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tip
When you setup the tripod in the field and level it, put your hands on it and transfer most of your weight down onto it to bed the legs, then check the level once more.
Check the alignment of the polar scope by centering crosshairs on a distant point in daylight and rotate the bare mount. Rotate the mount through 360° ra while observing the point. Adjust for centre carefully via the 3 grub screws in the scope, too much tension on the screws will crack the recticle inside. There are 2 sets of 3 grub screws so get the right set.
If the large locating protrusion that seats the mount into the centre of tripod had slop side to side ( a loose fit) you can shim the inside of the tripod recess with strips of thin copper foil. Slop in this joint will play havoc with a good polar alignment because as you adjust one rotating screw on a snug joint the protrusion will shift over. Not much but it's notisable on many mounts.
Removing the paint from the two mating ring surfaces between mount and tripod will alow for jerk free polar adjustment of the alt axis. Dont use a plastic shim as some suggest as this leads to slippage. Two bare aluminium surfaces are perfect, the paint is bumpy and grips irregularity.
A large builders adjustable protractor from bunnings will remove a lot of error setting initial declination and get you a lot closer to the scp. Use a small quality magnetic level and sit it horizontal on the protractor and adjust your mounts az screws till its level. Setting the protractor to your latitude first of course. The calibrations on the eq6 are rather poor imo.
Always always get those counterweights on first. I know we all know it but its the one mistake most of us make at least once, I did anit nearly cost me a c11. I was there beside it when it went luckily and caught it just in time lol.
Dont be afraid to go inside and check the meshing of the gears if you are mechanically minded. Its all robust inside and even if you dont feel like adjustment making you can check that the grease is on the gears.
I built a heater for the controller because at -5 C it can start to go haywire. Some use a sock but that didnt work for me. I built a caddy the controller slides into and on the back a half cut of polypipe so it can be clipped on and off any of the tripod legs easily. Very handy if you move fromside to side through the night.
O, watch the legs. The SS is not thebest, I rub CRC into mine after a session or a weekend to add a little protection. Obviously rubbing it off so there is no residue for next session.
kg8
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