Shaky tripod

[shyam]

hi

The  tripod for Astromaster 114eq  newtonian is shaky, even a fine adjustment on eyepeice is painstaking, any suggestions please to use this tripod 

[spillage]

hi shyam,

try hanging a weight off the tray to keep the mount as stable as possible.

 

 

[happy-kat]

Don't fully extend the legs and to use a chair and sit while observing. Fill the legs with sand to make heavier. Hang a weight from the middle of the tripod.

[barkis]

If you have a very sturdy tree in your Garden, saw it down, leaving a  the remaining bit
 of the Trunk about waist height, then fix your mount to that.
I take it you are an Observer and not an Imager, so basic  alignment on Polaris will be fine.
at the end of your sessions, remove the OTA, and cover your mount with a waterproof sheet.
If you don't have a tree, you can construct a pier with blocks or bricks, onto a concrete base  dug about 3 feet deep, sufficient for your rig.
It is well worth the effort for the sturdiness you will enjoy. No more shaky shaky when you breathe on it .
I mentioned a tree, but probably unlikely you would want to harm it, so the second suggestion  comes into play.

[happy-kat]

I don't think we should be advocating cutting a tree down. I'm sure the OP has a few ideas to work with that are not destructive.

[barkis]

1 hour ago, happy-kat said:

I don't think we should be advocating cutting a tree down. I'm sure the OP has a few ideas to work with that are not destructive.

I was aware of his unwillingness to destroy a tree, and said so. It wasn't a serious suggestion, and I would hope  the man's sense of humour would be intact. 

[Cosmic Geoff]

The most practical thing you can do with a shaky tripod is to use it with the minimum possible extension of the legs. It's a fact of life that all cheap tripods are shaky, and you need something with like 1.75" steel tube legs to get acceptable stability.

[Louis D]

Even with a sturdy tripod, if it is made of metal, it will ring causing vibrations to take much longer to dampen out than with a wooden or carbon fiber tripod.  Try putting Sorbothane pads under each foot to quickly dampen vibrations.  With them, I've cut my dampening time from 3 to 4 seconds to about 1/2 second.

[nightfisher]

Hang a small weight from middle of tripod, about 2kg

[Richard Hather]

I use rubber pads for each leg to stop vibration I only sit down when observing so my tripod is almost at it's lowest extension and I use the battery as a weight on my EP tray which is at the base of the tripod.

All this added together means even in windy conditions my scope is pretty stable ?

Richard