Here’s a project I just finished. It’s a small, lightweight, but very sturdy alt-az tripod. I made it from various odds and ends. The hub tripod and legs are from my old Mayflower 60mm refractor that I’ve had since 1965. The scope and mount got so much use over the years that the castings holding the slow-motion gears finally just broke. I got a set of nice rings and a Vixen rail for the scope to be used on a modern mount and reprocessed the leftovers. The legs have been fixed so they no longer slide for added stability. The tongues for the wooden tray are simple hinges.
Last week I faced off the hub and made a pressure-fit aluminum bushing with my friend’s lathe. The 1/4-20 stud rotates freely. The primary use will be as a quick alt-azimuth setup to support my fork-mounted Questar standard for use in alt-az mode. The height is perfect for sitting at standard chair height and using the Q.
Last evening was my first opportunity to use it in alt-az mode with the lightweight wooden tripod with my 1985 Questar Standard. This make the Q even more easily grab-and-go. I generally have it on a much heavier wood surveyors tripod with a heavy metal Celestron wedge. It’s nice to have an alt-az option now for quick and casual observing both day and night (with no polar alignment required). Just pick it up, put it down, aim and start observing. I think I’m going to like this a lot. It will be great for car trips too when space or free time is limited!
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Edited by terraclarke, 12 June 2019 - 09:43 AM.
