Last night I tried observing some doubles in Canis Major with my new ED80. It was on an EQ3-2 mount, unmotorised. Canis Major was near the zenith, so the viewing end was at its lowest position (I was actually sitting on the grass).
I struck a hitch. I had a 2 inch diagonal with a 2xBarlow and 22 Panoptic. Too much weight it would seem, as the focuser kept sliding down. I had to take off the barlow, and then it was OK, maybe a little bit of a tendency to move slightly out of focus. Seems there is a limited threshhold to how much weight the ED80 can cope with in that position.
For all those ED80 users out there, is that your experience too, or should I be concerned?
