Monopod / Head help please (1 Viewer)

Hi,

I operate a dementia care facility and we are building a second location that has a nice view of Kaneohe Bay from the second level lani. Here's a link to our website.
http://www.halekuike.com/

I would like to have two high power (16x) binos available to the residents, staff and visitors. Our activity director thinks the residnets would enjoy checking out the bay. The old guys could see the activity on the US Marine Corps base and there's always a lot of boat action going on. I could check out the waves and cut out early when the surf is up. (I wish!)

For starters, I'm thinking about the Nikon Action 16x50's since they are inexpensive and the no fault warranty is hard to beat.

I'm not sure how to set it up. I would like to attach some type of monopod device to the hand rail / frame of the lanai. A traditional tripod on the ground would be a trip hazard. I just need a decent head and the part of the monopod that adjusts up and down for height. Ideally the height could adjust down for the bigger kids (maybe 4'6") and up high enough for the tall guys (6'4").

I didn't budget for this (cheaper the better). We don't need anything fancy. It just needs to work. The lanai is covered so I was planning on leaving the whole set up out 24/7 with some kind of cover for the binos. When the binos need service they will go back to Nikon. Last point on the tripod head. It would be best if it wasn't super easy for the residents to remove the binos. I don't want to abuse Nikon's generosity by sending back binos that have fallen off the second floor on a regular basis.

Any ideas of how to pull this off?

Thanks a lot,
Dave

You need something like this:

http://www.opticron.co.uk/Pages/universal_ii.htm

with something like one of these (#31005) on top to connect to the tripod mount socket on the binocular:

http://www.opticron.co.uk/Pages/bino_tripod_mounts.htm

These Opticron models can be ordered in the US from one of these guys:

http://www.opticronusa.com/Pages/dealers.html

but no idea what the shipping costs to Hawaii would be!

Good luck!

Cheers, Pete

Fantastic! Thank you very much Pete. That looks like the perfect solution.

I appreciate your help.

Dave

Hi Pete,

After looking at your site I think this would be the best option because of the longer extension.
42605 BC-2 Hide Clamp (42800 Mg head)
http://www.opticron.co.uk/Pages/bc_2.htm

Thanks again for your help. That was an easy solution.

Dave

Dave from Pete's dealer list on Opticron dealers I have received Time & Optics Ltd catalogs in the past and they seem like a very nice outfit,very nice catalog, never ordered anything. I have no connection to this company.
http://www.gregmillerbirding.com/time-optics/

Cool, thanks for the tip Steve. That will help.

Thanks,
Dave