Andy_H
newbie
Reged: 07/13/09
Posts: 3
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Hello All.
I got a galileoscope on Monday, and have been out to peak at Jupiter three times in my light-polluted suburb. Haven't had a chance to look at the moon yet as it is rising pretty late right now.
I am finding that my feather-light camera tripod is pretty frustrating for observing Jupiter: It vibrates a whole lot. Also, after I have something centered, tightening the up/down and left/right screws causes the angle to change to the point where it is practically at the edge of the view or even out of view.
Can anyone suggest a mount, either for this scope or another scope that I may wish to purchase in the (near?) future? I'm thinking that Jupiter is moving so fast under 50x that maybe an equitorial mount might be good?
I'm not sure why everyone says they are so complicated. Conceptually, isn't it just a matter of centering your object then only having to adjust one access to keep it in view? What am I missing that makes it more complicated?
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solshaker
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 06/06/06
Posts: 1836
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what size/type of scope?
edit: 
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My Gallery
Edited by solshaker (07/19/09 04:20 PM)
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Doug76
Postmaster
Reged: 12/05/07
Posts: 5552
Loc: SE Louisiana, future Texan
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I'm using mine on my binocular monopod mount.
The scope is 50mm f/10, and weighs about a pound. Mostly plastice construction, but the objective lens elements are multi-coated glass. Not too bad either.
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Doug
Truckstop Astronomer
The Universe, the light of God, in all it's majesty
6 achro refractors, 50mm-150mm
1 apo refractor, 90mm
1 SCT, 8 inch
UO Abbe Volcano Tops
Faworski Ortho's
Panoptic 24mm
Carton 100mm f/13 under construction 
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izar187
sage
Reged: 09/02/06
Posts: 242
Loc: 43N
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Consider this, or your own sized version.
http://www.homebuiltastronomy.com/kidpeek/index.htm
Folks build and use these type mounts for some honkin' big refractors too.
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4 thru 13 inch scopes.
30 years observing.
You just read this on the internet, so.....
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Tony Flanders
Post Laureate
Reged: 05/18/06
Posts: 3469
Loc: Cambridge, MA, USA
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Because of its straight-through viewing angle, the Galileoscope is (literally) a pain in the neck for viewing anything high in the sky. It's a hassle even on my high-priced Bogen tripods.
The Galileoscope is a lot of fun, a wonderful introduction to optics, and quite pleasant for terrestrial viewing. But if you really want to spend much time looking at the sky with it, I'd recommend a scope that lets you look at right angles to the direction the scope is pointed. You can get one for less than the cost of my Bogen tripods.
Since Jupiter is quite low now, you might be able to get away with a cheap tripod if you retract the legs all the way and put the tripod on a wall, or something around head-height. It will be trying to use, but not nearly as trying as Galileo's original scope was!
With a little mechanical ingenuity, you could probably build a mount of your own that keeps the scope balanced for easier pointing.
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Tony Flanders
First and foremost observing love: naked eye.
Second, binoculars.
Last but not least, telescopes.
And I sometimes dabble with cameras.
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fry
newbie
Reged: 07/08/09
Posts: 1
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I've got a "Craftsman 66 in. Tripod" from Sears (~27 to 29):
<http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00948278000P>
The build quality is very good for the price and the scope is light compared with the tripod itself. It comes with a carying case too.
Panning, adjusting the elevation & scope height are smooth (for such a mount) but you have to have a very light touch.
Used from a low chair is OK for up to ~35 degrees.
I'm seriously considering an inflatable mattress or a kid's raft as recommended in Nightwatch. Then I can lay on my back and look straight up if I need to. Didn't try it yet but I'm relatively sure I could use this tripod for it.
Yes, I know how it sounds but I already tried with binoculars and the difference is huge: pain in the neck vs enjoyable.
A little side note: this'll have do until I'll get my first "real" scope. If I can put up with all this and still enjoy the sights then I'm pretty sure it'll be worth upgrading to an 8in Dobsonian. Talk about wow factor!
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Kfrank
super member
Reged: 12/20/08
Posts: 163
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Quote:
Because of its straight-through viewing angle, the Galileoscope is (literally) a pain in the neck for viewing anything high in the sky. It's a hassle even on my high-priced Bogen tripods.
The Galileoscope is a lot of fun, a wonderful introduction to optics, and quite pleasant for terrestrial viewing. But if you really want to spend much time looking at the sky with it, I'd recommend a scope that lets you look at right angles to the direction the scope is pointed. You can get one for less than the cost of my Bogen tripods.
As a point of interest, if you pull the included eyepieces out of the Galileoscope, you'll find that the focus drawtube will accept a 1.25" eyepiece and hold it snugly. On mine, I put a 1.25" diagonal and a 25mm eyepiece in the G'scope drawtube and it holds it securely.
The drawtube is held only by springy friction tabs in the plastic drawtube but if things don't get too heavy, I'd guess that it could work well for celestial viewing.
Of course, most folks who get one of these things won't have access to quality EPs.
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Ken
ST80
SV80ED
ETX90 (Deforked)
Orion XT8
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star drop
Guilty as Charged
Reged: 02/02/08
Posts: 16271
Loc: Snow Plop, WNY
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Quote:
Hello All.
I got a galileoscope on Monday, and have been out to peak at Jupiter three times in my light-polluted suburb. Haven't had a chance to look at the moon yet as it is rising pretty late right now.
I am finding that my feather-light camera tripod is pretty frustrating for observing Jupiter: It vibrates a whole lot. Also, after I have something centered, tightening the up/down and left/right screws causes the angle to change to the point where it is practically at the edge of the view or even out of view.
Can anyone suggest a mount, either for this scope or another scope that I may wish to purchase in the (near?) future? I'm thinking that Jupiter is moving so fast under 50x that maybe an equitorial mount might be good?
I'm not sure why everyone says they are so complicated. Conceptually, isn't it just a matter of centering your object then only having to adjust one access to keep it in view? What am I missing that makes it more complicated?
Hi Andy,
Welcome to Cloudy Nights.
Have you found something that works?
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Ted
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star drop
Guilty as Charged
Reged: 02/02/08
Posts: 16271
Loc: Snow Plop, WNY
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Quote:
I've got a "Craftsman 66 in. Tripod" from Sears (~27 to 29):
<http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00948278000P>
The build quality is very good for the price and the scope is light compared with the tripod itself. It comes with a carying case too.
Panning, adjusting the elevation & scope height are smooth (for such a mount) but you have to have a very light touch.
Used from a low chair is OK for up to ~35 degrees.
I'm seriously considering an inflatable mattress or a kid's raft as recommended in Nightwatch. Then I can lay on my back and look straight up if I need to. Didn't try it yet but I'm relatively sure I could use this tripod for it.
Yes, I know how it sounds but I already tried with binoculars and the difference is huge: pain in the neck vs enjoyable.
A little side note: this'll have do until I'll get my first "real" scope. If I can put up with all this and still enjoy the sights then I'm pretty sure it'll be worth upgrading to an 8in Dobsonian. Talk about wow factor!
Hi fry,
Welcome to Cloudy Nights.
That tripod and inflatable mattress idea sounds interesting.
Upgrading to an eight inch telescope will provide a wow factor.
--------------------
Ted
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Tony Flanders
Post Laureate
Reged: 05/18/06
Posts: 3469
Loc: Cambridge, MA, USA
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Quote:
As a point of interest, if you pull the included eyepieces out of the Galileoscope, you'll find that the focus drawtube will accept a 1.25" eyepiece and hold it snugly. On mine, I put a 1.25" diagonal and a 25mm eyepiece in the G'scope drawtube and it holds it securely.
Yes, the Galileoscope accepts standard 1.25-inch eyepieces and accessories. But most people find that there isn't enough in-travel for the image to come to focus when using a diagonal.
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Tony Flanders
First and foremost observing love: naked eye.
Second, binoculars.
Last but not least, telescopes.
And I sometimes dabble with cameras.
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erick
member
Reged: 11/21/07
Posts: 77
Loc: Bacchus Marsh, Australia
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I have an old Meade ETX mount that was converted, before I purchased it, to mount a camera with a universal joint. It tracks nicely in RA after I made up a wedge to put it on. I thought it would make a nice tracking mount for my GS. However, I found that mounting the GS at the tripod mount point on the universal joint on the ETX mount was too unstable. The eyepiece view wobbled vigorously in the wind and while focussing. So, how to mount it better? A bit of wood, aluminum and some drilling and cutting, and I had a functional solution. Two elastic bands are an essential component!
I was quite limited given the small space on the mount, but came up with a mount that straddled the tripod mount point on the GS. The balance point isn't particularly correct, especially when I add my barlowed diagonal, but the performance was better than I had hoped. Note that I had to roll one of the large O-rings to one side to allow the wooden block at that location to contact the scope correctly.
I found that, even with last night's brisk breeze, Jupiter and its moons remained quite stable. I was able to easily point the GS, using the wingnut pivot point to direct the scope, plus the ETX mount's RA and DEC adjustments.
Edited by erick (08/02/09 09:16 PM)
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erick
member
Reged: 11/21/07
Posts: 77
Loc: Bacchus Marsh, Australia
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Another photo...
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erick
member
Reged: 11/21/07
Posts: 77
Loc: Bacchus Marsh, Australia
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And another - close up of mount point.
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erick
member
Reged: 11/21/07
Posts: 77
Loc: Bacchus Marsh, Australia
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Last one - other side. The aluminum pulls down on a felt pad for friction, but also ease of adjustment when I loosen the wingnut.
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DavidD
member
Reged: 07/23/09
Posts: 64
Loc: Phoenix, AZ
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I finally got around to making something based on the design found here: http://www.homebuiltastronomy.com/stool/EasyAltAzMountModification.htm
I used screw in threaded cylinders instead of T-nuts, and added an extension on the other side, so the tripod mount in the middle, to add a mount for a SkyScout. I am still tweaking the attachment points, and need to mount the dot finder on top.
Now...if I could figure out how to attach a picture, I could show it to you......
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Sky-Watcher GreatStart 114N-EQ2
Galileoscope
Stellar diagonal w/ helical focuser w/ OPT Barlow
OPT diagonal (w/ Barlow)
20mm OPT Plossl
Sony P71 w/OPT Camera Adapter
Photo tripod
Nikon Action 10x50 binoculars
Dakota 8x32 binoculars (focus is now broken)
(Old Edu-Toys scope to use for something else -
well, now it's just a tube!)
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Jim Haley
professor emeritus
Reged: 07/04/07
Posts: 728
Loc: Surrey England (SW of London)
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I have also made a few of the AltAz mount modification boards David talks about. By getting the center of gravity and rotation of the scope to the rotation axis of the tripod, you take a lot of pressure off of the screws when you tighten the tripod. Adding the extension to the other side (also like David says) permits the use of a balance weight there (below his skyscout).
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Jim Haley
12.5" f6 Starsplitter Dob because aperture and focal length rule.
Orion 8" XTi (with computerized object locator) because I view from the city and I won't always lug out the 12.5
Orion 114EQ reflector, Heritage 130P flextub Dob (My super portable dob is always in the car).
80mm f6 refractor (great for daytime use)
76mm Mini Dob (skywatcher brand). Hyper-portable dob base mounts to heavy duty ($100) tripod.
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DavidD
member
Reged: 07/23/09
Posts: 64
Loc: Phoenix, AZ
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I haven't figured out how to insert a picture yet :-( but, there is one here (also a good site to track):
http://10minuteastronomy.wordpress.com/2009/11/08/hack-that-scope/
Things I still want to do:
Add a 1x2 to the GS and rout a notch for the mount. Rout a T-track in the 1x2 so that it can be adjusted for balance.
Add a notch for the above so that the GS is held square. A knob and T-bolt would be used to fasten the two together.
Mount the dot finder on top.
Maybe....thinking of adding a bino mount to the middle top for a wide view finder.
Once I "perfect" it, I'll likely build something in hardwood and finish it.
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Sky-Watcher GreatStart 114N-EQ2
Galileoscope
Stellar diagonal w/ helical focuser w/ OPT Barlow
OPT diagonal (w/ Barlow)
20mm OPT Plossl
Sony P71 w/OPT Camera Adapter
Photo tripod
Nikon Action 10x50 binoculars
Dakota 8x32 binoculars (focus is now broken)
(Old Edu-Toys scope to use for something else -
well, now it's just a tube!)
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