Which mount for giant bins!!

[Benjamin]

Hey guys,

I have just ordered some giiant 20x100 bins:eek:, but seeing as I'm not Hulk-Holgan I will probably need a decent mount for them.

Does anyone have any experience with mounting giant bins, or know if there is any decent tripods that will enable me to view the Zenith?

I have an image in my head of an amazing swivel-armchair-mount that can recline & fix in place.. it would be a good invention but probably doesn't exist!!

Ben:p

[John]

I've recently got a pair of 25x100's Ben and I've been asking the same question.

So far, bar spending much more than the bino's cost me, I've not settled on a solution. These things are just so much bigger and heavier than 20x80's !.

I'll be watching to see what replied you get with interest.

[Benjamin]

I might just go to the gym a lot or design a type of body-brace!

[John]

The most affordable solution seems to be the Horizon 8115 tripod which costs around £80. I've heard mixed views on whether it's up to the 5kg weight of the 25x100's - perhaps it depends how fussy you are about steadiness ?.

It does extend to 180cm which is taller than many tripods.

I'm in two minds whether to take the plunge on one or to hang on and see if another reasonably affordable alternative is out there.

[Benjamin]

This site; Strathspey Binoculars

has 2 different designs that can apparently accommodate giant bins, not sure how good the £40 one would be though!

[Ad Astra]

Hi guys,

There is also something called a parallelogram mount for large bins that works very well. It also has the bonus of holding the bins at a fixed attitude, so you can adjust the height for different viewers without changing where they are pointed in the sky.

There are commercial ones about, but many folks do them DIY, provided you have some basic woodworking skills, it isn't difficult.

Dan

[pete_l]

Hey guys,

I have just ordered some giiant 20x100 bins:eek:, but seeing as I'm not Hulk-Holgan I will probably need a decent mount for them.

Does anyone have any experience with mounting giant bins, or know if there is any decent tripods that will enable me to view the Zenith?

I have an image in my head of an amazing swivel-armchair-mount that can recline & fix in place.. it would be a good invention but probably doesn't exist!!

Ben:p

I have some bigguns too and I don't believe a tripod is a practical solution. Here's why.

First of all, assuming you are standing up (and that's really the only practical position, unless you wish to look at the same position in the sky for a long period) then a tripod will have to extend up to at least eye-level. Using an extending, wind-out, final length doesn't really work as the binoculars wobble too much. Even worse, the heavier the binoculars are, the more they cause *any* mount to wobble.

However, eye-level is only good enough to see things on the horizon. To see things above your head, the mount needs to extend more, by the distance from the eyepiece to the mounting connector - and then, with the binoculars pointing upwards there's no room to get your head under them (unless you have some right-angle eyepieces). That probably doesn't matter too much, since your neck is at such an unnatural angle, you probably won't be able to hold the pose for long.

A better solution is a parallelogram mount, This has the property that no matter what height you raise them above ground, the "distant" side will always be parallel to the support - i.e. vertical. By attaching your binoculars to the top or bottom of that with a suitably sized ball-joint, you can point your binoculars in any direction and still adjust the height up or down. That makes sitting a practical proposition, or getting a sunbed and lying down to get those zenith views.

Better still, while a professional grade tripod, capable of carrying that weight, will set you back £80 or more (I got a biggish tripod some years ago for £75 - it's still not sturdy enough), a tenner's worth of timber, some carriage bolts, screws and an evening's work will get you a parallelogram mount. All you need then is a scaffolding pole about 2m long, half of which is sunk into the ground, with the wooden upright of the parallelogram neatly whittled down to slide inside it. Use a 2 litre milk carton (sans milk, but filled with water) as an adjustable counterweight and as the musicians say: "viola!"

So far as the observing chair goes: it's been done.

[tolucophoto]

Haha that chair is awesome!

@Benjamin - you got any pictures/ a link to the bins?