Meade Super Giant Field Tripod for 16 inch LX200 Telescopes - Meade 07018

The Super Giant Field Tripod is designed to support the 230+ pound weight of the Meade 16" LX200 GPS Schmidt-Cassegrain and LX200-ACF Advanced Coma-Free catadioptric telescopes, and to support them with no compromise in vibration and stability compared with a permanent pier installation. The 88 pound tripod has a rigid cast aluminum head and 4" diameter chromed steel legs. The top of the tripod is 32" above the ground. There are 4" long chromed steel inner legs for leveling the tripod. Two large hand-tighten knobs per leg lock the inner legs firmly at the desired length. Vibration-damping rubber tips on each leg help damp vibrations when the tripod is used on a hard surface, such as a driveway or concrete observing pad. The rubber tips can be removed when the tripod is used on dirt or grass, allowing the tripod legs to sink firmly into the ground to help damp tripod vibrations. A single hand-tighten knob on a threaded rod that extends through the top plate of the tripod locks the telescope onto the tripod. The threaded rod runs through a large die-cast spreader bar at the top of the tripod. When the hand-tighten knob locks the scope in place on the tripod, the spreader bar puts tension on the spider that locks the bottom of the legs in place, forming a rigid structure of three locked triangles to damp vibrations quickly. The Super Giant Field Tripod is standard equipment with the tripod version of the 16" LX200-ACF. It is also available separately for those who may have damaged their tripod, or for those who bought an altazimuth or equatorial pier version of the 16" scope for their observatory and also wish to have a tripod for travel or star party use.