My take on a mono pod

[spaceboy]

Not really having a very HD tripod I'd planned a project a while ago and was waiting for certain parts to come along that I thought would work.

Having recently picked up a triton ball grip I set to work to making an adapter that would connect to my EQ5 pier adapter and also the ball grip while giving me the hight I needed. This was a pretty simple fix of cutting a 50x3x250mm length of steel tube, using 2 off 50x5mm round plates center drilled and a nut welded one end to attach to the pier adapter and a bolt the other to connect to the grip. Plates welded on and finished in hammerite I now have a pretty sturdy mono pod to my bins. While it is custom made to my height I have some spare timber that I can make a small platform for if the wife was to ever show an interest The ball grip allows for a full range of movement while still offering a sturdy support for the binoculars once in position.

Hopefully this will be an improvement over my less than ideal tripod. The only downside is I haven't figured out how I'm going to get it to dark skies

[nightfisher]

nice one fella

[Moonshane]

very nice idea. a lot better than a monopod.

do you like the pistol grip head?

[spaceboy]

I managed first light last night before the clouds rolled in. A couple of tweaks got the grip moving a lot smoother. It certainly allows for way more range of movement than the usual pan and tilt tripod heads. The slight offset of the grip when looking up also means I can comfortably get in under the bins. I know these grips are considered a little like Marmite.... you either love it or hate it but all in all I'm happy with how it turned out. So much better than having tripod legs getting in the way and far sturdier than any mono pod I could afford to buy.