Can anyone identify this tripod and mount?

[Matt Bennett]

Hi...anybody out there have any ideas what tripod and mount this is???

[Cosmic Geoff]

No idea, but it looks like an equatorial mount for a small lightweight scope.  

Looks like your biggest problem will be figuring out how to attach a scope to it. It looks like it is intended to be bolted to the telescope OTA, wheras most modern mounts incorporate a clamp that clamps to a standard dovetail bar which in turn is bolted to tube rings, or the tube itself.

[Franklin]

Looks like an EQ1 size mount as supplied with old Tasco scopes back in the 80's.

Skywatcher still make them I think? Though on an aluminium tripod rather than the black wooden one which was definitely used with the old Tasco's because I had one when I was a kid...... many, many Moons ago!

 

Edited September 28, 2023 by Franklin

[John]

I agree with @Franklin - it is an EQ1 class mount.

 

[RT65CB-SWL]

Hi @Matt Bennett and welcome to SGL. 

As others have said, it is an EQ1. What ‘scope are you going to use it with?

[Matt Bennett]

Thanks everyone for the replies...most helpful

[malc-c]

On 28/09/2023 at 16:47, Franklin said:

Looks like an EQ1 size mount as supplied with old Tasco scopes back in the 80's.

I agree, an EQ1 class of mount, but not from Tasco, at least not in the UK in the 80's.   The 11TR was the largest aperture we sold (yes for my sins I worked for them back in the early to mid 80's) and the EQ1 style mount used with that scope was more like the current Synta EQ1, being more tubular than block construction.

Scouring Google it seem that the mount shown in the OP's post is found with "Saxon" telescopes, which are basically re-branded Celstron / Skywatcher, aka Synta factory but with a slight difference giving it a beefier look 

 

 

 

[Marvin Jenkins]

I am most likely wrong but it bears a striking similarity to a mount and tripod supplied by Bushnells.

A client of mine has it and indeed the scope is bolted directly to the mount head with small coach bolts and wing nuts that come through the ota main tube.

The saving grace with the whole setup is that the raised Bushnell lettering on the OTA glows in the dark😂 I’m not kidding!

Marv

[Marvin Jenkins]

Happened to bump into my old friend with the glow in the dark Bushnells and here she is in all her bolt together wobbly glory.

[Roy Challen]

10 minutes ago, Marvin Jenkins said:

Happened to bump into my old friend with the glow in the dark Bushnells and here she is in all her bolt together wobbly glory.

I had one of these as my very first telescope. Being around f/15, the views were actually pretty good, but that mount wasn't at all good. But I didn't know any better back then and enjoyed it very much.

[PeterStudz]

Although it’s obviously made for a small telescope it looks like the tripod and mount have had some action and love in the past - eg it’s been marked up and had spirt levels added. 

[doublevodka]

Defo an eq1, and the saddle is made to bolt on tube rings, so could be used again if you so wish, small lightweight scope should be ok. Quite common on older eq mounts, I've had a couple of eq302 mounts with the same setup.

If not, the counterweight and shaft is useful for those with AZ-GTi mounts as it's an M12 thread (usually) which screws straight into the AZ-GTi