werdsmyth

Just picked up a (very) cheap Star-Watcher Startravel-102 scope and wanted to try it out on my Star Adventurer Pro setup. Scope+DSLR camera comes in at 3.8kg, which is under the 5kg payload capacity of the tracker. Last night I got an insane shot of Orion's sword, which really surprised me with this quality of scope. However, when I tried to point at Pleiades tonight the setup simply won't balance. I'm assuming it's because the weight of the scope is across a different point, so the centre of gravity is in a different place. I've dropped the L bracket down as far as it can go, to try and lower the centre of gravity but that hasn't worked either. Also tried the trick of sitting a ball head mount on the other L bracket screw. Ended up resorting to taking off the counterweight supplied and putting a heavier weight on from my other telescope. Balancing is better but still not 100%. Am I missing anything here? Do I just need to accept that a big 500mm scope is too much for this tracker? Even though it's technically under the payload capacity limit.