Celestron SkyMaster 15x70 Tripod

[SnowsportsSid]

Hello everyone,

I'm a newbie and I've just bought some Celestron SkyMaster 15x70 binos, which I am double pleased with. I have really enjoyed observing the moon and jupiter over the past week with them.

I've noticed that my arms are shaking quite a bit when using them, and I'd now like to get a tripod. I've had a look on Celestron's website and seen the Heavy Duty Alt-Azimuth Tripod (David Hinds Ltd), which I assume would fit a SkyMaster 15x70.

I've also seen the Horizon 8115 2 Way (Horizon 8115 2 Way Heavy Duty Tripod), which looks pretty good and a few people on here seem to have recommended. Which of these would be my best bet, or is there another model I should be considering?

Any help or suggestions are greatly appreciated.

[Space Beagle]

Well, i'm just about to get these bino's too, but have opted to try a much cheaper tripod, the Hama Star 63, which is £15:30 on Amazon at the moment! I shud get it this comming week, so i'll let you know if it's any good!!

Doc

[bus_ter]

All tripods use a standard screw connector so there should be no problem with fitment.

One thing to watch out for is that a lot of tripods have sepaarate adjustment screws for Pan and tilt. This would make it a pain to easily adjust the binocular postion, so something with a ball joint or similar with one 'lock and unlock' to move in all directions would be a lot easier.. Most tripods afterall are designed for Cameras where you would spend some time setting up the position, screw everything down and then maybe only adjust the Pan.

[brantuk]

I use a s/h camera tripod with mine (£23 from Jessops sale) which on it's own is useless - vibrations, awkward to lock/unlock/move etc. So I got a "fine tuning head" for it (for sale section £18) and it's now brilliant. Can track in alt/az mode using separate controls to the tripod, and vibrations settle in seconds - thoroughly recommended

[Mark at Beaufort]

I have placed my Binos on a Cullmann tripod and they are moved using a Manfrotto grip. The binos sit in a quick release head which supports a flash bar to hold the William Optics RDF.

Mark

[Moonshane]

I use a monopod - bought this whole kit off John as he traded up to a bigger model.

http://stargazerslounge.com/equipment-reviews/110130-manfrotto-682b-monopod-triton-ballhead-action-grip.html

it's really quite excellent, very stable and flexible (in a good way).

[Space Beagle]

Blimey,those Triton Ballhead Action Grips look the business, so i've just sent for one..

Doc

[Moonshane]

totally recommended! they are really robust and hold the bins no problem at all.

[Paul Riley]

I am also in the process of picking a tripod for my new Adler Kosmos 15 x 70s due to the shaking problem.

So,even though they may be labelled as a 'camera' tripod they can also easily accomodate binocs?

I'll be keeping a close eye on this thread.

[Space Beagle]

Ref the Hama Star 63 tripod, er, don't bother it is absolute rubbish even at £15..!! Very poor build quality and the heads do not come off so you can use another one. One for the next car boot sale!

On the bright side i've gone up market and sent for a Red Snapper RS283 tripod instead, which should be 100% better...

Doc

[Revs]

FYI: The Bino to tripod adapter that comes with the 15x70 is not the best (very twisty). A more solid (steel) bracket my be required.

[Space Beagle]

Thanks Revs, you are right about that! I've got a good metal one from FLO already.

I think the 15x70's on top of the Red Snapper tripod with the Triton Grip Ball-head and the metal adapter should see me ok now...

Just need the clouds and rain to cooperate now!

I'll post a report on how this set up works soon!!

Doc

[pvaz]

I had a manfrotto 190 tripod I use for photography.

I also added a Giotto 190cm long monopod which, I use regularly on the binos and allow me to regulate the hight so I can even look at zenit while standing. I use a manfrotto friction ball head I got specifically for then as it allows me to leave it unlocked and move. My older ball head didn't have a friction adjustment so it was harder to use it.

The tripod is very stable unless I fully extend the center part. However it's better used while sitting so I loose a lot of ease of use and mobility with it. The monopod is a bit less stable but it allows great views and it's much more practical and easier to take on travels, which is the main goal for this setup. Both of them are also useful for my other major hobby: photography.

[Adrian Condon]

Hi,

I agree with Paulo, two options are better than one. I use a Manfrotto tripod and head for 35mm photography and for my newly acquired Celestron 15x70 binos. I also use it for my birding scope. It is very stable. If you need to heighten the tripod extend the legs before raising the centre column for greater stability. In windy conditions whilst birdwatching I usually hang a bag of small peebles/stones to the centre column, this is very effective. Finally, in extreme conditions, I have rolled larger rocks against the tripod legs and this worked brillantly.

Cheap tripods are a waste of money.

I have a Manfrotto Professional monopod. It is very stable and have used it for photography whilst mountain walking, however, I find it is not as good as the tripod for stargazing with the binos.

Hope this is helpful.

Cheers

Adrian

[vlebo]

With the David Hinds Alt/Az tripod I think max height is only 45 inches so not really suitable for binos. You need at least 65 inches to see things at the zenith. I have a pair of helios 20 x 90's and the Horizon tripod works very well.

Vlebo

[russ]

I went the monopod route too, picked up a Slik model for a good price and also a ball head from Ebay. Works well with the 15x70's. But i still tend to use them hand held only.

[Space Beagle]

The Manfrotto 190 tripod looks very nice, but is a bit expensive for what I need (about £200ish on Amazon at the moment?). I think (hope!) the deal on the Red Snapper rs283 + free head will be fine for what I need (£49 from Red Snapper themselves). I will be using the Triton ballhead grip on top of the tripod too, so it shud work ok, i'll let you all know soon!

This thread has been very interesting and helpful for me though - I never thought about the monopods before, but people seem to like them! I really need something that'll stand up on it's own though

Anyone want a Hama 63.............No!?...........Sheesh! Only one of the plastic leg supports has fallen apart so far, well it is two days old y'know! Can't be bothered to send it back, so it'll become parts for some project for something in the future!!

Russ, do you have large biceps then ?

Doc

[Space Beagle]

Been out tonight with the Celestron 15x70's mounted on the Triton Ballhead Grip and the Red Snapper tripod and glad to report that it works really well!

Very stable viewing and easy to move the bino's aim with the Triton Ballhead Grip. Any vibrations caused by me knocking the tripod etc died down to nothing within a couple of seconds, so very happy with the set up tbh!

Had some fantastic views of M31 / Jupiter / Pleiades / Double Cluster through the Celestrons, no way could I have hand held them steady enough for this quality of viewing without the Triton / RedSnapper combo!

[pvaz]

...

Very stable viewing and easy to move the bino's aim with the Triton Ballhead Grip...

Great to hear. When you view the the double cluster again, follow a curved line of bright stars that leads from them to another cluster, that looks like a stick man figure (known as Stock 2). You can fit bout the DC and Stk2 on the same FoV with the binos.

I only found out about it when I used the binos on the double cluster as the scope didn't allow such a widefield.

[Space Beagle]

I will have a look the 'stick man' Pvaz, thanks!

One thing I also tried was just extending one leg of the tripod to see if I could use it as a monopod and it worked well too - very easy to scan about the night-sky like that, bonus!!

Doc

[SnowsportsSid]

Thanks to everyone who replied. I ended up going for the Horizon 6115 from Harrison Telescopes. This was the second purchase I had made from HT within as many weeks and they sent me a couple of free gifts out with the order. They were very good on service aswell, delivering both items next working day.

The Horizon 6115 was a tad expensive at £85.00 I thought. But having received and used the product, I think the price is reflected in the build quality. It is a very nice piece. I also purchased a steel binocular tripod adaptor, to replace the plastic one that comes with the Celestron Skymaster 15x70s, as suggested by someone above. This was definitely a good idea. Although this is the first tripod I have had, so I can't compare it to others, the Horizon seems to be very robustly constructed and has lots of adjustment dials / handles. Each of which also has a lock-out, so you can lock into position for additional stability once you have found what you want to look at. It also has a little spirit level built into it, so you can adjust your legs accordingly to get the tripod level, which is quite useful. All in all I am very pleased with it.

[Paul Riley]

Thanks to everyone who replied. I ended up going for the Horizon 6115 from Harrison Telescopes. This was the second purchase I had made from HT within as many weeks and they sent me a couple of free gifts out with the order. They were very good on service aswell, delivering both items next working day.

The Horizon 6115 was a tad expensive at £85.00 I thought. But having received and used the product, I think the price is reflected in the build quality. It is a very nice piece. I also purchased a steel binocular tripod adaptor, to replace the plastic one that comes with the Celestron Skymaster 15x70s, as suggested by someone above. This was definitely a good idea. Although this is the first tripod I have had, so I can't compare it to others, the Horizon seems to be very robustly constructed and has lots of adjustment dials / handles. Each of which also has a lock-out, so you can lock into position for additional stability once you have found what you want to look at. It also has a little spirit level built into it, so you can adjust your legs accordingly to get the tripod level, which is quite useful. All in all I am very pleased with it.

Hi there

I am in the process of deciding on a good stable platform for my new 15 x 70 binos and this tripod looks really nice.I just have two VERY basic questions though here:

- Does it come with standard pan and tilt function? and can it be tilted to get a good angle on the 'zenith'? if not then would it be able to be upgraded with a ball head to allow for more movement?

- Would this tripod accomodate a bracket for a red dot finder? as I am also planning on buying one of those I have seen.The reason for my concern is I understand a lot of brackets/fittings etc come with different sized threads for screws and stuff and I dont want to make a mistake just because of a simple screw/hole thread being the wrong size!

Below is a small link to the RDF I am thinking about:

Astro Engineering Combined red-dot finder and mounting bracket for binoculars

NOTE - as you can tell I am pretty new to tripods,mounts,brackets,thread sizes etc etc.

Thanks

[Paul Riley]

Just looking again at the RDF bracket do you think this would be strong enough to support a pair of 15 x 70s?,it does look a bit on the thin side

I seem to imagine the RDF bracket being better suited somewhere to the side of the binos on a seperate mount,not sure if this would be practical for alignment purposes though.

[Adrian Condon]

Hi,

The Horizon 6115 tripod likes good and should hold the binos steady.

As a small point, I would extend the lower legs before raising the centre column if possible.

The important thing is to get a comfortable viewing height without straining your neck.

Sometimes you have to raise the centre column to avoid the handle attached to the head hitting the legs, so is it possible to put the handle into different positions on the head? if so, you may get a better clearance between the handle and the top of the legs.

All we need now is some clear nights to get them binos out.

Cheers

Adrian

[Paul Riley]

All we need now is some clear nights to get them binos out.

I agree mate,the clouds lately have been terrible and persistent.The rain has been heavy and practically non-stop in Sheffield over the last 2 or 3 days too.I dont mind the rain,in fact I quite enjoy it,but the WIND!,arghh,the wind these last few days would blow over all but the strongest mounts!

Thanks for the reply by the way