Tripod vibration supression.

[M4lcs67]

Can anyone recommed which tripod vibration supression pads are worth looking at? Do they actually work or are they a marketing gimmic???????

[Psychobilly]

Not a marketing gimmic they work very well.. I use the celstron ones whenever I am away form the obs setup...

[M4lcs67]

Thanks Psychobilly. I had seen the Celestron ones, but also thought that £40-£50 was quite expensive, although as I have no experience of them I have no barometer with which to compare them. I also come from the school of cheapest isn't always the best. If it costs more, but also does the job the best then I would pay the extra.

[Psychobilly]

The skywatcher ones are ok as well...

[John]

I use a set of the Meade ones. £40-£50 is not expensive when you consider the positive impact they have on high power observing in my opinion. What they do is to quickly dampen any vibrations rather than prevent them altogether. They work very well.

[Ad Astra]

I use a very inexpensive DIY version. I found a 'Tree Ring' at the local home improvement store - basically a round mat made of shredded rubber tires bonded together - about 3cm thick. Cut it into 6" circles and put my tripod on that. Works really well and cost only $10 for the single tree ring which made two sets - one for the large scope and another for a little refractor that the school has.

Dan

[blackparticle]

These will probably do the job to some extent and are only £4.. and you get a spare for when you lose one.

Washing Machine Anti Vibration Foot Pads 4 Pack | eBay UK

[John]

If there is a low cost alternative, that works, great

[blackparticle]

There's probably a few other options out there too. The "black hole" that cellists use springs to mind as well.

This idea is used a lot by audiophiles with CD players and turntables etc.. There, however, using too much rubber can make everything sound really bass heavy and bloated.

Effectively what you're doing, or trying to do, is turn a lot of tiny micro-vibrations into one big wobble.

Layered / Sandwiched isolation of materials with different resonant frequencies works very well at doing this as it doesn't allow the material as a whole to resonate at a specific frequency and also gives the material more of a chance to hit resonant fundamentals of the HF vibration. I.e Neoprene - Hard Rubber - Car Dampening Mat - repeat etc.