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. 😬

4 minutes ago, HollyHound said:

Yes the Bino adaptor would extend on top of that. I'm 6'2" and can easily view up to around 50 degrees or more with this fully extended 👍

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

56 minutes ago, HollyHound said:

It does include the trigger ball head... just measured mine.

I keep my Nikon Monarch 8x56 on this setup all the time now, as although they can be hand held, I just love that this can be quickly setup alone or next to a scope and used for quickly looking around the sky 👍

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. 

3 hours ago, Ande said:

That’s good to hear. I watched quite a few YouTube videos on the Vortex binos before I ordered. Somewhat naively, I expected to see lots of birdwatchers and astronomers testing them out. What I actually found was loads of red-neck hunting types. I watched some really bizarre stuff. But they all concurred that they were great binos, so job done, albeit in a strange way 😀

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.  

2 minutes ago, Ande said:

Debating session over. Just ordered the Vortex Diamondback 10x50’s. Hopefully here on Wednesday

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

I have the Diamondback HD 10x50's and an older pair of Diamondback 10x42's and I absolutely love them both. That being said, I wouldnt hesitate to pick up the Crossfires if thats all that my budget allowed. I've only looked through a pair of Crossfires once while at the store but they were a nice pair. I cant remember which model they were, but if I was looking for some new binos and the Crossfires were the bino's in question, I wouldn't hesitate to buy them.

I have an ED80 and 127 Mak and the past few weeks when I’ve had a chance to view Mars through both scopes it was definitely on the lighter side of pink if not an off white color. Might have something to do with how close she is to us right now. A couple weeks back it was so bright, any detail was hard to pick up for me. Used both a 2” dielectric and a Tak prism. Even in the Mak using the Tak diagonal at 192x I could barley pick up any pink/red color.  Good detail though and one nice contrast. 

Apologies! I missed the post where you said it was set up at 4 o'clock and that it had plenty of time to cool down. Still only into my 1st cup of coffee here in the USA. I should of waited till cup number 2 before reading and posting. Hope you get it all worked out. The 5 inch mak really is a nice little scope that packs a lot of punch for its size.

I have the Orion version of your SW 127 and my scope does require some cool down time, otherwise the views are not crisp and I see a lot of heat waves in the eyepiece. Sorry, not sure if "heat waves" is the technical name for them or not. Depending on the temp difference between the house and outside it could be anywhere from 30 min to 1.5 hours that I leave it outside. Once acclimated though, the views are nice and crisp. Awesome scope on the moon and planets! Its funny how much of a difference it makes just by getting the temp right inside the scope.

Personally, I would try again with an acclimated scope just to make sure that was the issue before I even touched a collimation screw. But thats just me. I only own a Mak and a refractor, so collimating is not something I'm really used to. You dob owners could probably collimate with one hand tied behind your backs.

Vortex Diamondback HD 10x50
Vortex Diamondback 10x42 (not pictured)
Nikon Action 10x50

My Nikons are prior to the Action Extremes, so I guess they would be now considered the current Aculon's. They were at the time and I guess are still called Action according to the label on the binocular. They're Extremes, but not waterproof which doesn't really make them very extreme. 😉

My beloved 19 year old Orion Starmax 127. I'll eventually get a set of rings so I can also use on my Vixen Porta II mount. I can attach to the Porta II using the dovetail but it's on the bottom of the OTA so that puts my finder in the 7 o'clock position with is pretty awkward.

I hear ya! Ive been thinking about the same thing. I have an Orion 127 Mak and the lowest I usually go on that is 15mm with an occasional 10mm when the nights are good using either my Vixen Zoom or a WO Swan 20mm (barlowed) to get 10mm. I have 10mm and 6.5mm plossls but the eye relief is a little too tight for me. I now have an ED80 and when using it a couple weeks back it liked going down to 8mm with the zoom and even down to 4mm with the barlow in. Felt like I could even push it further. It got me wondering if I should start thinking about a 3.5mm EP for those nights when I want to push the refractor or just keep using the zoom with the barlow at 4mm. A higher power EP would only ever be used in the refractor since that would be too much for the Mak. I bought the refractor for the wide field views and the Mak is there for the high power. So I dont know. I figure I'll figure it out this spring and summer when it warms up and I can spend more time outside with both of my scopes side by side.

And if I wanted to resell it (no chance) as "brand-new" I probably could. Purchased in late November and have only had it out under the stars once. Stuff just keeps happening and I cant get outside. Stupid weather. 😲

You all have some real beaut's I'm seeing in this thread. Definitely drool worthy! My one and only refractor, my humble ED80 could probably be used as a finder scope for some of you.

34 minutes ago, Ships and Stars said:

I buy nearly all of my scopes, binos and eyepieces second-hand, so am rarely out any money if I look after it, which I do. Sometimes I get a real bargain, get to use it for awhile, then find it a new home if I decide someday I can live without a certain bit of gear.

Above all, I find with buying astronomy gear, it's easier to beg forgiveness than ask permission*

*Results may vary

My last two EP's and two diagonals have been second hand and they have been excellent purchases in like new condition. I wouldn't hesitate to keep purchasing second hand for items that I see at a great price and in good condition. That being said, I am going to lay low for a while. Begging for forgiveness still lands me in the dog house. Being in the dog house in the middle of winter in western Pennsylvania is not a good idea.