Tripod for Meade 60mm Refractor

Whilst awaiting my XT8, I purchased a Meade 60mm refractor off our
company forsale newsgroup. For $10, what the heck!

This thing has a 12" tripod which would be ideal if I was a foot tall.
I'm not.

I'm wondering if a tripods for camera's and Telescopes are generally
compatible? This cheap little scope appears to accept a 1/4-20 threaded
bolt from the tripod. Is this typical? Any recommendation on a cheap
tripod? How about a good quality tripod for future "growth"?

Regards,

Gazer wrote:
Whilst awaiting my XT8, I purchased a Meade 60mm refractor off our
company forsale newsgroup. For $10, what the heck!

This thing has a 12" tripod which would be ideal if I was a foot tall.
I'm not.

I'm wondering if a tripods for camera's and Telescopes are generally
compatible? This cheap little scope appears to accept a 1/4-20 threaded
bolt from the tripod. Is this typical? Any recommendation on a cheap
tripod? How about a good quality tripod for future "growth"?

Why not wait until the XT8 arrives and use the 60mm as a finderscope?
:-)

A 60mm (f/5?) won't weigh much so any reasonably-sized/priced tripod
should support it. However, tripods aren't designed to easily follow
astronomical objects, and you will have to frequently loosen, re-aim,
re-tighten the handle on the tripod. This shouldn't be much of problem
at low to medium magnifications though.

said

Gazer wrote:
Whilst awaiting my XT8, I purchased a Meade 60mm refractor off our
company forsale newsgroup. For $10, what the heck!

This thing has a 12" tripod which would be ideal if I was a foot
tall. I'm not.

I'm wondering if a tripods for camera's and Telescopes are generally
compatible? This cheap little scope appears to accept a 1/4-20
threaded bolt from the tripod. Is this typical? Any recommendation
on a cheap tripod? How about a good quality tripod for future
"growth"?

Why not wait until the XT8 arrives and use the 60mm as a finderscope?
:-)

That was half my plan. I plan on using it to view a wide angle and
then bring in the big gun. ;-)

A 60mm (f/5?) won't weigh much so any reasonably-sized/priced tripod
should support it. However, tripods aren't designed to easily follow
astronomical objects, and you will have to frequently loosen, re-aim,
re-tighten the handle on the tripod. This shouldn't be much of
problem at low to medium magnifications though.

Thanks, I just bought a cheapy of ebay. It actually cost $5 more than
the scope! {snicker}

Regards,