Bucky1379
04-02-2008, 12:27 PM
Hi
I was wondering about the pro and cons of using a "Heavy Duty" fibreglass surveying tripod instead of the traditional aluminium or s/s tube tripods that are now standard for astronomical use. Does anyone have any knowledge on this?
One I am looking at (see attachments) has a flat head but even then I'm not sure what would be involved in adapting it to, say, an EQ5 mount. This is one issue but there are others I'm not sure about.
The shop estimates that it weighs about 6Kg which seems light but they are designed to be light and strong. Unfortunately they don't give telescope load ratings for some reason. :lol: In spite of it's weight it does look to be reasonably substantial with fairly solid looking castings joining all the bits together. One priority though would be organising a brace of some sort between the legs.
I guess another issue is vibration damping but I would have thought that fibreglass would be good in this respect. Finally of note is the fact that the shop says one reason they are popular is their temperature stability which I see as a plus in this application.
Does anyone have any thoughts or experience?
Steve
I was wondering about the pro and cons of using a "Heavy Duty" fibreglass surveying tripod instead of the traditional aluminium or s/s tube tripods that are now standard for astronomical use. Does anyone have any knowledge on this?
One I am looking at (see attachments) has a flat head but even then I'm not sure what would be involved in adapting it to, say, an EQ5 mount. This is one issue but there are others I'm not sure about.
The shop estimates that it weighs about 6Kg which seems light but they are designed to be light and strong. Unfortunately they don't give telescope load ratings for some reason. :lol: In spite of it's weight it does look to be reasonably substantial with fairly solid looking castings joining all the bits together. One priority though would be organising a brace of some sort between the legs.
I guess another issue is vibration damping but I would have thought that fibreglass would be good in this respect. Finally of note is the fact that the shop says one reason they are popular is their temperature stability which I see as a plus in this application.
Does anyone have any thoughts or experience?
Steve