Vamo Traveller by Ayo Swiss

[Cjg]

Just arrived so only a quick look / play....I have tons of work to do today and tonight will be cloudy!

It's been a long journey, but the beautifully made travel mount for my Tak has arrived...more details when I've had chance to use and play, but initial thoughts are that it's heavier than I imagined, but incredibly well made and so smooth in both Alt and Az.

Chris

 

[John]

Looks great ! - I'll look forward to hearing more about this mount

[DirkSteele]

Does it break down for easy transport?  How much would you estimate it weighs?

[Cjg]

Possibly, but no gizmo for undoing the bits included, about the same as my Porta head, but without the lump of iron to convert to fit to a photo tripod. Much better / smoother build quality, and no counterweight needed. 

Will be at Frac Alley, Cwmdu in September, so you are welcome to have a close look. ?

Chris

[Cjg]

Had a very quick session with this before the clouds (and rain) rolled in last night.

Verdict  - I like this a lot, am missing the slow mo control at present but think that will pass - I do find the slo motion useful for teasing out details with averted vision.

The mount is way, way lighter than the Vixen Porta 11 head and tripod adaptor...the Vamos weights just under 1.4kg on our kitchen scales - claimed weight is 1.3kg - our scales could easily be a little out...I cannot find a claimed weight for the Vixen head and tripod adaptor anywhere, but on the same scales they went over the max weight of 2.1kg...so for travelling abroad, I'm saving weight already...

I'd ordered the Vamos before the new skywatcher AZ5 mount was launched; for a travel mount, that looks as heavy as the Vixen at a claimed weight of 2.3kgs, but is half the cost!

Chris

[Piero]

Congratulations for your new mount Chris! It looks great with your Tak!

[Cjg]

Thank you, Piero, I'm hoping to take this somewhere much further South next year to look all around Sagittarius etc.

Chris

[iPeace]

I've decided to try one of these. Any further thoughts, a few months on?

[Cjg]

I've avoided doing a review, because of two 'things'. The mount is great, a compromise in a way as it's so lightweight, but very well built. The two niggles, were after having made my final payment, it took far longer than I expected it to be shipped and a blemish.

Beat told me that he would 'shortly ship', two weeks later I asked for the tracking number, to be told 'I will ship it early next week' only for him to ship it on the Friday evening of that week...bearing in mind he had three months notice, I thought he was taking  a liberty.

Secondly, it shipped with a noticable 'ding' or small blemish, not in a critical area, nevertheless, it wasn't perfect, if I'd seen it on display, in a shop, I'd have asked for another one.  It could have happened in transit, but I don't think so, as the packaging was perfect, and no stress / dents to the cardboard box.  So whilst I like the product a lot, the purchasing experience was not great, from having to chase a precise delivery date, to receiving a slightly less than perfect example.

That said, it's a delight to use,  handles my Tak 76 plus Nagler and Panoptics with ease and weighs much less than my Porta Mount.

Chris

 

[iPeace]

26 minutes ago, Cjg said:

The two niggles, were after having made my final payment, it took far longer than I expected it to be shipped and a blemish.

Sorry to hear that. Having sent my e-mail yesterday, I received a very nice reply today (Sunday), saying that it could ship middle of coming week and would include an invoice to pay upon receipt. Not bad at all, so far.

I am in no particular hurry, but of course excited, especially by the positive reports on its performance.

I will report myself on the further proceedings and the mount itself.

[Cjg]

Good luck, will easily hold your Borg, that's a nice portable setup you will have.

Chris

[iPeace]

This is really very nice!

[iPeace]

Happy to report that the ordering process was completely straightforward as reported; mount was delivered today by post with invoice included. All was in good order.

The mount itself is very lightweight yet sufficiently strong and super smooth. Damping, I feel, will depend more on the tripod (and how it's deployed) than on the mount itself. Beautifully made, and clearly manufactured on a small scale - feels 'personal', if that makes sense.

Really ideal for travel, this is so light yet sturdy I'm sure it will replace my Gitzo birding fluid head, certainly when on the road or abroad with Bjorn.

[Tyson M]

I have one of these Vamo's on order, along with a Vixen 81S to use it on.

Will be pairing it on a Manfrotto 028 tripod- but eventually I want to get a Gitzo Series 3 tripod for lighter weight and higher rated payload.

Very stoked on trying this combination.