I would appreciate any suggestions anyone might have. The Orion AZ-3 is
way too much in the context. I am really looking for something in the
same range as a moderately priced photographic tripod head.

- Shankar


This is what I can offer.

Jon's Side Saddle Mount.

I have been using a Bogen 3040 tripod with a 3047 head for several years as a
mount for a variety of scopes including a C5, a Pronto, an Apogee ST-80 clone
and an Orion Space Probe 130 ST. I like this setup, it has some problems
with the larger scopes but I have still been able to get the Space Probe 130ST
up to 500X on the double-double.

Some comments.

1. I have described this before, not sure anyone shares my my positive opinion
of this technique. I am also not sure anyone has actually understood how this
works either.

2. I have been doing this for several years and it is second nature to me. I
think to make it work one really needs to understand the basic mechanics of the
balance.

3. The basic trick here is to use a three axis photographic head and flip the
top axis 90 degrees so the scope is along side the mount rather than on top of
it.

Here is a link to a photo of my ST-80 clone mounted this way.

http://members.aol.com/jonisaacs/bik...s/poglidsk.jpg

By mounting the scope "Side Saddle", it turns the photographic head into a
single side fork mount and if you look carefully in the photo you can see that
the altitude pivot axis comes close to passing through the center of balance of
the scope.

What this means is that the scope is balanced about the pivot, it does not try
to overturn as is normal with a photographic head pointed at a high altitude.
It works in a similar fashion to a DOB mount or an Upswing mount.

With a normal "on top of a photo tripod" mounting, as the altitude increases,
the scopes center of gravity moves towards the back and it is more and more off
center. The only way to handle this is either with gears, balance weights or
by tightening the bearing so they do not move.

The Side Saddle Mounting side steps this problem because the scope is alongside
the bearing and aligned with the altitude pivot rather than above it so it can
remain balanced at most any altitude.

The main problem with the Side Saddle mount is that it puts an off-center load
on the azimuth bearing and with a heavier scope it is not as smooth as I would
like.

This Side Saddle Mount also works nicely for terrestial viewing, bird watching
and such.

4. Cost: I cannot recommend an inexpensive tripod/head that is capable of
doing this. I have two Bogens, a 3051 with a 3030 head that cost $40 used and
the 3040 with a 3047 head that was $35 used. Both work well for this but both
probably cost somewhere between $250 and $300 complete. These are available on
Astromart at times.

5. Anyone interested in learning more about the Side Saddle Mount, Email me
privately, I have some more photos and would like to see others try it and see
how it works for them. My experience is that it is a great improvement over
mounting the scope on top of the tripod in the normal manner but probably not
as nice as a Televue Telepod.

Best wishes,

jon isaacs