I recently bought a new spotting scope and needed a very sturdy stand that I could use while prone. The scope I chose is large (Celestron Ultima 100) and clear enough that you can see 30 caliber bullet holes at 600 yards. It was also very inexpensive compared to the high end stuff (Kowa, Swarovski, Leica, Leupold, etc).
There are, of course, lots of pre-made options that will show up at your door in a few days if you have many hundreds of dollars to part with. (Creedmoor, Ray-Vin, Freeland, Ewing, Giraud)
I wanted much less expensive, and better stability. I ended up using the bottom part of a Craftsman work light tripod, a Bogen Super Clamp (#2900) and some aluminum flat stock. I had this all laying around, but to purchase you're looking at $27 for the Bogen clamp and $10 or less for the tripod. (I paid $10 for light and tripod together.)
A pictures's worth 1000 words, but what I did was make a plate that adapted the Bogen to the Celestron and gave just a bit of rotational adjustment to change elevation.
There are, of course, lots of pre-made options that will show up at your door in a few days if you have many hundreds of dollars to part with. (Creedmoor, Ray-Vin, Freeland, Ewing, Giraud)
I wanted much less expensive, and better stability. I ended up using the bottom part of a Craftsman work light tripod, a Bogen Super Clamp (#2900) and some aluminum flat stock. I had this all laying around, but to purchase you're looking at $27 for the Bogen clamp and $10 or less for the tripod. (I paid $10 for light and tripod together.)
A pictures's worth 1000 words, but what I did was make a plate that adapted the Bogen to the Celestron and gave just a bit of rotational adjustment to change elevation.
