Quote:
Originally Posted by bmitchell82
I always offset my weight balance and i generally set it for a area of the sky and that area being from East to aproximately Zenith as i cant be bothered doing maridian flips  .
Also when i balance, i release both RA and Dec clutches and swing it all around when i find a sticky point i make a small adjustment. I have also found that balancing a EQ6 perfectly is bad joo joos because of the backlash they have using the offset like I mentioned above loads up the motors. and when guiding you dont get the backlash/bounce happening.
In saying that my dec has always acted a bit funky, but i get round stars with the finderguider! happy days!
I should make a note that i don't balance my scope in the park position, i never image there well... i don't image directly at the SCP so why would you balance there?
my routine is, PUT EVERYTHING ON THAT YOU WILL USE FOR THE NIGHT BEFORE YOU START :d i have not heeded my own advice and had to pull down because my guiding wouldn't work... note to self.!
1. lay the scope over so the counterweight bar and telescope are laying horizontally.
-while its like this you can slide the counter weights around untill your balanced with a slight bias to the counterweights side (trying to lift the scope back to the park position)
2. once thats licked put the scope back into the horizontal position, release the RA clutch, this gives you the backwards forwards adjustment. if you find you run out of adjustment undo the rings and slide the OTA forwards or backwards what ever is needed. then repeat the process untill you have a slight bias wanting to drag the front of the scope to point to zenith.
Flip it so that the counterweight is on the other side, and see if your balance is still the same, if its not youll have to center the OTA accessories better so rotate the tube around then repeat the process untill everything is honky doory.
3. once both of these axis's have been balanced you should be able to release both Dec and RA clutches flip it anywhere and it has that slight pull you introduced in the bias but otherwise happy!
Keep up the questions.
Brendan |
Cheers Mr B - will have another go tonight.
Its cool and clear (at the moment) so I will dash home and experiment
Pete