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Al Canarelli
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 12/06/07
Posts: 2611
Loc: Central New Jersey
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Sorry Al but in the world of surveyor tripods there is usually no center bolt and plate and a "spreader bar" is the collapsible set of arms that you've described as "extension struts".
So in order to handle the semantics we first need to know what type of tripod we're dealing with. The heavier tripods found under most gems or the surveyor style tripods.
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This problem is easily solved by drilling a hole through the table on the surveyor tripod so that a threaded rod can be added. You now have a spreader on a surveyor tripod.
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94bamf
professor emeritus
Reged: 12/15/08
Posts: 705
Loc: Kansas City,Mo
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Quote:
Quote:
I can't comment on all the different types of surveyor tripods, but I will tell you that most, especially the type that Bigbinoculars/Oberwerk sells, is not even close to the strength or stability of the current 1.75" Skyview Pro tripod. The Skyview pro tripod will easily handle a 20 lb OTA, I would never even think of mounting a telescope that heavy on my Oberwerk surveyor tripod. Depending on how big a scope you are gonna put on your mount, you might wanna rethink using one of these.
My scope isn't really that heavy but I'm hoping that I can use this mount in the future for a 9.25 SCT so I'm definately thinking about the tripod now. I checked that tripod you linked to and it is about 1/2 the weight of the others that I'm looking into (Oberwerk 701 with head is 10#). The tripods I'm considering start at $250 new and can be had used for around $50 and generally weigh about 20# without mount attached. Thanks for all the info as it is really helping me out.
Check out HERE. I have never bought anything from this guy, but he has a few CG5 and CG4 tripods listed for $100-$150. He has a CG4 tripod with 1.75" SS legs, hub, spreader, listed for $145. The newer CG4 tripod is identical to the original SVP tripod..
Ken
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Telescopes:
Celestron C6 SCT on CG4 mount
Skywatcher 8 inch F/5 Newt on a GEM
Celestron 8 inch Starhopper Dob
Celestron Oynx 80ED
Celestron C130 Mak
Celestron C102HD
Binoculars:
Nikon 7x35 Action
Nikon 7x50 Action
Zen Ray Summit 10x42
Celestron 10x42 Noble
Orion 10x50 Scenix
Celestron 10x50 Noble
Pentax 12x50 PCF WP II
Celestron 15x70 Skymaster
Oberwerk 20x60
Zhumell 20x80
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hcsceo
member
Reged: 10/14/09
Posts: 28
Loc: Austin, TX
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Quote:
Check out HERE. I have never bought anything from this guy, but he has a few CG5 and CG4 tripods listed for $100-$150. He has a CG4 tripod with 1.75" SS legs, hub, spreader, listed for $145. The newer CG4 tripod is identical to the original SVP tripod..
Ken
Thanks Ken. He is one of the very first people I spoke with when trying to find something as I saw one on there for $85. His response put the price quite a bit higher. I don't have the email any longer as it was a few weeks ago but it would cost me $185 +shipping to get the tripod at that time. I did find a place online that does sell CG5 steel tripods in 1.5" tube for $110 if memory serves me right (have a link on my home computer). I believe these are new also, but it didn't say whether the spreader was included. This is another option I'm leaving open for myself and I do need to email them. My feeling is the surveyor tripod should be stronger in the end once modified and give me more flexibility down the road when I upgrade my OTA. I rebuilt my SVP over the weekend and am taking it out tonight for the first go. I'll try and take a pic of my contraption as it sits now LOL.
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Steve
In the Texas Hill Country!
Celestron C6-N 750mm F5, Skyview Pro Mount
Proudly Classified as a NEWB
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hcsceo
member
Reged: 10/14/09
Posts: 28
Loc: Austin, TX
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You can see here how I have it setup currently. I'm just using a 2" PVC pipe coupler and a threaded rod that mounts from the base of the SVP and goes clear down to the spreader and tightens down there.
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Steve
In the Texas Hill Country!
Celestron C6-N 750mm F5, Skyview Pro Mount
Proudly Classified as a NEWB
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SteveG
sage
Reged: 09/27/06
Posts: 235
Loc: Seattle, WA
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I purchaseda Universal Astronomics surveyors tripod a couple of years ago, which by itself improved the stability of my wood-legged Super Polaris. Yes the little tripod spreader wasn't doing much so I made an eyepiece tray to take it's place. I especially like wood eyepiece trays (with holes) because the EP doesn't make any noise when you drop it through and it is easier on the chrome or black barrels. The addition of the tray, although hinged, increased the stability substantially. With my heavy 110 ED, I get vibration dampening in less than 1 sec.- almost immediate.
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WO Megrez 110 ED on SP Mount
10" Meade LightBridge
Orion ED 100 on Polaris Mount
6" f8 Edmonds reflector on GP Mount
4.5" F8 Orion EQ Reflector
Astroscan
Meade 226 2.4" f11.7
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borix
super member
Reged: 04/24/07
Posts: 106
Loc: The Netherlands
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Here is the spreader I made for my EQ6. It is made of about 3 or 4 cm thick wood and this makes it maybe a bit too heavy but it was the best material I had at that time. I have the impression it makes the mount more stable than the standard spreader delivered with the EQ6.
I had planned to connect it much lower with the 3 points of the triangle pushing out the legs. But I could not get the right things to make the center bolt longer and turning it sideways like now gave me better access to the eyepieces so I made it this way.
I also planned to make a leg locker in the form of a chain but I never got to it (partly because of this little guy in the pic). And the setup like it is is quite stable and I am very happy with it.
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