There's a spider on my mic stand!

And in the boat.  And in the truck.  Well, not the 8-legged arachnid type... this "spider" is part of the RAM Mount System, and is designed to hold 7" tablets, including the iPad Mini.

We ordered a couple different mounting set-ups, including a fixed ball mount, a heavy-duty suction mount, a weighted base, but the thing that makes it all work is this "spider"...

I've been using the iPad Mini to keep track of songs.  With the RAM Mount, it is easy to attach it to the mic stand...

A side view, showing the attachment (and a blanket to give some separation for the image)...

I tried it out - works great.  Kinda like a small "teleprompter"; big enough to see the lyrics, small enough to be unobtrusive.  It is especially good for learning songs.

And, of course, I had to take it out to the boat to check out the mounting there...

This is with the suction mount on the smooth gelcoat surface at the helm.  In all likelihood, I will mount a ball up there permanently when I am comfortable with the best location.  Although I ordered it to use in the truck, the weighted base works good up there, too...

A view from the side to show the weighted base and mount...

The tablet can be mounted in the vertical or horizontal position, and changed easily.  I think it is going to make the very handy Mini even more handy.

A link to GPS City regarding the mount...

http://www.gpscity.com/ram-mount-universal-x-grip-ii-tablet-cradle-with-b-ball-ram-hol-un8bu.html

----------------------------

While we're on the subject of boat stuff - I got word today that our image stabilized binoculars were received by Canon and are being repaired, and will be returned to us soon.  It took a long time to get a response from Canon regarding where to send the binoculars for repair, but once I got someone from Customer Service on my side, things happened expeditiously... that whole "squeeky wheel" thing. ;-)