(Chris.B) wrote in message . com...

Avoid ANY photographic pan-tilt heads & tripods with any telescope.

This is the voice of ignorance. In fact, a good photo tripod and
video head makes a splendid mount for a small, light telescope.
For me, the biggest benefit of a small scope is the ability to
use it on a photo tripod.

I very occasionally use a large & very heavy double-legged Bogen #3047
tripod with its own pan-tilt head for my 90mm f/11 Vixen refractor.
Putting it as mildly as possible: It's a complete disaster at any
power!

Of course that doesn't work well! But there is a world of difference
between a 90mm F/11 scope and an 80mm F/5 scope. I used to use my
Televue Ranger (70mm F/6.9) atop Bogen 3011 and 3021S legs with the
3026 video head, and it worked like a charm. I still do that from
time to time, but now I mostly use my Unistar Light head atop the
same tripods, which works even better.

The only problem with the photo-tripod/video-head combination is
that it is a little hard to track at high powers (over 100X),
especially near the zenith. The combination is quite stable,
though, except possibly when extended to full standing height
and in a stiff breeze. Two things to be aware of is that given
the choice, lower is always better than higher -- get used to
viewing in a seated position. And whatever you do, avoid extending
the center post if you can -- that's when you really start to
lose stability.

Note that the Bogen combination mentioned above probably costs
more than the AZ-3 mount, so cost is *not* one of the benefits.
The major benefit is dramatically improved portability. But if
you don't plan to cart the scope around, there's little reason
not to get a full-fledged astro mount.

Don't try any head lighter (or cheaper) than the low-end Bogen
mounts -- which are neither light nor cheap as these things go.

- Tony Flanders