Portable mount for 80mm refractor

[NickMorris]

Dear All,

Thinking of getting an 80mm refractor for a grab and go scope. Any recommendations for an Alt/Az mount that is nicely portable but not junk? Should have nice slo mo knobs.....

cheers

photonboy

[John]

The Vixen Portamount is very nice. It carried my 102mm F/6.5 Vixen without any trouble.

If it's a short tube 80 mm even the Skywatcher AZ-3 is not bad - and it does have slow motion controls. It's not so good if you plan to use a 2" diagonal and heavy eyepieces though.

[Dangerous-Dave]

John has covered the best candidates but if you are considering the Startravel 80, it's light as a feather and you could probably mount it on a camera tripod!

[tinvek]

i've got my c80 ed on an az3 using the photo adapter rail and the celestron clamshell, it's stable enough aslong as the OTA is as far forward as possible in the clamshell, there are a few people who've added a forward counterbalance.

i did a review when i got the mount

http://stargazerslounge.com/equipment-reviews/74865-first-light-skywatcher-az3-mount-skywatcher-mercury-705-a.html

i also did a bit of a mad experiment with a 150 relfector on it

http://stargazerslounge.com/equipment-discussion/96379-quick-experiment-az3-sw150p.html

if you do go for an AZ3 it's worth pointing out that an AZ3 is £95

Skywatcher - Skywatcher AZ3 Alt-Az mount

and the same mount with a mercury 705 is £97 so thats a little scope for £2

Startravel - Skywatcher Mercury 705

EDIT

if you haven't got you're scope yet, you could also go for an evostar 90 on the same mount for £132

http://firstlightoptics.com/proddetail.php?prod=ev90az3

[Merlin66]

There's an EQ2 mount for sale over in the "for sale" threads which would be interesting.....

[A McEwan]

With a little bit of work, the AZ3 can be made very good indeed:

has | AZ-3 Mount Mod

I'd go against a camera tripod for a ST80 though. I've done that and it wasn't very good really.

The Mini-Giro mount is nice too.

Good hunting!

[jgs001]

I started out using my ST80 clone on a camera tripod... great for deep sky widefield stuff, total pain for moon and planets. I use a normal tripod for widefield stuff, but now with my C80ED on it instead. If I'm wanting tracking for visual, I'll often drag out the little NexStar SLT mount and let the motors do the work. It's light and works well.

[Stardust]

I've got a vixen portmount and like it very much.

camera tripods aren't great but a video head is better. I've got a manfrotto with a geared head which works well but expensive.

The Evostar 90 looks good value, I'd probably go for that given the choices with a altaz mount.

[NickMorris]

Thanks for all the replies,

I'm pondering on an Orion ED80T CF and think the vixen might be the way to go....

Thanks for the offer of the EQ2 Merlin66 but think it might be too heavy, how much does it weigh? I'd like something for airline travel, so probably rules it out.

Just read somewhere that the Orion has no collimation adjustment. Is this true and does it matter with a refractor?

cheers

photonboy

[ollypenrice]

I bought a TeleVue Telepod from the forum for £100 and find it great, No slow-mo knobs but at short focal lengths they are surely a bit OTT?

Olly

[Rossco72]

I've had a Vixen Porta and now have a TeleVue Gibralter. The Vixen Porta is much cheaper and lighter. The TeleVue is much heavier, bulkier and more stable. Like everything else it seems there is a trade off to be made.

For genuine grab and go, occassional use or airline travel you would probably be best with a Vixen Porta.

[Rusty Strings]

I have an AZ3, great holiday mount. Does need to have the counterweight mod done and also I've replaced the flexi slow mo control with a knob, as it fouled the focuser when the scope was 45 degrees and above.

[hunterknox]

I have a small refractor on a photo tripod with a giro mini sansone head on it (it was cheaper when I bought it). I can put my PST on the other side at the same time, which is a brilliant setup for solar viewing.

[catburglar]

I've got an AZ4- no slow motions, but I find it great with a ZS80 up to 183x (my max available mag). The stainless steel tripod was cheaper than the Vixen Porta when I last checked, and I think there might be one in the for sale section for £100. Too good to miss in my view.