adapting Mach2GTO to TAK EM-400 Tripod


weihaowang
 

Hi,

Last month I got notified for ordering a Mach2GTO. While I am waiting for the delivery, I also started to think about how to adapt it to a tripod.

Currently I have two tripods for TAK EM-400. So I am thinking about using one of them for Mach2. The top of the tripod looks like this:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/6bp7mk2fr6oolml/EM400_tripod.jpg?dl=0
Its dimensions are given in the first page of this PDF file I created:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/0iw5d96ixeye1mr/Mach2GTO_EM400Tripod.pdf?dl=0
On the first page, I compared it against ADATRI for Mach1/Mach2.

So, to put Mach2GTO on the EM-400 tripod, the first natural choice would be to custom-make a second adapter, to create a flat surface that connects to the bottom of ADATRI. This is shown on the second page of the PDF file above.

However, from ADATRI's dimensions, I noticed that the diameter of Mach2's base (about 5.8 inch) is very close to the diameter of the stainless steel part of the EM-400 tripod (5.91 inch).  I wonder if it's a good idea to bypass ADATRI and let Mach2 directly sit on the EM-400 tripod. To do so, I can just custom-make a tube that fixes Mach2 on the tripod, like what's shown on the third page of the PDF file.

I am wondering what is better.  With ADATRI or without?  Will there be big problems in the second approach (bypassing ADATRI)?

Thanks.

Wei-Hao



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