Travel rig - lightweight tripod / Eq mount suggestions..

[Mr_Cat]

Since I got my mini mak last week I'm now thinking of a mega portable setup to go with it.

It is less than 3kg in weight but a camera tripod just doesn't cut it - I'm looking for a tripod that collapses easily for transport and a mount that I can polar align and has slow motion controls.  

Suggestions please

Thanks

Johnny

 

 

[Cosmic Geoff]

Don't dismiss camera tripods - some are quite substantial.🙂

Can you give some detail on why you want an Eq mount, given that you want slow motion controls rather than GoTo?  Lightweight un-powered Eq mounts (e.g. EQ-1, EQ-2) are generally a bit rubbish.  You might get on better with an alt-az mount which has slow motions.

[Elp]

All my tripods are photographic ones and I do imaging so stability is critical. BUT you need the right type, those thin leg multi leg section aluminium ones usually aren't very good, you need thick leg, minimal no of leg extensions, and if budget allows carbon fibre.

Also I thought I'd miss slomo when doing manual visual, nope, again the right mount with good clutches goes a long way. Mines a Tecnosky Cubo.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

My old EQ3-2 (motorized) was quite good as a fairly light travel mount, now since replaced by the excellent iOptron HEM-15 with Carbon tripod.

 

 

[proflight2000]

There is the trick of filling the hollow legs of tripods with sand, ive done this in the past and they worked very well adding stability. 

[Louis D]

I saw quite a few folks using ZWO AM5 mounts with their matching carbon fiber tripod at a recent star party.  No need to carry around counterweights as added dead weight.  I don't know about Europe, but they're on sale as a set for $1999+tax here in the US right now.

[Elp]

The AM's work well in alt az mode (as well as EQ mode and doing AP), but you've got the price, they're quite heavy (compared to a manual alt az) and you may run into technical issues (which I did the other night, but I wasn't using it in simple alt az mode).

If budget allows, definitely if buying now I don't know why one would consider a CW mount, maybe for reliability or very heavy obsy type payloads? For a permanent setup a CW mount doesn't hinder much, for portability that's where a HD mount comes in if you're going the goto route.

Edited June 3 by Elp

[Mr_Cat]

My Eq preference is simply that once it's polar aligned and pointed at something it's just one control to keep the target in view. 

Being able to keep the whole system as small /light as possible is key - it might be impossible but I'd like to get it down to the level of portability where I can carry it on my back on a mountain bike - as then I can get to some really dark skies. The mini mak is small enough so it's just sorting the mount / tripod.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Note, I have both the AM-5 and the HEM15 (closer to the AM-3 in specs). What I really like is the lighter weight of the HEM15, and the fact that it comes with a hand controller, rather than having to use a phone or tablet app.  Its polar alignment and tracking are rock solid, and it can in principle carry my C8 (never tried that, I should add) without the need for a counterweight. It does of course need a battery pack, and for that I use very compact 12V 12Ah Omegon Powerbank.

[Elp]

I find the am3 quicker to setup if I just want to do visual, set it in alt az mode, roughly point it north then use the app to goto, then use the joystick controller to fine tune and sync to mount, simple. It is heavier (and bulkier) than the hem15 however (only slightly).

[PeterStudz]

Although it’s not EQ and it hasn’t got slow motion controls an AZ-GTi is lightweight and will obviously track.

For travel plus a lightweight telescope I have the mount head plus motor drive from a SkyWatcher StarQuest (see link). I got mine secondhand for £60.  It’s EQ, lightweight and has slow motion controls. And obviously doesn’t cost much. For visual it tracks more than good enough. It can also be used in alt-az mode. The only issue would be the counterweight, but for a small light telescope you don’t need something that heavy. 

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/sky-watcher-starquest/sky-watcher-starquest-102mc-f127-maksutov-cassegrain-telescope.htmlA

Edited June 4 by PeterStudz

[Elp]

15 minutes ago, PeterStudz said:

it hasn’t got slow motion controls an AZ-GTi is lightweight and will obviously track

Correction, it hasn't got physical slomo controls but via the Synscan pro app which you'll use to control it it has very fine tuned slomo slew controls which are better (more accurate and you're not introducing vibration by touching the mount, controlling it via a non tactile screen app can frustrate at times) than physical ones.

Edited June 4 by Elp