Mounting mak 127 goto on alternative tripod

[breezy]

Hello chaps , and chapettes,

Here one for you , I'm fed up with the rather pants tripod that came with my skymax 127 goto.

I have used various ideas like fill legs with sand and weights on the ep tray etc but really have had enough of its wobbly ness , any one out there tried replacing the legs with something else , maybe crafted some sort of hybrid pod?

[Russty]

Hi Breezy have you checked out this thread http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/135122-az-goto-mount-diy-way-to-fix-wobbles/

[breezy]

Wotcha russty

Yeah I've tried all those Ideas , I just wondered if there was a simple ( cough cough ) way to connect all the goto stuff to a sturdier set of legs.

Cheers for replying tho , that's what I like about this site

[JamesF]

The heavier duty tripods with the tubular steel legs come up for sale second hand once in a while. Could be worth looking out for one of those?

James

[breezy]

Cheers James , I had thought about them but wasn't sure they would be a simple swap or wether I'd have to take a hammer to it

[JamesF]

Cheers James , I had thought about them but wasn't sure they would be a simple swap or wether I'd have to take a hammer to it

Hmmm. Could depend on which GOTO you have. Is it the EQ3-2, or the AZ?

James

[breezy]

It's the az one and I'm betting modding it will be limited ..

[JamesF]

Ah, yes, I think that's going to be rather more tricky. Short of making your own more rigid legs I'm not sure what options there are there.

James

[breezy]

Reckon ill have to make do then , one of those cases where it's gonna be expensive just to improve a little more

[jambouk]

Breezy, i have the same kit as you and i generally extend the legs fully as i'm tallish and have a kn"@&£ed back, and i'm not conscious that it's too wobbly. I don't put weights in the tray or haven't done anything to the legs like filling them with sand (can't think of much worse than sand in the car haha).

When is it wobbly?

Is the scope quite lax on the altitude axis? Mine was and there are threads about tightening a nut near the female dove tail bracket in the mount to fix this; and boy did that make a difference for me.

The other thing is setting up on solid ground so the tripod feet don't get chance to move; alternatively you can buy (or make) saucer like things which spread the weight over a larger area and have a depression in them for the tripod and some, like mine, have holes at the edge so you can secure them to the ground with tent pegs.

It is a £300 quid scope and mount. The scope is blinkin' amazing for the money i think, and i'm reasonably pleased with the mount too, but you are not going to get NEQ6 stability for the £75 which probably goes towards the mount. If you want stability and goto, i'd look at an HEQ5 pro or an NEQ6 pro; anything less and it sounds like you'll be dissatisfied. With that kit you'll be able to do some cracking visual and awesome imaging.

Good luck.

James

[jambouk]

The other thing which I found, is the lead from the handset to the mount is too short and it's easy to shake the scope by accidentally tugging the lead. I made an extension using a CAT 6 ethernet cable and one of these:

http://www.ebay.co.u...=item35bb25089e

Which allows the male RJ45 of the original lead to plug into the coupler, the extension CAT6 lead to plug into the other side, then the other end of the extension CAT6 lead to plug into the handset; hey presto, 1, 2, 3, 20m extension on your handset depending on how long yopur CAT6 extension lead it. I have a 15m one so I can do stuff from the conservatory and stay a bit warmer

James

[the bishop]

Hi

I have the same setup and so the short-ish lead solver is a great help many thanks.

I’m 6’3” and tend to extend the pod legs a fair bit, with not too many... but yes some wobble probs

so would be really interested in the outcome of the problem,

though I think it might prove an expensive fix

good luck

gra

[knobby]

Is it possible to strip it and maybe fill the legs with concrete / epoxy or ... Well I can't think of anything else

[the bishop]

Hi

I knew I would forget something

So Re

haven't done anything to the legs like filling them with sand

(can't think of much worse than sand in the car ha ha.)

I can put up with Sand in the car...

its Sand in my Sandwiches I hate.... :grin:

oh yes and i remember that "Concrete boots" work in the old Gangster films for weighing down!! Ha ha

[breezy]

Well the electric focus thingy seems to have made a difference , don't have to touch the scope at all just peer thro the ep .

Gotta say thanks for the other suggestions as well , gotta say its a damn fine scope too , the clouds buggered off and it's a cracking night where I am , shame I have to be at work at stupid o'clock

[jambouk]

Yes i got an electric focus off ebay and it means you just don't have to touch the scope at all. Extending the handset lead helps too. I also tightened up all the nuts and bolts all over the tripod, and screwed the legs in firmly. Yes, it's not rock solid, but allows good visual and has allowed me to experiment with imaging and get some results i'm very pleased with.

Good luck.

James

[glowjet]

If it is possible to remount the head, then you could consider a surveyors tripod, which can be had off Ebay from about £40 up, my old ex Army one is like the wooden Berlebach models but without the tray and is the best tripod for stability I have, £8 from a boot sale some years ago

John.

[jambouk]

I think it would be tricky to put the mount on a new tripod, but not impossible. You'd have to cut the metal legs on the existing tripod, or break the plastic. It would be a job for the weekend and need some planning.

It isn't uber flimsy. I think tightening things up may help. The other advice about putting some weight on thhe trap, or hanging weight(s) off the tray/legs may add further stability, but be careful you don't snap the trap off!

Do you make sure the plastic between the legs are locked out, and that the tray is inserted and rotated to lock into place?

James

[breezy]

Yes mate done all the above , might investigate the mount itself tho for tightening up as suggested , the real niggle was the movement when focussing but as mentioned earlier the gizmo from fleabay has improved that