Fullerscopes mount on Berlebach tripod

[John]

For the past few days I've been sorting out how to get the imperial 1985 Fullerscopes MkIII equatorial mount to fit securely onto the metric Berlebach Uni 28 tripod. I've finally found an approach which I'm happy with and it seems very solid and secure. This MkIII is fitted with the "pot" type base which was originally intended to fit onto a pillar mount but it does provide a nice wide base to sit on the Berlebach tripod hub as well.

Next step is to get my brass BC&F / Elliott 3 inch F/16 refractor mounted up. It should make a rather attractive, if retro, setup 🙂

 

 

Edited Monday at 20:54 by John

[JeremyS]

Looking good, @John

The tripod looks a good colour match for the original Fullerscopes wooden tripod. Have you stained it?

[John]

7 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

....The tripod looks a good colour match for the original Fullerscopes wooden tripod. Have you stained it?

No Jeremy, it's just an older one that I believe was on display in a showroom for sometime. I guess it was the sunlight that darkened the ash wood. 

It's been a very versatile tripod for me - I guess I must have had at least 8 different mount heads on it over the years.

It does seem to suit the MkIII mount though.

 

 

Edited Monday at 21:10 by John

[RobertI]

Lovely classic mount on the tripod it deserves. 👍 My old 6” Newt (my first ever scope in around 1980) sat on a similar looking Charles Frank GEM on a pillar mount - rock solid. 

[John]

3 hours ago, RobertI said:

Lovely classic mount on the tripod it deserves. 👍 My old 6” Newt (my first ever scope in around 1980) sat on a similar looking Charles Frank GEM on a pillar mount - rock solid. 

I had a Fullerscopes MkII back in the mid / late 1980's to hold my 6" F/6 Astro Systems newtonian. Saw Halley's Comet with that one. Rather unimpressive really so I was glad to have the 6 inch to get a half-decent view of it. 

Although very basic by todays standards, these mounts are very solid. I'd estimate that they equal or even exceed by a little, the capacity of an HEQ5. No where near as sophisticated though 🤔 

 

Edited Tuesday at 00:14 by John