I just found something on Aliexpress to balance 3 (I think) axis on a telescope. I've often seen the question asked and have the same issue with both my Newt when I attach my full frame camera and my RC8. My RC8 I re-purposed the counter balance weight off a 12HP B&S ride on mower engine and a dovetail clamp so I can add some weight forward. I need more weight if I attach my full frame Nikon, hmm, I have dumb bells here (or am one).
Has anyone tried this system?
To buy the whole system bit by bit it would add up and I didn't see and mention of a complete set but I'll have another look.
Yes, pretty expensive as a whole set..
I was using "complicated" balance but nothing like this elaborate contraption.
I was just adding weights in various forms where necessary to compensate larger and annoying imbalances..This is an example, the weight is here to compensate for Canon 60D.
I am trying to get my head around the physics of balancing what you have described in three dimensions (or four if you include the different positions in time) using this device. I have not used one.
I think adding a weight up front might help, but you may need to add to or adjust the main counterweights to account for the additional top-heaviness.
I wonder if the vertical rod and counterweight may prove to be a bit redundant because both are very close to the RA axis and you already have the main counterweight.
Also, I wonder if the lateral rods and weights may not be very helpful in your case, as they are positioned above the RA axis, rather than at or below the RA axis. As such, they will add further to the top-heaviness and might not do much to address the lateral imbalance of the gear that is already above that axis.
So, perhaps consider just the forward-facing components of this product for balancing the camera, rather than buying the whole set?
I wouldn't be spending the money on something like this, I don't have that kind of money to throw around but did find it intriguing.
My RC8 has all of the weight at the rear, that's why I too an old crank balancer off a Briggs & Stratton ride on engine (dead) and hung it off a dovetail clamp which I can move up and down the Vixen dovetail bar, . The only time it becomes an issue is if I have a diagonal and my full frame hanging off that, the D810 body is also weighty.
My concept of it looking interesting is I can replicate something similar if I were interested. It wouldn't look like that though, more like steampunk cutlery.
Location: '34 South' Young Hilltops LGA, Australia
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Hi Leo.
The first thing I would not is that the link seems too good to be true. Machined counterweight assembly for $1.50. Probably a scam. The weights shown are very small and wouldn't do much. The dovetail clamp shown is a finderscope not a Vixen rail clamp. So it's good that you are not spending money on it.
Those multi axis counterweight systems are quite complicated and while they might balance your camera in one part of the sky but not after a meridian flip or at the start of the exposure but not at the end.
The attached photos show a DIY weight system I made for my Vixen VC200L, a cass astrograph that has no front corrector element similar to your RC, it has a secondary but otherwise no weight up front. The primary mirror, baffle tube corrector, finder, focuser, photographic reducer and camera all hang off the back. As a result, I cannot move the tube far enough forward to balance when the camera is attached. The felt pads stop the weights from unscrewing or binding when they are screwed in.
So I made a modular 3 x 1100g weight system from 63mm diameter brass pieces that I picked up as scrap. I typically have 2 of them [2.2kg] hanging below the front of the tube.
You can simplify your newt's balancing by rotating the newt tube so that the camera hangs down in line with the dec axis toward the polar axis. This may require buying and attaching a second dovetail bar and if you attach a second bar, either install a very long one or don't mount it in the middle of the tube length but offset it towards the camera.
The display will be harder to view. If your camera doesn't have an articulating screen, see if it has a HDMI output. You can buy quite cheap car HDMI video monitors 5", 7", 11", 13" designed to be mounted behind the front seat headrest for the kids to watch. They work off 12v DC and put the camera output in a more convenient viewing position. A cheaper solution is to use a handheld mirror to view the display albeit in reverse.
Joe
Regarding the link, not a scam site, that's just how Aliexpress suck people in, that's just for the finder clamp, nothing else. You have to scroll through the images to find the entire set up is well over $300.
I just realised that seller doesn't sell the entire set in one, it must have been another seller with the complete set or same seller, different listing.
I always wanted a VC200L, beautiful telescope.
I have both brass and copper (some large 2" copper discs around 2" thick I use when playing with Peltier coolers). I also have several chunks of suitable brass and steel I could do these weights with and a lathe if I'm fussy about the shape of them.
Hercules brand also have a nice straight forward system on Aliexpress;
I wouldn't be buying this thing, I'd be making something suitable to my needs.
My camera screen doesn't rotate. I have a nice 15" HDMI touch screen I got at Aldi cheap and it's an IPS display, it will plug into my camera though I haven't tried yet. A mirror would be useless with my pathetic sight and I'd wobble it too much trying to focus on anything.
Peter while that Losmandy stuff looks amazing (as I believe all Losmandy stuff is) it's far from cheap. I guess like most things, you get what you pay for.
......
Peter while that Losmandy stuff looks amazing (as I believe all Losmandy stuff is) it's far from cheap. I guess like most things, you get what you pay for.
Well...pay the penny ride, that's what you invariably get
Yet...I'm mildly hopeful re: the cost in $A of US equipment.
I suspect there will be a major reckoning soon for the $USD due the insane levels of US debt.
I still remember when the Aussie dollar was 1 for 1 (parity). I had so many friends went over for a holiday. I got a few nice, cheap things,we can only hope.
While I recognise the value in quality equipment it's not something I'm in a position to play with. I'm better off if I can buy the materials and machine my own stuff to a degree. Dovetail bars and clamps I wouldn't bother with, the material costs as much as the finished product (close enough) but many things are easily replicated to a degree without stealing a design and only for myself.
Maybe if I got a haircut, shave and a job........
No, I'm not on a pension because I have long hair and beard, I'm just cheap and lazy or that's what I tell anyone who comments on my beard that hangs down to an inch above my navel.
[QUOTE=Leo.G;1631592]I still remember when the Aussie dollar was 1 for 1 (parity). I had so many friends went over for a holiday. I got a few nice, cheap things,we can only hope.
>snip
Ah yes, those good old days, I remember them well, when it even made the postage costs palatable.
