I volunteer at the bird hide at Edithvale Wetlands, in suburban
Melbourne. We are looking to replace a spotting scope used by the
public under supervision. I am after suggestions from the list.
The scope would be used by novices - particularly children - to look at
waterbirds and waders in good light and at ranges up to 150m. We have
found that little kids struggle with binoculars but enjoy looking
through a solidly mounted scope. Use of the scope will be supervised by
volunteers. We will unmount and secure the scope when not in use.
I guess we need a scope, a tripod head and a mount
1. Scope
Probably an inexpensive 60 to 70mm diameter scope with an angled, zoom
eyepiece.
Bintel have a Celestron Ultima 65a w/16-48x Zoom for $259,
2. Tripod head
A simple pan/tilt tripod head. Only need two degrees of freedom and
doesn't need quick release. A decent handle to steer with would be good.
Something like a Manfrotto 700RC2 Composite Video Head
<http://www.digitalcamerawarehouse.com.au/prod2096.htm> ?
3. Mount
This is where I get into trouble. I think we want a mount we can
permanently bolt to the floor, with adjustable height. A column would
be preferable to a tripod, as it is takes less floor space.
The nearest I can find is a Opticron BC-2 Hide Clamp
<https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1133413-REG/opticron_42610_bc_2_clamp_and_500mm.html>
with Center Column. We could bolt a wooden post to the floor or perhaps
mount a bracket off the wall, then clamp the hide mount to it. This is
expensive in AU, but quite reasonable from USA. I'd prefer a steel tube
as weight isn't an issue, but ...
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