Denny Granstrand wrote:
>
> I am sure that many of you have had trouble keeping your scope tight on your
> Bogan tripod, as have I. I found a simple solution.
>
> The bolt that secures the scope to the head of the tripod is two pieces -
> the bolt and the tightener. I took the bolt off the tripod (it slides out
> of a slot in the head) and put a large lock washer on top of the tightener.

Another trick that works is to replace the combination screw with a
straight, slotted 1/4" one. Torque it down, it will stay put. For
those who use the Bogen hex QR system, they make plates that come with
slotted screws. I use one which uses a slotted 3/8" screw for my 600/4,
which, with camera body, weighs nearly 16 lbs. It's never budged. Of
course, getting the QR plate off may be a bitch :)

Be careful with Bushnell Spacemaster II scopes if your scope routinely
is loosening on your tripod head. Unless there's been a recent
improvement, the threads are just drilled into the metal block with no
steel bushing (as you find on quality camera tripod mounts). It's quite
easy to strip out. It happened to me, though fortunately there was
enough thread left to grab the screw when I torqued hard with
vise-grips. Others have reported problems to Audubon on occasion, to
the extent that we used to, at least, have the name of a guy on file
who'd drill and retap the threads.

--
- Don Baccus, Portland OR <donb at rational.com>
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