Holiday Mount & Tripod

[Carbon Brush]

I'm planning on taking some astro kit on overseas holiday this year.

Thinking in terms of WO80 with assorted eyepieces and 10x50 bins.

The stock tripod/mount for the WO80 is not as good as I would like for astro use. At home I have the luxury of a rock solid mount and pillar. When out and about in the UK I take the CG5. But a car boot is very different to working with aircraft luggage allowance.

For the overseas trip I'm not after motor drive, or even an EQ mount. I will probably only be viewing for an hour or two before carrying everything back to the room. An Altaz mount and tripod that weighs nothing and is easy to adjust with smooth motion is probably all I'm after!

Any thoughts or recommendations please.

[garethmob]

what about somthing like the AZ3 or 4? with the az3 you can also attach the bins to it

[E621Keith]

May be a photo tripod with a Manfrotto 410 gear head?

It will be easier to find a photo tripod that will fit inside a standard suitcase than a astro tripod.

[GazK]

An az4 head is still quite heavy... not in eq territory but a lot heavier than a photo head.

Sent from my HTC Legend using Tapatalk 2

[jgs001]

I'm planning on taking my redsnapper with me.. it takes my 80ED quite easily, the three way head works pretty well with it, it'll fit in a suitcase, and weights about 2Kg (not light, but not overly heavy either). Cost is pretty reasonable. I'd love to add a 410 geared head to it, maybe one day.

[Helen]

A Giro mini head on a photo tripod would work quite nicely too, and easier to view with than the geared head.

Helen

[ollypenrice]

TeleVue Telepod? I have an old and tatty one but it works. Camera tripods pivot below the scope, not on a virtual axis through it's middle, so they are unbalanced. Not the end of the world but disagrreeable, I find.

Olly

[Carbon Brush]

Thanks all for your inputs so far.

I will be starting to look into your ideas probably this evening.

[Carbon Brush]

Thanks again everyone. The plastic came out at last.

In the end I have ordered a Manfrotto 410. The reasoning and (irrational?) logic follows.

This mount offers both 'turn knob' and 'quick slew' facilities.

The interchangeable plates make it easy to swap between scope/binos/camera.

I accept the mount is unbalanced due to the pivot being above (not through) the scope. But this can be overcome. By placing the OTA in a clamp, rather than on the fixed WO foot, the scope can be adequately balanced for change of EP, diagonal, etc.

General purpose altaz scope mounts like the Giro and Skytee are inherently off balance. The mini Gyro recommends counterweights above 2Kg load.

I will put the mount onto a couple of photo tripods to get a feel for how good they are and then consider whether I need to spend again.

To help with general stability, I am planning on taking a bag and string. The intention being to hang sand/rocks under the tripod centre.

[Helen]

You might also want to have a quick look at this David http://www.homebuiltastronomy.com/stool/EasyAltAzMountModification.htm

Helen

[Scoot]

Regarding balance: Excuse my ignorance here but surely balance isn't an issue for say, changing EP's as a camera mount would lock the scope in position anyway?

Isn't balance only necessary for panning the scope so that it stays where you point it?

In which case, would it not be the case that the 410 would hold an advantage as once the target was centred, keeping it centred would only require turning the gear knobs where a Telepod would require a manual re-align?

[Carbon Brush]

Hi Scoot.

With a geared head, being off balance is not much problem.

But with anything friction gripped, it is an issue.

Some time back I had a Skywatcher 102 on AZ mount. This had worm gear drive for small moves and friction for large moves. Swap between say EP and camera and balance is way off, overcoming the friction, allowing the tube to tip. Tighten the friction and the large moves become clumsy to impossible. In the end I kept a spanner to hand!

I also have a photo tripod with friction/fluid pan/tilt head and tightening knobs. Again, you have really tighten the screws to ensure the scope stays put while changing accessories.

[Scoot]

Thanks David,

But wouldn't the same apply to a Telepod? Isn't that based on friction to keep the scope steady once balanced?

[Carbon Brush]

I've never handled a telepod. But looking at the pictures, it seems an off balance scope could overcome the friction. so potentuilly a problem when swapping EP, filter, camera, etc.

This mount does have the benefit of swinging through the scope centre line, allowing balance to be retained at different alt setting with a given EP setup. Unlike a camera mount.