Hama Traveller Compact Pro and a Skywatcher ST80 = Win!

[rodhull]

Well, I know that Hama (and other cheaper photographic) tripods are often scoffed at around these parts, but I just thought I'd put in my 2p's worth. The upshot is, is that you don't have to spend the earth or settle for a clunky, heavy not-easily portable tripod/mount for a quick astro fix.

As I wrote in this post in another thread I was looking for a lightweight photographic tripod for my ST80 as a true instant grab & go or extremely portable rig for camping/travel. I have the mini-EQ1 version (complete with dedicated soft bag) and wanted the additional option of alt-az to observe which I could also use terrestrially as a bonus. Most importantly, it had to be relatively lightweight and crucially be able to fit inside the bag if at all possible.

Enter the Hama Traveller Compact Pro!

The positives:

It's all completely metal apart from the leg clips.

The ST80 attaches via a standard 1/4-20 thread onto the quick-release plate (there are a few to choose from on the underside of the OTA - I chose one further back away from the objective to aid balance). The quick-release plate is very solid and has a nice ring/loop to tighten underneath (no coin/screwdriver in a slot required).

The central column/head can be raised and lowered at will - tension can be separately adjusted to the column clamp.

The head is a ball and thus is moveable in any direction, and takes the low weight of the ST80 with ease (even with my newly acquired Seben 8-24mm zoom + Baader x2.25 Q-Turret barlow). As long as you tighten the release lever very firmly you can tip the OTA back at extreme angles and it will hold it steady with no drooping - it also allows for the scope to be pointed to the zenith with ease due to cutaways in the head.

The legs are in 3 sections - as long as you don't extend the smallest ones out, and if you require more height just raise the central column slightly higher to compensate, things are solid with minimal wobbles.

The feet are rubber, but you can screw them in to reveal spikes which bite nicely into the ground if necessary.

The central column and head can be completely removed from the legs, allowing the whole affair to collapse down to a maximum of 45cm length - this just about fits in the ST80 bag - it stretches it somewhat, but with the OTA in, the bag still zips up.

The negatives:

Obviously, it isn't going to offer the same kind of stability as a surveyor's tripod or an expensive dedicated astro alt-az tripod/mount, but it is only £30 and extremely portable. Like I said earlier, extending the smallest legs will definitely give you a degree of wobbliness but as long as you are not 7ft tall this is irrelevant. The ST80 OTA is just so light that it is completely adequate. Worth mentioning is that there is a hook on the bottom of the central column that you could hang a weight/bag/etc. from to stabilise further but I've not tried this yet.

There are no slow-motion controls or even a handle like you might find on some photographic/video tripods. You have to hold the head/plate or OTA itself to move whilst adjusting tension of the release lever. However, this is a small price to pay for the other positive aspects IMO. This does pose slight problems trying to move the OTA whilst at the extremely high end of magnification - the highest useful mag. in this scope with my eyepieces is now only ~x111 (8mm + x2.25 barlow) since the OTA is so short, and in all honesty this is so rarely used since high mag. is definitely not the ST80's strong point - it produces a very dim and ill-defined image at 100+.

Overall - if you want a tripod for a very lightweight OTA like the ST80 and don't want to spend the earth, this is the one to go for. You should be able to also use it with no worries for an SLR + lenses or a video camera...