Giro mini alt az mount on eq2 tripod

[username]

I've been thinking about getting a giro mini mount for my mak and a to be purchased short-tube refractor. In the future I hope to get a dedicated tripod for it but for the time being does anyone know if the tripod attachment of my eq2 tripod will fit the giro mini?

I've seen people use other tripod legs (from an eq5 for example) so I suppose another way of asking the question is: are the tripod screws that fix the mount to the tripod the same across the synta range?

[fredster]

The Giro Mini can use either the standard M10, as used by the EQ3/EQ5/HEQ5 tripods or the standard photo tripod whitworth thread. Not sure what bolt size the EQ2 tripod uses but it surely couldn't be too hard to change it too M10.

Btw the Giro Mini is a great little mount. Not owned one but seen one in the flesh carrying a Celestron C6. That one was on a Vixen HAL130 tripod, so the whole thing was lightweight. It carried the C6 without problem.

[username]

Thanks for the info. I've just had another look at the bolt after looking up M10 thread dimensions and I think the eq2 has one too! Good stuff.

It's good that they can carry a C6 as this is a possible future purchase too. I'll have to think about tripods for it later on, the HAL 130 sounds good, do you remember if they had much problem with the OTA hitting the tripod? I suppose it doesn't matter you can just reposition it or maybe get a little pier.

[fredster]

No real problems with the C6 hitting the tripod but their F11 80mm Vixen refractor had to positioned just right so that the scope missed the legs. Last time i spoke to him he was going to buy a heavy duty photo tripod with raising centre column. Not sure how that will work but he was confident it would be good.

One thing he did say the optional counterweight bar and counterweights were essential for smooth movements with heavier ota's.

[username]

Cool the mak isn't longer than a C6. I can't see myself getting any longer tubes in the near future as most of my observing is done in cramped spaces.

I have seen some berlebach photo tripods that are reported to be fairly stable with the central column raised, I don't think that would be true if it was raised too far though.

I was considering a counter weight as there seems to be some discrepancy on the maximum load without one (tele-optic say 2.5kg, teleskop service say 4kg - I'll believe the manufacturer!). I have a bit of time to mull it over as haven't all the funds yet.

Thanks again for your help

[fredster]

Funny you should mention a Berlebach, that was what he had in mind. Just one of the Report tripods so to retain the portability aspect.

[Bender]

I used a Giro mini for a while with a Lunt 60 and found it had not enough friction without applying the screws and with them it was difficult fine tune it.

In the end I used the bigger Giro 3 on a photo tripod that already has a healthy amount of frictio and can be better controlled.

Might be worth trying the Giro mini before buying.

Not being negative as I am a big fan of al Giros but they only work with enough friction to keep the scope steady and I found the mini to small in this respect.

[htj]

I have an Giro mini. It fits on my photo tripod (manfrotto 055prob) with standard 3/8" screw, my tripod from my vixen porta and tripod from the CG5 (which I think is the same as the EQ6).

I originally intended to use this with my photo tripod. However this did not work well with magnifications over 50ish. It was a very light setup, but it did shake very easily. Make sure you get a decent tripod for it.

If you put more then 3 kilos on it, I would recommend getting a counterweight bar on it. Get the long one (25 cm), and you will only need a 1 kg counterweight even for heavy scopes. The 25 cm was sold out when I bought mine, and the 9 cm means that you have to use heavier (bigger) weights, which can interfere with the legs of big tripods. I would rate the 9 cm counterweight bar is largely useless due to this.

Like Bender i found the friction adjustment a bit problematic, especially on the vertical axis. Getting proper balance here is really important. A zoom eyepiece might a in idea to avoid re-balancing the scope eyepiece changes.

Now, I don't want to sound too negative about it. If used with a light, but good tripod, and not used for huge magnifications. It can be a nice, extremely light setup. However, I decided to get a Vixen Porta II, and the giro mini have not seen use since that.

[pmlogg]

I have a Mini-Giro that I bought to use with an Astrotrac. I agree with the other replies about the friction clutches. The set-up does need to be well balanced or they will slip. The Mini-Giro can be used to carry 2 OTA by adding a 2nd mount head. Used in an eq mode on the astrotrac this makes a longer counterweight shaft a must, along with a 2nd lock collar. That way the shaft can be slid through the mount to balance the lighter load (on the long side) against the heavier load (on the shorter side).

[username]

I used a Giro mini for a while with a Lunt 60 and found it had not enough friction without applying the screws and with them it was difficult fine tune it.

In the end I used the bigger Giro 3 on a photo tripod that already has a healthy amount of frictio and can be better controlled.

Might be worth trying the Giro mini before buying.

Not being negative as I am a big fan of al Giros but they only work with enough friction to keep the scope steady and I found the mini to small in this respect.

I've been wondering about the clutches....

My intended use would be with a 4 inch mak and short tube frac. I'm reasonably confident I could balance my mak with rings and dovetail side mounted and I'm currently only using plossls and orthos at the moment. What worries me is that with short eye relief eyepieces is if I knock the scopes out of position and weak clutches sound like it may me too much problem with this.

I have an Giro mini. It fits on my photo tripod (manfrotto 055prob) with standard 3/8" screw, my tripod from my vixen porta and tripod from the CG5 (which I think is the same as the EQ6).

I originally intended to use this with my photo tripod. However this did not work well with magnifications over 50ish. It was a very light setup, but it did shake very easily. Make sure you get a decent tripod for it.

If you put more then 3 kilos on it, I would recommend getting a counterweight bar on it. Get the long one (25 cm), and you will only need a 1 kg counterweight even for heavy scopes. The 25 cm was sold out when I bought mine, and the 9 cm means that you have to use heavier (bigger) weights, which can interfere with the legs of big tripods. I would rate the 9 cm counterweight bar is largely useless due to this.

Like Bender i found the friction adjustment a bit problematic, especially on the vertical axis. Getting proper balance here is really important. A zoom eyepiece might a in idea to avoid re-balancing the scope eyepiece changes.

Now, I don't want to sound too negative about it. If used with a light, but good tripod, and not used for huge magnifications. It can be a nice, extremely light setup. However, I decided to get a Vixen Porta II, and the giro mini have not seen use since that.

Maybe I'd be better putting the money towards something a bit stronger with slow motion controls too as I would want something that can go from low to high mags without trouble

I have a Mini-Giro that I bought to use with an Astrotrac. I agree with the other replies about the friction clutches. The set-up does need to be well balanced or they will slip. The Mini-Giro can be used to carry 2 OTA by adding a 2nd mount head. Used in an eq mode on the astrotrac this makes a longer counterweight shaft a must, along with a 2nd lock collar. That way the shaft can be slid through the mount to balance the lighter load (on the long side) against the heavier load (on the shorter side).

I was intending to get a short tube frac as the counter balance as I thought the two tube set up was a nice feature but I'm having a rethink due to possible problems with high mags and short eye relief eyepieces.

Thanks for all your replies; I think that maybe if I went the giro route I might be better off waiting until I had a bit more money available for the next size up and a better tripod (and more aperture!)

As it stands at the moment my eq2 can do an ad hoc giro configuration and if I tape some coins from the penny jar to the counter weight shaft rather than use the supplied weight I can knock 1.5 kilos off the weight!