I just bought this on ebay hoping to use it for grab 'n' go with a short tube 80mm refractor. Unfortunately when the scope is pointed high in the sky the altitude 'lock' doesn't actually stop the scope from tilting backwards slowly. Admittedly the setup is slightly back heavy even in the best balance position I can achieve but with a scope as light as this I didn't expect that to be an issue with a heavy duty head.
If you're thinking I could fix this by using a longer dovetail to shift the balance point forward I should also point out that the altitude friction control and lock knobs are somewhat stiff and need to be tightened a lot before they 'bite'. This makes the head irritating to use for astro work and I prefer my lightweight 701RC2.
The ebay seller has given me a full refund and told me that I can keep the item. Therefore I'm offering it free to anyone here that might want to tinker with it or try it out. It might be best suited to terrestrial use where the scope/binos are closer to horizontal.
The attached images are taken from the ebay listing.
