Manfrotto 410 Geared Head

[Darren B]

I was wondering what are these like for astro use. If I did get one I would be using it on a Manfrotto 055XB tripod, with the Equinox 66ED telescope. Magnification would be between 13 - 133x.

Anyone with any experience with these?

I would like to hear the pro's and con's of these heads.

Thanks

Darren

[brianb]

I have one on the heavier 405 geared heads on a 028B tripod. Works well with an 80mm scope ... the one downside of these heads is that the "pitch" axis only travels 30 degrees up, so you're forced to mount the scope the wrong way round (with the objective pointing away from the "Lens" arrow), it is perfectly secure this way but the slow motion is inconveniently placed.

If you want an altaz mount with slow motions to mount a scope on, look at the Skywatcher AZ3 or Vixen Portra, both of which are better suited to the task.

The geared head is superb for what it was intended for - photography with lenses up to short telephoto.

[johninderby]

With some simple mods the Manfrotto 405 geared head does make a great Alt-Az head. It handles an FLT-98 if a decent tripod is used. I have used it with a Celestron C8 OTA but that was pushing it a bit and it was just usable.

By removing the middle section of the head the knobs are put in a much better orientation, as well as lightening the head by about a pound, and lets the head go past 90 degrees vertically. It's actually a really easy mod. The hardest part is removing the two thin plastic disks that cover the joints in the head. They're stuck on and require some carefully prying with a scalpel to get them off undamaged. The mechanical mods take about two minutes total. Just unscrew the bolts in the two joints and put the centre section aside. There is a small limiting tab about 4mm by 2mm that stops the arm travelling more than 30 degrees. Get rid of it with a Dremel tool and bolt the upper arm onto the base and that's it. Other than cleaning the glue off the back of one the plastic disks and gluing it back on that is. You could always put the centre section back in again to convert it back to a photo head.

The Manfrotto 410 head can also be modded in a similar fashion although it will only go to about 85 degrees (unless you use it facing the "wrong" way) and requires a little extra work in the form of using a Dremel tool again to cut off the boss under the QR platform that is meant to hold a spare camera screw.

John

P.S.

Maybe I should do a guide to modding the 405 / 410 heads.

[Darren B]

Thanks for the info. I was aware that pitch axis had to face the other way, though that's no problem for me as I'll only be using a small scope. I was also wondering about tracking and vibration.

[Darren B]

Hi John

The mods look fascinating, what glue did you use for the plastic disc?

[johninderby]

The 410 is OK with up to an 80mm refractor of the Equinox 80 type. Stability does depend a lot on the tripod used though. A Manfrotto 055 or a Red Snapper 283 are the minimum tripod for good stability. Tracking is very easy and smooth with minimal vibration. The clutches on the 410 are a bit stiff though but not a problem. The max size of OTA for the 410 is directly related to the length of the OTA. It can take more weight than you would expect if the OTA is short.

John

[johninderby]

Hi John

The mods look fascinating, what glue did you use for the plastic disc?

I just used some spray on contact glue, although two sided carpet tape will also work quite well.

John

[Darren B]

Cheers John.