Grab and go - Gimbal head and a small refractor

[Scosmico]

I have been looking for a very light and portable mount for a while. Small enough to fit in my hand luggage.

I found it at a cost of £140. A quality second hand tripod and a gimbal head. 

After some play with the gimbal head I found the balance point. The mount is quite sturdy and easy to move around. 

I thought about writing this thread after struggling to find posts about alternatives to the rather expensive (to my pocket)  and not so much portable alt azimuth mounts. 

I only found a post about a 360° pan attached to a ball head. Which I tried but found it too unstable for my small refractor 

 

[Stu]

Look quite neat, and like it will work well. These mounts are all about balance and correct tension in the axes.

I use a Giro-WR, not sure they are still made but it's around 1kg and very portable.

[mikeDnight]

56 minutes ago, Scosmico said:

I have been looking for a very light and portable mount for a while. Small enough to fit in my hand luggage.

I found it at a cost of £140. A quality second hand tripod and a gimbal head. 

After some play with the gimbal head I found the balance point. The mount is quite sturdy and easy to move around. 

I thought about writing this thread after struggling to find posts about alternatives to the rather expensive (to my pocket)  and not so much portable alt azimuth mounts. 

I only found a post about a 360° pan attached to a ball head. Which I tried but found it too unstable for my small refractor 

 

Lovely looking grab and go set-up. Curious about the star image numbering though? It looks like the Antoniadi scale but back to front. 

Mike 

 

[RobertI]

Nice solution. Can you view the zenith with it? What make is the gimbal head?

[Knighty2112]

Looks very nice set up. May check out if that kind of gimbal head is still available. 

[Scosmico]

15 minutes ago, RobertI said:

Nice solution. Can you view the zenith with it? What make is the gimbal head?

Zenith viewing was my initial concern with these gimbal heads. The truth is, gimbal heads are much more versatile them it seems. On YouTube there are some videos aimed to nature photographers that shows how to balance and reach the zenith. 

[Scosmico]

8 hours ago, Stu said:

Look quite neat, and like it will work well. These mounts are all about balance and correct tension in the axes.

I use a Giro-WR, not sure they are still made but it's around 1kg and very portable.

Yeah, once I got the balance and tension right I was impressed with it. Smooth motion to the zenith. Right and left. 

[Scosmico]

39 minutes ago, RobertI said:

Nice solution. Can you view the zenith with it? What make is the gimbal head?

Mine is a Beike BK-45. 

[Scosmico]

1 hour ago, mikeDnight said:

 Yep numbers are inverted. 

[Scosmico]

8 hours ago, Stu said:

Look quite neat, and like it will work well. These mounts are all about balance and correct tension in the axes.

I use a Giro-WR, not sure they are still made but it's around 1kg and very portable.

Stu,  the gimbal head weights 1.2kg. the Giro-WR was in my mind but it didn't for my budget. As I didn't own a tripod already. 

The manfrotto 190XPROB weights 1.8kg. 3kg mount + 2.8kg fraction. 

 

 

[RobertI]

7 hours ago, Scosmico said:

Zenith viewing was my initial concern with these gimbal heads. The truth is, gimbal heads are much more versatile them it seems. On YouTube there are some videos aimed to nature photographers that shows how to balance and reach the zenith. 

I'm not sure how big your refractor is, but do you think with my 72mm f5 refractor I will be able to reach the zenith without the diagonal hitting the base of the gimbal head? To be sure do you happen to know the distance between the  altitude axis (up down axis) and the gimbal base? Sorry to ask so many questions.  

[Stu]

5 minutes ago, Scosmico said:

Stu,  the gimbal head weights 1.2kg. the Giro-WR was in my mind but it didn't for my budget. As I didn't own a tripod already. 

The manfrotto 190XPROB weights 1.8kg. 3kg mount + 2.8kg fraction. 

 

 

Just had a look on eBay. I'd not heard of them before but it looks very good, and good value too. Hope you enjoy it.

[Scosmico]

1 hour ago, RobertI said:

I'm not sure how big your refractor is, but do you think with my 72mm f5 refractor I will be able to reach the zenith without the diagonal hitting the base of the gimbal head? To be sure do you happen to know the distance between the  altitude axis (up down axis) and the gimbal base? Sorry to ask so many questions.  

I have got a TS 80mm f6. I am pretty confident to say that it will suit your needs. The carriage height is adjustable. 3.5 on the arm scale is good enough to get balance, tension and correct height. The zenith is reached before the diagonal touchs the base. 

[RobertI]

Many thanks for that, I may well go ahead and get one of these.

[Scosmico]

At zenith with my heaviest eyepiece. 

It works well for my eyepieces but I suppose one may have to travel more with the focuser to reach focus. In this case, a bigger plate should give more room to focus. 

[iPeace]

Great find! Looks firm and functional. Enjoy!