New $70 bin setup

[icrusoe 4]

My search has ended quite successfully! For those still looking for a good trigger style ball grip for their bins I have found the ultimate replacement. Mike's photo (on ebay) have increased all of their prices and no longer were willing to ship to North America. I found this instead

http://www.ebay.ca/i...1#ht_5908wt_926

Shipped from Seoul Korea and got to my front door in Ottawa, Ontario Canada in exactly 12 days. $50CAD and "free shipping". I was extremely surprised. They packed it very nicely and provided a tracking number 15 minutes after I paid for the item. Here are some images for those interested: In the third picture you can see a handy little safety lock so you can't accidentely dismount your bins/camera.

I also found this gem of a monopod for $20 locally. Best buy sells them brand new for $30 - I've seen a few on here. I mounted up my 15x70 skymaster bins and the new trigger grip and it was rock solid even extended to the total max height of 81 inches (includes the standard 4" plastic Skymaster chimney mount, the trigger grip and all lengths of the monopod extended). Definitely great purchases all around. So for those looking for inexpensive alternatives you can't go wrong with a setup similar to mine.

A note on fit and finish: fit is perfect. All the threads are of quality metals and there is a tension adjuster for the trigger action. I find the softest setting makes tracking across the night sky smooth as silk, even with my heavy-ish 15x70's.

Finish, apart from some minor paint bubbling seen here everything is tip top. Should get many years of use.

[Damo636 452]

Nice kit and excellent value for money! The trigger grip ball head/monopod combo is a great way for observing withs bins.

Clear skies :-)