I needed a stage for studio-shooting of small objects, with finely controllable tilt. It needed to be steady and bump-resistant. I can easily attach the devices I make for made-in-the-shade display of my subjects.Description should note, mounting is more for terristrial than astronomical, as the vertical tilt doesn't go to a very high/low angle. WOULD ALSO LIKE: a set of stubby handles, in case a short viewing instrument is attached.

I got this tripod to replace the one that came with my Travel Scope 70. It only weighed 2# and I couldn't focus without moving the scope. This one weighs 8# and is much steadier! No shakiness when I focus or use the smooth slow motion controls. I loosened the 3/4 nut on the altitude axis just enough so I could move the scope easily still have it stay rock steady where I put it. This tripod turned my scope from almost unusable to a great little scope that's fun to use.

I purchased this tripod to mount a pair of 20x80 binoculars. Perfect for viewing the night sky. The tripod is not too heavy to carry into any situation, and does the job I needed it for. Arrived well packaged and ready to use.

I have been using a camera tripod for astronomy observations, but was always struggling to track objects. The Celestron tripod is solid and is easy to make small adjustment to track celestial objects. I am very happy with this purchase.

The tripod is a very solid piece of equipment. I highly recommend it for its use as a terrestrial scope mount.

Used with a Celestron 1250mm scope. Very sturdy. Movement controls are slick and precise. Not terribly heavy

As with Charles said in his review, I have a Celestron Travel Scope 70. This is the perfect tripod for small scopes. I use it for astronomy and I can't understand why people said they can not look at the zenith. I can take the mount fully vertical. I loosened the 3/4 inch nut just slightly to where I can manually move the altitude but it is still rigid enough to stay in place. Even with a 90 degree mirror diagonal, a barlow and a quite heavy eyepiece, the altitude stayed in place. The fine adjustment knobs are right at arms length and work like a dream when following a planet as it tracks across the sky. Height is not an issue as I normally sit for long sessions of observing. I marked the legs using a tape measure and sharpie so I know that all the legs are set at the same length. This also assists when I adjust the height while observing. As stated earlier I use a 90 degree diagonal so I lower the legs when looking at an object close to the horizon, and raise them when looking at objects higher in the sky. I was at a star party over the weekend and one of my astronomy club members who has thousands of dollars invested in his setup fell in love and was raving about the quality and easy of use of this mount and tripod. Would absolutely recommend this for anyone with a small scope.

I have been using a HD tripod for my ST 80 for years. This mount makes it so much better. I wish I had found it years ago. Stable and smooth.

*Easy to setup *very sturdy *Inexpensive and a great value

The tripod works great but had several broken parts when it arrived. The tripod was packaged perfectly, however, there were two broken plastic leg connectors to the tripod mount. They were both broken in the same place. It looks like a design error. Aluminum would work so much better. Instead of shipping back, I used contact cement and it is holding great. I am not using the tripod for binoculars. If I were, it would have gotten only one star. It is being used for a Vixen Polarie camera tracker. Once I have it set for Polaris, the vertical axis never has to be moved besides some fine adjustment. It handles the Polarie just perfectly and it is so much less expensive than other alternatives.