First time star gazer and tripod for binoculars

Glebee

Hi folks,


Have always had an interest in astronomy and would always keep an eye on this forum but have never posted. I have finally got around to getting myself a decent pair of binoculars. Wanted to get a pair before I even though of maybe investing in a telescope and with the long dark evenings coming in decided to get a pair. Had them out last night and was amazed at the detail I could see. Getting to see Jupitors moons was cool (even if they are only dots)and the seven sisters( I think....) looked amazing. Need a tripod though as viewing was quite wobbley. Anybody able to point me in the right direction for a cheepish high tripod suitable for a Celestron 15x70 binoculars.:)

Popoutman

I've found that most of the cheapish tripods that you can get in a shop in Ireland won't reach to above head height.
My solution is to sit and use a tripod at a lower level. I paid ~€35 for a tripod in a French Carrefour, and the (pretty crap) binocular adapter was ~€10 on Ebay. Works well enough for my 15x70s

slade_x

Popoutman wrote: »

I've found that most of the cheapish tripods that you can get in a shop in Ireland won't reach to above head height.
My solution is to sit and use a tripod at a lower level. I paid ~€35 for a tripod in a French Carrefour, and the (pretty crap) binocular adapter was ~€10 on Ebay. Works well enough for my 15x70s

I guess it depends on how tall you are, although i did not go shopping in ireland for any of my tripods

Glebee wrote: »

Anybody able to point me in the right direction for a cheepish high tripod suitable for a Celestron 15x70 binoculars.:)

The first Tripod i purchased was sold as a camcorder tripod i remember purchasing it for around £8.50 on amazon i think

From amazon i can see some very cheapish ones that resemble the one i purchased a long time ago.
To get an adequate enough assessment of the height my one can go i mounted my 80mm binos on it at its minimum height and maximum adjusted height and took some pics

Minimum


Maximum [approx: 165-170cm] (compared to full door frame, ceiling and a 2litre bottle of water i found)

As you can see from above its very tall

And just for the sake of it heres a quick pic of them in comparison to Lidl's Bresser 10x50mm (probably should have put them closer together as the perspective may obscure just how large these are in comparison to a standard pair of 50mm's):


This is definitely the largest (80mm) i would go with a pair of bino's as i find them excessively heavy

From the pictures and spec, i would say this is the very one i have:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hama-Star-Tripod-free-Carry/dp/tech-data/B0000WXD16/ref=de_a_smtd £13.79 Max Height: 160cm

Others from a quick amazon search
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hama-Star-Tripod-Free-Carry/dp/tech-data/B0000WXD1G/ref=de_a_smtd £15.79 Max Height: 160cm

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hama-00004161-Star-61-Tripod/dp/tech-data/B0000WXD0W/ref=de_a_smtd £11.71 Max Height: 153cm

and this is an example of one you do not want if:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hama-Star-Tripod-free-Carry/dp/tech-data/B000EOMQM2/ref=de_a_smtd £8.90 Max Height: 125cm @ 125cm it is just too short for standing with a pair of bino's

It may also be beneficial to note 160cm is approx 5.2 Feet
The average height of a male in ireland is 5 ft 10 in
The average height of a female in ireland 5 ft 4 1⁄2 in

A tape measure would be really helpful to properly illustrate the maximum heights, but from the numbers alone u can see the 160cm should more than suffice for the average

Credits: Images Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Glebee

Cheers Slade_X,

Thanks for the post. That gives me some good options and the photos helped a bunch as well.

I think ill go for this http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hama-Star-Tripod-free-Carry/dp/tech-data/B0000WXD16/ref=de_a_smtd

I wonder will the standard tripod adaptor I got with Binoculars work with most tripods.

Again thanks for reply and photos