Re: PORTABLE TELESCOPE STAND

[brocpuffs]

Interesting. Looks like something like this could have a number of

>applications. > >JOAT

Them Mars landers settin' you off, JOAT?

James [e-mail]

[Bob Schmall]

Interesting. Looks like something like this could have a number of

Beautiful craftsmanship and a neat idea, but I don't know how this is an improvement over the usual tripod and wedge that the manufacturer offers. Both of them are just as portable and a lot less bulky. Cool piece of woodworking, though.

Bob

[Bob Schmall]

Could be steadier than a tripod. Definitely looks cooler.

Yeah, it does look cooler. The tripods supplied by the manufacturers of that type of scope are extremely stable and light--nothing at all like photo tripods. In this case mass doesn't necessarily mean stability, since the scope isn't doing any work other than driving itself at one rpd, which is so slow that it is hard to detect. The primary goal of the mount then is to support the 30 pound scope without vibration, and the stock tripods are engineered to do this quite well. However, for a woodworker it's a pretty neat project. Thanks for finding it, JOAT.

[Fred the Red Shirt]

I don't think so.

Having used the standard tripod and wedge I can say that there would be an advantage to something you could just roll along to where you'll be observing and then unfold it.

However off the top of my head I see three problems with this design.

1) Small wheels. If you are observing somewhere far from your car or house then bigger wheels will help you to roll easier especially over rough ground. Usually observing from near your own car presents the problem of also being close enough to traffic to be botherd by the headlights. It takes about 15 minutes for your pupils to adapt to darkeness, but less than a minute to adapt to brightness so that a brief glance into someon's headlights will blow your night vision for several minutes. 2) Once set up, it appears to be supported on the wheels which will necesssarily be unsteady. 3) The base of the fork mounting is catelever out on a thin plate which is not going to help much IRT vibration.