Vixen Porta II Mount payload and tracking

[Scosmico]

Does anyone here know the actual payload capacity of the Vixen Porta II Mount? Some places it says 5kg others 10kg.

Is it realistic to use it with a skymax 150mm (MAK) 5.6kg, with tracking at high power in mind?

[htj]

Hi

I have the Vixen Porta II mount, and would not put a 150 Mak on it. I tried putting an Intes M500 mak (similar to the Skywatcher 127 in size), and that didn't really work.

It does work quite well with my little Megrez 72 (which is what I got the mount for), but it still start to suffer at high magnifications.

I would be looking into the AZ4 mount for a 150 Mak. As minmum. A 150 mak is also a scope that will mostly be targeted towards high magnifications due its long focal length, so a stable mount is really needed. In fact, I'd consider a tracking mount for that scope, as magnifications will typically be on the high side, which means an awful lot of manual tracking, but you may be okay with this. Something to think about at least.

[Scosmico]

Would you say that 150x is a maximum of mag that this mount can handle without tiring you out?

I am asking this because It is very rare to get magnifications higher than that here in Manchester.

If it is a the skymax 150 may work unless you thing is too heavy for the mount.

Hi

I have the Vixen Porta II mount, and would not put a 150 Mak on it. I tried putting an Intes M500 mak (similar to the Skywatcher 127 in size), and that didn't really work.

It does work quite well with my little Megrez 72 (which is what I got the mount for), but it still start to suffer at high magnifications.

I would be looking into the AZ4 mount for a 150 Mak. As minmum. A 150 mak is also a scope that will mostly be targeted towards high magnifications due its long focal length, so a stable mount is really needed. In fact, I'd consider a tracking mount for that scope, as magnifications will typically be on the high side, which means an awful lot of manual tracking, but you may be okay with this. Something to think about at least.

[htj]

Would you say that 150x is a maximum of mag that this mount can handle without tiring you out?

I am asking this because It is very rare to get magnifications higher than that here in Manchester.

If it is a the skymax 150 may work unless you thing is too heavy for the mount.

The maximum I've pushed it to is 86x. And thats with a scope that weighs less than half of the Skymax 150 and is slightly shorter. I really wouldn't go over 100x with it.

The main "problem" with the mount is generally acknowledged to be the tripod (I mostly agree with this), and the thin aluminium legs, which have very poor dampening characteristic. There are some options for improving this. The most harsh is to get a wooden tripod, but this increases both price and weight. Someone over on cloudynights filled the legs with expansion foam (the stuff used for isolation), with quite good results. This adds a little weight, but is quite cheap.

Still, I wouldn't put a Skymax 150 on it. Sorry.

[pete_gamby]

The factory specification payload is 5kg. Vixen's US distributor quotes a higher payload based on what they call "field testing". Since they sell hundreds of these mounts in a year, they have some pretty comprehensive field data!

However as htj says, pushing the magnification will show the limitations of the tripod despite the mount's ability to handle a heavier-then-specified payload.

HTH, Pete