4. M002CW Complete Mount System - Wooden tripod

First I want to say what wonderful customer service Stellarvue has. I want to personally thank Mr. Vic Maris for providing a solution and sending it promptly. This tripod is absolutely gorgeous. The mount is beefy and robust and beautifully built. The tripod is very stable and the mount and column move smoothly and effortlessly while holding my 115mm triplet in place. This company is awesome and I'm super pleased with this purchase. Great quality and nicely built. I plan on buying my dream refractor from stellarvue in the future. You guys have a customer for life. Thank you

I just received this unit and it certainly looks nice. The Appleply wood is pretty and the machining is excellent. The mount works quite well: The unit is not quite rock-solid but it certainly is quite sturdy, and the alt-az friction clutches have little stiction with good smoothness. Very nice. The only negative is that the tripod appears to have been somewhat hastily built. The varnish is not as smooth as I expected. From across the room, it is a handsome piece of work. Up close, there are rough spots. Still, it definitely is a keeper.

I have been wanting a simple alt-az mount and this is absolutely the best one I have ever used. It takes 5 minutes to assemble. All parts have an extremely solid feel-very high quality. I am using this mount with an Astro Tech 115mm apo, and once I have the scope balanced, everything comes together and is as solid as can be. Just a touch on the scope and it moves effortlessly with no movement whatsoever. If I could give this mount more stars I would do so in a heartbeat. If you are in the market for a high quality alt-az mount, please do yourself a favor and look no further.

I waited a year after I received my Stellarvue M002 Alt-Az mount with wood Denali apple tripod in order to review it. Over the last 12 months, I used it for observing with my 115 EDT f/7 refractor at home and on the go. From my local astronomy club observing spots here in central Alabama, to public star parties, to pull overs along the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina. The mount and tripod have performed splendidly - smooth, solid operation and sturdy. My 18 lb OTA set up with either heavy eyepieces or a large DSLR camera have been no challenge for this mount. I used it to successfully shoot two lunar eclipses as well as visual astronomy. Love the build and firmness of the Denali tripod too. Better still, I can set up my scope in my living room and my wife doesnt complain because the tripod looks so nice! Thanks Vic, for a mount that performs as well as it looks!

Outstanding products, superb engineering, excellent customer support

Awesome product. Weights: 25.4 lbs fully kitted out. 37 lbs if you add my 4" APO 1) Make sure to check all knobs are tight. Had a leg slip but luckly I was holding it. Next time I will double check to make sure all are tight. 2) Wooden Denali is better aesthetically and performance wise better than the heavier steel tripod version. I've used both and prefer the wooden version. 3) On you use this thing your friends and club members will want one to! It happened to me...I had the steel version on loan from a friend and here I am with my own Denali version of the M002C! 4) I do astrophotography with another Go-to mount from SW and I really like having this M002C for times when I don't want to be as serious and take it easy and just do some visual astronomy. 5) If your after some other wooden tripods like berlebach report, forget them and just go straight for this. Its nicer and better not to mention the value as a package makes it about the same price. Carlos

The mount holds a 102mm Triplet apo. The mount is very stable--no shake whatsoever with that load (~19 lbs). So smooth that slow motion is one finger against the diagonal. Good balancing and careful adjustment of friction is a given. Beautifully-made and versatile. EZ to assemble. Superb quality level, and worthy of a high-end scope. I will be adding a DSC for hard-core usage.

This complete system exceeded my expectations. The wooden tripod is beautiful and very sturdy. The pier and mount attached precisely. Best part was seeing my 140mm f/6.5 APO, which weighs in around 26 pounds fully configured, riding effortlessly on the mount. This was later confirmed by an evening session of star hopping - setting the clutches at the right level, scanning and star hopping was a joy. I’m very pleased with this purchase!

I have always believed in "buy best, cry once", and my recent purchase of Stellarvue's made in USA tripod and mount system fits the bill with what can best be described as heirloom quality. Obviously carefully thought out and manufactured to a high standard, it is the perfect partner for my 92mm f7 scope. It is incredibly smooth and rock solid, and just beautiful to look at. There are many choices out there, some less expensive, but I will never regret waiting to purchase this tripod and mount. And someday my son will appreciate it.