The "Monitor Sherpa" (Kessler Crane)

[DCERVENKA]

My Kessler Crane came in early this week and I totally forgot about ordering any kind of mounting system for my monitor. After a few hours tinkering in the garage I came up with the "Monitor Sherpa."

Part of my design was influenced by the clunking under-mount system of the varizoom batteries. Though this system is better than most I still wasn't fond of the look when stacking more than 1 battery under the monitor.. With the Monitor Sherpa's beaver tail mount, you can stack multiple batteries out of the way, but still accessible by the monitor’s power cable.

I will post up more pics of the Monitor Sherpa mounted on the Kessler Crane in a few..

If you are interested in building one yourself. Please let me know and I will put together a DIY guide. A few notes: It helps if you have access to a vice, tap-kit, a metal file, and decent drill bits.



http://www.dpcfilms.com/misc/DIY/monitor_sherpa/images/MonitorSherpa.jpg

[DCERVENKA]

Hers's the mount in action:

http://www.dpcfilms.com/misc/DIY/monitor%5Fsherpa/images/resized4web/IMG_6524.jpg

AND

http://www.dpcfilms.com/misc/DIY/monitor%5Fsherpa/images/resized4web/IMG_6529.jpg

[MiniMan13]

Is this a One shot Deal, or are you going to end up selling them?

[JasonFox]

That is awesome. A few hours tinkering in my garage would not yield that!

[DCERVENKA]

Is this a One shot Deal, or are you going to end up selling them?

good question.. I might try couple different designs; like a shorter top bar to make it more compact or maybe some sort of built in cable guides...?

If guess if someone wanted one and didn't have the time or tools to make it I might consider it.




That is awesome. A few hours tinkering in my garage would not yield that!

Thanks! The wife is still trying to figure out why I spent so much time staring at a piece of metal... lol

[KingVidiot]

Looks nice.

Regarding your crane, how does it perform on your tripod head? I have a very sturdy head, and the crane (at 12ft) + counterweight + camera = about 25-30 lbs. That is much higher than my specs and the wobbly action shows. Are you using a special head on your tripod? I was about to take the head off and rig-up some sort of high-weight tolerant pivot to allow the lever to still work independently of the crane's vertical motion.

[DCERVENKA]

Looks nice. Regarding your crane, how does it perform on your tripod head?

Thanks. It works fine, but I would like to get a bigger heard just to be safe.


I have a very sturdy head, and the crane (at 12ft) + counterweight + camera = about 25-30 lbs. That is much higher than my specs and the wobbly action shows. Are you using a special head on your tripod?

I'm running the Bogen 503 and "yes" it's pushing the limit, but it works.. With the Bescor Remote Head, the DVX100a, the Cavision .6x WA, and the DVXUser 5600 Mha Battery I have to run about 45lbs in counter weight. Anything more than a 10 degree tilt before my "custom mod" and the Quick Release Plate (QRP) was coming dangerously close to slipping out.

My custom mod consisted of replacing the stock bolt, that locks the QRP in place, with a home-fabricated allen/wing-nut bolt. This allows me to tighten it all the way with an allen wrench making sure the QRP is securely fastened.


What kind of crane are you using? The Kessler is very well built and at 12ft with the cable supports it feels rock solid.

[KingVidiot]

I have the Kessler 12/8 ft and the 503 head too. I need to rig-up a head mod. The weight scares me on the damn 503 head. Bogen's best weight-rated head is about $1500.00 and it still won't handle that kind of weight.

Back to the hardware store...

[DCERVENKA]

Update... I busted the mounting plate on the 503... maybe it was from over tightening the QRP..? Anyway I will post pics..

Off to find a better head solution. sigh....