mBuxx
If you guys and gals are not particular about absolute portability, you might look into tri-piers instead of tripods, to get more stability while having a tall pier.
This is a 800mm William Optics Mortar (I am at 45.6º Latitude).
The base of that pier is 800 mm above ground. I had drilled two extra holes in addition to their generic 3/8"-20 bolted base plate to get more stability with the RST-135's base, even though the RST-135 can take a single 3/8" bolt. If the ZWO base has a 3/8"-20 thread, it may just work with no drilling (but extra bolts won't hurt).
Notice that the "pier" itself is a single piece of aluminum pipe that extends from a foot or so above the ground up to the full 800 mm height. And William Optics has a 1200 mm version (Mortar 1200) where the top part of the pier is another 400 mm taller, also all in a single piece of pipe from the bottom.
This is what the 800 mm Mortar looks like compared to a Gitzo 5-series carbon fiber tripod that I use when I need more portability with my other RST-135 (the silver barrel is a RainbowAstro half-pier). Notice how much more pier clearance there is with the Mortar, and the 1200 mm model has an even taller pier (too tall for my 5' 2" frame :-).
(I use the north leg's adjuster of the Mortar to make final altitude adjustment during polar alignment, so that is another advantage of these tri-piers :-).
Chen
