An alt-az mount for 80mm refractor

[Michael11]

I am looking for a compact alt az mount under 300$ for my 80mm ED refractor. And I`d really like to have slow motion controls on it. 

I had a dwarfstar before, but it was really unstable. Now I am looking at vixen porta 2. Will it be stable enough? I have a quite heavy photographic tripod I`d like to use, but I`m not sure which head will fit it. Any alternatives I may have?

[chiltonstar]

My ED80 works reasonably well on my Vixen Porta 2 altaz. I got this mount because of the slow motion controls - I tried the Skywatcher AZ3 and wasn't impressed.

Chris

[JG777]

Vixen Porta 2 may be your best option for the budget it gets good reviews on here. As mentioned AZ3 is OK but needs a bit of tweaking out of the box. You might be able to stretch to a Skytee 2 if it fits your existing tripod.

[Michael11]

Thanks,  

And is there a way to attach porta2 head to a photographic tripod?

Also -  if I add a canon 500d dslr to the telescope - won't it be a stretch in terms of payload capacity?

[prusling]

I have an Astrotech Voyager which is fine with my 80ED and DSLR. Not sure whether these can still be purchased but I believe Teleskop Service currently offer a clone. I can provide more info if you wish.

[Moonshane]

although it does not have slowmo controls, I find my giro 3 excellent in every respect. 

[chiltonstar]

One negative of the Porta2 is the fairly lightweight tripod - good for a grab 'n go, but vibrates a bit at high (x150) mag. I've braced mine with some bungees.

Chris

[Lowjiber]

I like the ES Twilight I mount for my 80mm.  ES is having a 20% off sale until Feb 28th.

[pete_gamby]

Thanks,  

And is there a way to attach porta2 head to a photographic tripod?

Also -  if I add a canon 500d dslr to the telescope - won't it be a stretch in terms of payload capacity?

There is an adapter from Vixen that allows the Porta II head to be mounted to a 1/4" screw - you'd need to tap it out to 3/8" if your tripod canopy only has that size thread. Part number is #3942 and shown here under our stock code of 73942:

http://www.vixenoptics.co.uk/Pages/porta_II_mount.htm

HTH

Cheers, Pete

[BargeGazer]

I use a Porta II with my ES 80 and, as someone else has said, it is fine except at a high magnification when vibration needs time to settle down.

Very portable with good manual slow motion control and good friction clutch quick-adjustment.

David

[NGC 1502]

I have an Astrotech Voyager which is fine with my 80ED and DSLR. Not sure whether these can still be purchased but I believe Teleskop Service currently offer a clone. I can provide more info if you wish.

I also use an ED80 on an Astrotech Voyager, works well.

Orion Optics UK supply this clone of that mount http://www.orionoptics.co.uk/MOUNTS/alt-azmount.html

Regards, Ed.

[Michael11]

That voyager clone looks like an interesting option, and apparently a better tripod. Ill check it out. Ill provably go for the cheapest option I find between these 2.

Thanks on the adapter info as well.

[Michael11]

Well since I'll be buying it from US I'll got for the porta II.

Last question - should I get a version with flexible or solid slow motion controls? It appears there are both available for the same 300$.