Fibreglass surveying tripods

[Bucky1379]

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. 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

[h0ughy (David)]

your fine adjustements for getting things level are better, but the tripod is too light, and not sturdy enough with the weight you will put on it. I have a timber version of the survey tripod and had a plate machined up to take a meade connection as the centre hole os non standard sizing on the tripod. might be better off buying a peir mount for the eq6 - like the one Ken James has (ballaratdragons)

[Doomsayer]

Some local army Disposal Stores used to stock heavy ex military surveyors tripods of a similar design, usually spray painted ugly green all over. Underneath the paint lies solid oak? and solid brass fittings and when cleaned up to base finish they look great. These can carry a large load. Myself and a friend sourced a few of these in the mid-late 90's. They cost $30-40 each and were quite plentiful at the time. Something to look out for perhaps?

[Bucky1379]

Hi Guys

Thanks for the replies. The price of a new fibreglass tripod actually isn't any cheaper than a reasonably good 'scope one but I thought I'd ask in case they were stronger and/or had other advantages.

I've heard about the disposals tripods before and have sort of kept an eye out for many years but have never seen one. One would be great but I think they are all long gone.

Thanks again.