UniStar on Berlebach Tripod

[coliea]

Just took delivery of a Universal Astronomics UniStar mount to plonk on the Berlebach Report 3012 tripod I bought a couple of months ago. Initial impressions were "Bl**dy 'ell...this thing is big!" While it doesn't exactly dwarf the Manfrotto photo setups I'm used to it's in a different league when it comes to build... this thing is built like a tank.

All I need now is a scope to put on it... yep, that's right, I've bought the mount before the telescope. I've been on the waiting list for a Burgess Optical 91mm triplet and you all know how sporadic the supply of those can be, so in the meantime I went ahead and ordered an Alt-Az setup that I hope will do me for years. I was originally going to get the UniStar Light but after speaking with Larry at UA and Jan at Berlebach they recommended this setup as it'll take larger scopes should I decide I need more aperture in future. Many thanks too to Kieron at SCSAstro for putting up with my bombardment of questions and providing excellent customer service.

Oh, I have no affiliation with SCSAstro other than being a satisfied customer. Now I'm just waiting on Mr Burgess delivering the next lot of 91s.

Col

[mik]

That is a very nice mount that will last you a lifetime.

Mick

[beetlejuice]

Ive been looking at buying a Berlebach tripod for my newly aquired Giro III altaz mount. What's your opinion of it if you don't mind me asking? Good and steady? Is the eyepiece tray easily removable?

[coliea]

Ive been looking at buying a Berlebach tripod for my newly aquired Giro III altaz mount. What's your opinion of it if you don't mind me asking? Good and steady? Is the eyepiece tray easily removable?

Rock solid especially with the tray attached which takes quite a bit of pressure to clip in and remove. You never get the impression you're forcing it though, rather it feels as though it's manufactured to tight tolerances. I'm an astronomy noob so can't really offer comparisons, I haven't even mounted a scope on it yet as I'm still waiting on my BO91 (ordered in Feb)...so you may want to take my opinions with a pinch of salt.

However, as a keen photographer I can say this Berlebach is much more stable than my Manfrotto 190XPROB - even without the tray (but then you'd expect it to be having a stated load capacity of 18kg over the 190's 5kg). And, as someone with an engineering background IMO this is a very well screwed together and beautifully finished tripod - expensive, but built to last. If you've stumped up for a Giro III a Berlebach would give you a very nice alt-az setup.

I wanted a mount that would serve me for years, instead of buying something lighter and less expensive that I would probably sell on after a few months and I think this fits the bill. Speaking of "Bills" all I need now is for Mr. Burgess to pull his finger out and deliver my scope

Hope this helps.

[beetlejuice]

Ive been looking at buying a Berlebach tripod for my newly aquired Giro III altaz mount. What's your opinion of it if you don't mind me asking? Good and steady? Is the eyepiece tray easily removable?

Rock solid especially with the tray attached which takes quite a bit of pressure to clip in and remove. You never get the impression you're forcing it though, rather it feels as though it's manufactured to tight tolerances. I'm an astronomy noob so can't really offer comparisons, I haven't even mounted a scope on it yet as I'm still waiting on my BO91 (ordered in Feb)...so you may want to take my opinions with a pinch of salt.

However, as a keen photographer I can say this Berlebach is much more stable than my Manfrotto 190XPROB - even without the tray (but then you'd expect it to be having a stated load capacity of 18kg over the 190's 5kg). And, as someone with an engineering background IMO this is a very well screwed together and beautifully finished tripod - expensive, but built to last. If you've stumped up for a Giro III a Berlebach would give you a very nice alt-az setup.

I wanted a mount that would serve me for years, instead of buying something lighter and less expensive that I would probably sell on after a few months and I think this fits the bill. Speaking of "Bills" all I need now is for Mr. Burgess to pull his finger out and deliver my scope

Hope this helps.

Thanks for that. Looks like a quality piece of kit. I'm just waiting for my Megrez 90 to arrive (tomorrow!) I've got the Giro on my EQ5 tripod, which is nothing great, so I'll see how it goes. This is going to be my long-term 'grab'n'go' kit. I think I've used up SWMBO's goodwill for the moment! On the otherhand, you only live once.........

[MartinB]

I had a Berlebach Uni 17 tripod under a GPDX and it was a wonderful thing. Beautifully engineered and so smooth to adjust. The accessory tray is lovely and spaceous and very easy to remove and replace. Looks like a great set up Col

[Darren B]

Can you get these tripods in this country and if so how much? I would love to stick the Porta Mount on it.

[coliea]

Can you get these tripods in this country and if so how much? I would love to stick the Porta Mount on it.

If you can Darren I couldn't find them. I dealt directly with Berlebach in Germany http://www.berlebach.de

The site is in German and English, and the staff I was in correspondence with had excellent English.

[Darren B]

Thanks, just had a good look.