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Old 20-09-2021, 05:39 PM
Mickoid (Michael)
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Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Posts: 1,441
Nick, I sometimes use the same set up that you have for planetary photography. Balancing a largish Newtonian with camera attached can be real tricky and you can have it balanced in one position only to find it horribly unbalanced in another. I have found, like Raymo has mentioned, the addition of a 1-1.5kg weight will help balance the scope. You can add a weight from a dumbbell that can be purchased separately from a sports store. I have a 1.25kg one that I sandwich between the two 5kg weights and like Raymo said, to give the weights a little more extension along the shaft, make sure you place the end one on the shaft so that the retaining knurled nut can sit in its recess. I'd steer clear of using a shaft extension to increase counter weight, it puts a fair bit of strain on the joint of the shaft closest to the mount. Try to have your scope balanced in the position it will be in when pointing at the object you'll be viewing/photographing.
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