In a message dated 04/12/2001 2:42:22 AM Eastern Daylight Time,

<< Does anyone have any experience or views on whether it's worth considering
puchasing the larger giant field tripod for the 10 inch LX200 (ie, the one
that comes with the 12 inch). Or is the standard tripod just fine for
stability etc. >>

I have the 10" and can't imagine needing anything more than that for the 10"
LX200. I might be biased by:

1. Rarely extending the legs
2. Never doing any CCD work

Friends of mine who do the above, find that they can improve their Losmandy
(and even some A-P) setups by substituting the Meade field (10") tripod.
Essentially you wind up with something resembling the performance of an A-P
portable pier, but more convenient to set up and transport.

I own A-P 1200 and 600E mounts in addition to a 10" LX200. My 1200 has the
huge 10" diameter pier with stainless tension rods, which no tripod will
touch. I borrowed the very nice wooden tripod for the 600E, which was quite
stable, but the Meade is superior due to its spreader design and compactness.
The Meade folds up into a much shorter and more transportable package. The
A-P is very long and has those foot pedals sticking out for stomping the leg
spikes into the ground, and the "spreader" is nothing more than a triangular
tray connected to the legs by slotted metal hinges. It therefore relies upon
gravity to keep things (slightly) in tension, which makes it nowhere near as
good as the Meade spreader.

I guess the Meade could be improved (for travel anyway) by replacing steel
with carbon fiber, or by having a clutch on the leg locks to prevent
overtightening, but that's about it.

I'm currently on a bit of a carbon fiber kick after getting a Gitzo 1548.
Anyone wanting one for about 20% off NYC prices just let me know privately
before I throw my extra one on eBay. I imported two of them before realizing
that one could carry all my stuff at the eclipse this year. Heavy
(cinematography) fluid head, 4 scopes, 3 cameras, camcorder, etc. all on a
3kg tripod! I'll of course cheat by not extending the final (4th in this
case) section, but that's a trick I use with all tripods whenever possible,
including the Meade.

John H.

View index by [date] [author] [subject]
Previous message: [M]: LX200 10 inch with 12 inch tripod ?, Email address hidden
Next message: [M]: RE: LX200 10 inch with 12 inch tripod ?, mapug
Next message in thread: [M]: RE: LX200 10 inch with 12 inch tripod ?, mapug
Previous message in thread: [M]: LX200 10 inch with 12 inch tripod ?, Email address hidden