Product Reviews
- Reviews
- Questions
- swivel pad
- spikes
- CEM60
- turns
- handles
- bottom
- impression
- complaint
- legs
- weight
United StatesGreat Tripod for Telescopes of Moderate Weight
This is a great tripod for use with IOptron mounts like the CEM60 and CEM70. The mount attaches easily to the top of the tripod with the bolts that are built into the iOptron mount. It takes a bit of practice to get the mount head aligned with such that the bolts can be threaded into the top of the tripod, so it is helpful to mark the location of those mount holes with some tape on the side of the tripod to facilitate this alignment. The legs do extend and have pressure rings to lock them into place using a rotational handle. It is important to get these tight to prevent slippage as load is applied to the top of the tripod (mount head, counter weights, and telescope). You do not want slippage in this situation, as it can cause balance issues. I would recommend this tripod for telescopes up to 30 lbs. For heavier loads, I acquired a second tripod from iOptron that has a central pier, as it offers better stability under heavier loads, such as loading a 50lb Celestron 14 telescope along with counter weights and accessories.
United StatesDecent Tripod
My first impression out of the box is that it was fairly light. Secondly I noticed that instead of spikes it has a flat swivel pad on the bottom of the legs. That's probably to better distribute the weight of a CEM60 or CEM70 mount. If I had a complaint the only thing might be that to loosen and tighten the leg clamps it takes more turns of the locking handles than I would have expected, but this is minor.