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Old 12-06-2017, 12:05 PM
Wavytone
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Wavytone is offline
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Killara, Sydney
Posts: 4,147
Glen

http://www.365astronomy.com/Giant-Al...el-Tripod.html

is the same as the one I had 10 years ago. They are surprisingly steady (I had my first Mak on one). Has been sold under various names including SkyTee, though there is another (different) with same name...

Joe, One reason I didn't like it is that the dovetail base is secured to the alt axis with three tiny grub screws that engage a groove machined in the inner boss on the end of the shaft. All the parts are bog-standard aluminium, i.e. quite soft - and there is a high risk the grub screws will strip if you over-tighten them, or worse, they will rip out without any warning if the mount is overloaded with a scope that is too heavy - with the scope landing on the ground.

The second reason I parted with mine is that there is simply no effective adjustment to align the two dovetails if you're using this as a side-by-side setup, and you will have to shim one dovetail just to get them close. to parallel.

IMHO these are really only suitable for scopes up to a 4" f/7 refractor.

I was always worried that my 7" Mak was too heavy at 10kg and I would guess your 10" will strain it even more.

If the crucial parts holding the base on the shaft had been steel or better with much larger screws I'd have been a lot more confident. It's a great shame because otherwise this mount really is incredibly steady and great for grab & go use on a short trip.

Last edited by Wavytone; 12-06-2017 at 12:17 PM.
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