vixen gp2 and hal130 tripod

[rowan46]

thinking of buying a vixen gp2 as a light astroimaging mount however I am concerned about the tripod the hal 130 aluminium although it's light it has a reputation as being too wobbly for imaging. would the tripod off an eq5 fit this mount?

SkyWatcher Heavy-Duty Tripod for Skytee HEQ5 EQ5 Mounts [20798] - 93.00 : 365Astronomy: Discovery for every day!

[E621Keith]

Yes your EQ5 tripod will fit, but the HAL130 is not wobbly or light. I feel it is more solid than the steel tripod on my Nexstar 6SE.

The HAL130 is a very good aluminium tripod and have no problem supporting my GPDX and C925. If your GP2 comes with the HAL, I suggest you try it first before buying the EQ5 steel tripod.

[E621Keith]

I just weight the HAL130 on the bathroom scale, it weights 6kg if that helps.

[rowan46]

Thankyou I was hoping you would reply the mount isn't coming with the hal but as it's the same price I wondered which was best some reports were saying the hal was flimsy.

[E621Keith]

I haven't used the EQ5 or CG5 steel tripod, so may be they are stronger. I don't know.

For full size tripod, I have only got a 6SE steel, EQ4 Aluminium, and a older HAL110 for comparison. The EQ4 aluminium is light and wobbly. The 6SE is solid and have no problem supporting my 6SE. The HAL110 is lighter but not as strong as the HAL130, but it is still far more solid than the Sky Watcher aluminium tripod.

[rowan46]

thanks again Keith I think I will go for the vixen. I like the fact it is lighter than the eq5 tripod if it's nearly as steady why carry the extra weight eh?

[Moonshane]

I have never used a proper Hal tripod but think that a lot of the repoiutation comes from poorer quality copies?