Hi Mike thanks for the info, I'm guessing you also have to rotate the RA axis out of the way everytime to get to that hex bolt because there's barely any gap (2-3mm) from the photo. I use polemaster to polar align and one problem I have with my current NEQ6 is when I tighten the altitude adjustment bolts after achieving P, the alignment goes off slightly. And then I have to try again to bring it back to alignment while simultaneously tightening. Have you faced this issue with the linear? Can you get away with just finger tightening the bolts?
Yes I definitely am considering the tripod extension but only issue is its too expensive (200 Euros) and I'm already at the limit of my budget. I'll just try to DIY the extension and if that doesn't work out then I can always buy it later.
How is your typical guiding with this mount , are you able to get around 0.5 arcsec total RMS regularly? I've read some reviews that say that wind can be a major issue with this mount. What scopes do you typically use with the mount? Since you said you're loading 19 kg on it I'm guessing a big Newtonian or SCT.
Arjun