

Thank you for the clarification. Much appreciated! So basically both options I am looking at are roughly 72-inches not including the Bino adapter. Now I just need to decide if I would prefer the trigger grip or a pan head to mount 20x60's on. I've never used binoculars on a mount before. I guess one of the good things about Amazon is the ease of returning an item.

Ive seen recommendations for both a monopod and tripods and I have no idea which would be better. Im in a similar boat. I just recently purchased some Nikon SP 20x60 WP binos at a super good price I just couldn't pass up. Ive been wanting those for a while. I have no way to mount them at the moment other than on my scope tripods. Been looking at some dedicated Bino options. The Trigger-Grip Head looks interesting. I've read Steves Binocular Sky page which was super helpful in laying out all the different options, so then I was also looking at pan heads and found what looked like a decent tripod/monopod combo that can support 4 times what the Pentax weighs. This is what I was looking at: Victiv 72 Inch Tripod/Monopod Anyone know if the Amazon tripod and ball head max extended size of 72.6 inches includes the trigger ball head in those dimensions or is that the height of just the tripod. Sorry, I couldn't find that particular bit of info. I was going to message amazon to see if they knew. I would could also be mounting some roof 10x50's on whatever mounting option I end up with. Thats my hand holding pair, but I can see mounting them from time to time.

I know what you mean. I've seen the same videos. Some are entertaining and then some after a while leave me scratching my head wondering why I just wasted multiple minutes watching someone unbox a pair of binoculars. Did I really learn anything? I never understood those unboxing videos. Thats just me though. I've personally never really found them particularly useful. Your mileage may vary.

Glad you got them and the initial impressions are good. like I said, I really enjoy mine. I have multiple Vortex products and I am a very satisfied customer. Enjoy!!! Now you just need to wait out the cloud cover. Or you can do what I do in the meantime and zoom in on the dog, the plants on the shelf, the children sitting in the chair next to you just so you can creep them out.

Well there you go. I posted too late. Glad you ordered a pair. I think you'll be happy with what you ordered.