an affordable tripod to use with this combo? something cheap but not cheaply made. thanks in advance....

I'm interested in the same thing. I wish there was a cheap, but sturdy head that can handle that kind of weight. The sticks shouldn't be too difficult as there are plenty that support large loads. It's the heads that are rated for small loads. Anyone have any ideas?

Simple. Don't buy a crane that mounts to the tripod head. Any of the decent ones have their own pan/tilt mechanism and mount to the sticks.

Which ones, Dennis? That sounds like a great idea. I have sticks with a 75mm bowl on the way and I have big stick with a 3/8" mount. Both are options for a jib. I guess I may now be in the market for the same jib as Bigo.

I built one... (http://www.pana3ccduser.com/showthread.php?t=2694) I haven't used any others so I can't honestly recommend any. The skycrane (site sponsor) looks good: http://www.skycrane.com/home.html

i have one of these:
http://promax.com/Products/Detail/28000
which i would sell for 500 with tripod, heavy duty head, crane and monitor & battery for the camera
... lemme know if you want it. i was going to put it on ebay soon anyway.

it works great, its smooth, and pretty affordable. the only downside is the lack of head panning capability. you can pan, but with the whole arm, rather than the camera only.