Really good tripods are expensive. I paid about $500 for mine 15 years ago. You find those used in a photo shop.That top on the ball head is a quick-release mount for a camera or lens. I would remove it. The suggestion to hang weight below the tripod head is a good one--photographers also do that to stabilize their tripods, esp. doing nature photos.
It would seem that way, but you use your pad and I'm sure you told your nieces and nephew how it works so they are fine with it. The problem is with a club set up, you are dealing with a large number of people and the lowest common denominator when it comes to figuring out how a mechanical thing works. Personally, I never have issues with that, it's always pretty obvious to me, but for others, it is nothing but confusing and they don't have a clue and can't seem to figure it out. And that is just for loading a rocket. Then there are a bunch more that are setting up and taking down. Add weights and tent stakes and it just gets way too confusing and becomes a huge cluster getting things set up.I’ve used a tripod for over 20 years with up to H motors and I’ve never had an issue with stability. With bigger rockets I used a couple of tent stakes to anchor it, or hung a weight from the center post if it was a big rocket.
As for being too complicated? I simply don’t understand what that means. My 8-12 year nieces and nephews could load their rockets unaided.
Lots of folks use tripods for a launch pad. It’s not rocket science. It sounds like it may just have been the particular tripods the club used.
Tony
Unless I am misunderstanding the OP's post, he's using it as a personal launchpad, so I thought my experience was appropriate. Your experience with a club, maybe not so much.It would seem that way, but you use your pad and I'm sure you told your nieces and nephew how it works so they are fine with it. The problem is with a club set up, you are dealing with a large number of people and the lowest common denominator when it comes to figuring out how a mechanical thing works. Personally, I never have issues with that, it's always pretty obvious to me, but for others, it is nothing but confusing and they don't have a clue and can't seem to figure it out. And that is just for loading a rocket. Then there are a bunch more that are setting up and taking down. Add weights and tent stakes and it just gets way too confusing and becomes a huge cluster getting things set up.
As a personal pad, I'm sure the tripod can work great. What we've found, as a club set up, they are a huge headache unless you have one person do all the setup and tear down and work as pad manager for the whole launch. That isn't really practical either. Which is why our tripods are in the sea container in a bucket now.
You're right, the club experience isn't relevant. And the club membership at large had no problem with them. It was a small minority (LCD) of users, mostly visitors with kids trying to fly LPR that had the most problems.Unless I am misunderstanding the OP's post, he's using it as a personal launchpad, so I thought my experience was appropriate. Your experience with a club, maybe not so much.
But it still surprises me that the club membership at larger struggled with the concept of how tripods work.
Tony
PS: You give me too much credit for how much instruction I gave my nieces and nephews. I just assumed they could figure it out.
You're right, the club experience isn't relevant. And the club membership at large had no problem with them. It was a small minority (LCD) of users, mostly visitors with kids trying to fly LPR that had the most problems.
We actually had to ban a couple of parents and their kid from our launches for just a complete lack of understanding that the launch had rules that needed to be followed. We also get a lot of high school kids who do seem to be lacking common sense, but fortunately will at least pay attention when their teacher is around.You're right, the club experience isn't relevant. And the club membership at large had no problem with them. It was a small minority (LCD) of users, mostly visitors with kids trying to fly LPR that had the most problems.
For my "tripod" I went with a bike stand that I bought years ago for maintaining my bicycle (obviously). It's designed to handle heavy objects, stably (<--- Why does that look misspelled despite not being misspelled? [EDIT] Oh... Wordnesia [/EDIT]), *AND* has jaws that are designed to hold round objects... That makes it perfect for mounting dowels that can be used to hold rockets horizontally (or at weird angles if so desired), for painting. A minor adaptation (a dowel with a rail attached to it, and it could be used a launcher (though I would cover it to protect it from any grime from a launch)). I bought mine new, with a coupon... I can't remember the brand, or exactly how much I spent, but IIRC it was under $75, and it was similar to this in appearance (though this exact model is about $400 more)...
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