Mount upgrade

[dc240969]

The tripod that came with my Skymax Goto is pobably a weak point in the system. Is there any other tripods that would accept the goto and OTA but would give a more robust stance and not be prone to wobble when touched.

[happy-kat]

Hi

Which size skymax do you have?

 

[Steve Clay]

Which skymax goto to you have?

If its the one where the tripod is part of the goto head then I think you are pretty much stuck with it. Try adding a bit.of weight to th EP tray. I have the AZGT 127 mak and when extended the tripod is not upto it. 

[johninderby]

A few years ago I made up an adaptor plate to allow an SLT mount to fit onto an EQ5 tripod. Beleive the SLT and Skymax use the same mounting arrangement.

 

[Cosmic Geoff]

I don't think there is any cheap or easy answer.  If you have access to a workshop, John Inderby's adapter above looks good.

I bought a spare 'bowl tripod head' and some timber and metal parts and made a tripod with plain wood legs for permanent siting in my garden It saves a lot of time and wobbles less than the SLT tripod.  Before that, I acquired a used EQ-5 to mount my 127mm Mak on for planetary observations.

Or you can buy a heavier duty alt-az or EQ GoTo mount at a cost of several hundred pounds.  The EQ5 mounts are like scaffolding when compared with the portable SLT mount.

[dc240969]

I like the bowl head idea. Where can these be sought? My FOV from my back garden doesnt give me much more than 100 degree so lm sure l could make something up, a la concrete sundial or bird bath. LOL

[Cosmic Geoff]

1 hour ago, dc240969 said:

I like the bowl head idea. Where can these be sought?

Astroboot.co.uk usually have Skywatcher bits.  Currently they have two of those tripods, and a "Supatrak Tripod Hub" which should be the same as yours..

[Alan64]

The "SkyMax" go-to tripod-hub has traditional yokes jutting out for the attachment of legs...

I'd suggest thinking outside the box, although not too far gone, and get a wooden surveyors' tripod, and adapt it...

...or other wooden tripod.    Wood is best for dampening vibrations, and it looks good to boot.  You can make a spreader of chain for it.  I made a spreader of oak for my wooden tripod...

In future, the legs can be moved over to the hubs of other kits, including other Sky-Watcher types.

[dc240969]

I like the idea of the wooden tripod, l will keep my eye out for some. cheers.

[Cosmic Geoff]

Yes the surveyors' wood tripods look nice, but interior designers like them too ? so they can go for quite high prices. There remains the problem of making an adaptor to mount an astro mount head on them.

If you shop around you should find a new EQ5 tripod (without mount head) for a little over £100.

[Alan64]

3 hours ago, Cosmic Geoff said:

Yes the surveyors' wood tripods look nice, but interior designers like them too ? so they can go for quite high prices. There remains the problem of making an adaptor to mount an astro mount head on them.

If you shop around you should find a new EQ5 tripod (without mount head) for a little over £100.

No, the wooden legs are taken off of the surveyor-hub, and then the legs placed on the hub of the kit.

As for myself, I wouldn't give a single, badly-tarnished penny for a tripod sporting tubular-steel legs, quite frankly.