Megrez 72 mounting problem

[Phillyo]

Morning all,

So after speaking to some more knowledgable of the chaps and chapettes on SGL it seems that my tracking issues stem from an imbalance of my scope on my mount. My problem is that when I plonk my Canon 450D onto the back of the little Megrez 72 and back focus to achieve focus, the scope becomes very rear heavy, however I cannot move it any further forward on the EQ6 mounting plate because 1) The focus lock screw underneath gets in the way and 2) The focusing knobs on either side also get in the way.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get around this issue? Do I attach it to a dove tail? Will the focus lock screw then not be tightenable once i've achieved focus?

This is really bugging me as I'm getting up to 10min subs unguided when looking straight up where balance isn't a problem, yet struggling to get more than 30 seconds when aiming lower towards the horizon.

Thank you all,

Phil.

[Phillyo]

Sorry for the wall of text! For some reason the formatting didn't apply when I posted the question :/

[wuthton]

You can bolt a piece of dovetail bar to the foot to put some extra space between the scope and the mount. I've done this in the past.

[Earl]

I have a simular problem with my FSQ, I have to use risers (which are the adm adapters) to lift the ota up a bit from the dovetail to allow space for the focuser, and have to hav it sitting forward with weights at the front to blance it all out.

[Phillyo]

Thanks guys, i'm a bit of a beginner when it comes to this sort of thing so as much as I understand what you mean if you have any pictures of a similar set up or a link perhaps that would be awesome.

Thank you for your replies

Phil

[Psychobilly]

The lock know is an easy one to fix.. rotate the focuser through 180 degree's as it's rotatable this will put the focus knobs on the top as well...

Peter...

[Phillyo]

Well I never knew that! Thanks Peter, I'll give that a try when I get home from work.

Phil

[Psychobilly]

Slacken the knurled screw on the top and the whole focuser section can be rotated... the downside is that the knurled screw end up on the bottom so it might still cause you problems and might need replacing with something shorter like a grub screw...

[Herbig]

Get some tube rings and a long dovetail bar, this will give you lots of flexibility, in terms of balance options and you'll have a rock solid set up.

[steppenwolf]

I use an aluminium block and a spare dovetail bar to resolve this issue - see image below:-

[RobertI]

Get some tube rings and a long dovetail bar, this will give you lots of flexibility, in terms of balance options and you'll have a rock solid set up.

I use this setup and it is very flexible and rock solid. Also the rings act as two very useful handles for picking up the precious scope! The downsides are the rings need to be carefully placed so as not to interefere with the of finderscope / red dot finders. Definitely worth a go if you already have some rings and a dovetail or can get some cheaply.