Portable tripod for star tracker - metal or carbon?

[inapottingshed]

The first word being portable (mainly referring to size)... Which is a better (more stable) option for star tracker use - metal or carbon fibre construction?

[michael8554]

Carbon or steel for the legs etc shouldn't make any difference in stability.

If constructed to be equally stiff,  the carbon one might be lighter, which is not necessarily a Good Thing for a tripod.

More important would be how close the tolerances are on the fittings, that will determine how "wobbly" the tripod is.

Michael

[inapottingshed]

Thanks. Well, I was looking at Manfrotto and some of the lesser branded carbon tripods (which seem to be the same as each other than for branding). Would the iOptron 1 1/4" tripod (which is reasonably portable, but not helpful for photography) be a whole lot better?  

[RT65CB-SWL]

One other thing! - metal tripods will get extremely cold during the winter months. To protect your fingers/hand from being frozen to the legs, you could add some pipe insulating foam on the top leg sections.

Alternatively, you could go wood... i.e.  https://www.berlebach.de/en/ - OK they are expensive, but wood has good vibration damping/elimination properties.

[inapottingshed]

Yes, I hadn't forgotten about that! Plenty of other components will be cold too. The iOptron tripod is around £75 which is a lot closer to my budget than the Berlebach (perhaps when my imaging skills warrant it).

[wormix]

I have just bought a Manfrotto 055 and it’s rock solid - it is however longer than the ultra portable models and heavier too - I guess one follow question is “how portable”?

The 055 is easy to chuck in the car and sling over a shoulder for short walks, but not sure it’s suitable for taking on a plane for example. 

[inapottingshed]

30 minutes ago, wormix said:

I have just bought a Manfrotto 055 and it’s rock solid - it is however longer than the ultra portable models and heavier too - I guess one follow question is “how portable”?

The 055 is easy to chuck in the car and sling over a shoulder for short walks, but not sure it’s suitable for taking on a plane for example. 

Is that a 3 or 4 section? Metal or carbon? What kit are you using with it?

[wormix]

3 section metal, will be used with a star adventurer mini primarily but used it this weekend with both a DSLR and an ETX90 on a ball head. 

[hyak]

On 14/07/2020 at 05:15, Philip R said:

One other thing! - metal tripods will get extremely cold during the winter months. To protect your fingers/hand from being frozen to the legs, you could add some pipe insulating foam on the top leg sections.

Alternatively, you could go wood... i.e.  https://www.berlebach.de/en/ - OK they are expensive, but wood has good vibration damping/elimination properties.

I'm using a Berlebach Report with my SkyGuider Pro. It's not super compact, but it's light and very stable. It's solid enough that I also use it with a Giro Mini and Stellavue M2 for visual. It's my most used tripod. 

[RT65CB-SWL]

On 14/07/2020 at 14:47, wormix said:

I have just bought a Manfrotto 055 and it’s rock solid - it is however longer than the ultra portable models and heavier too - I guess one follow question is “how portable”?

The 055 is easy to chuck in the car and sling over a shoulder for short walks, but not sure it’s suitable for taking on a plane for example. 

Below is my Manfrotto 055, (the PROB) with my 're-modded' ETX105 and Universal Optics DwarfStar mount...

...the ideal/perfect lightweight 'grab & go'.

I sometimes will attach my Tele-Optic Giro mkII or AOK-AYO if viewing as a dual 'scope setup.

Edited July 15, 2020 by Philip R