Balancing my Tasco 40-114675

[Neil in West Jersey]

I picked this up cheap at a garage sale. The manual gives specific directions on balancing, but I cannot get it to balance correctly. I guess you might say it is head heavy.

Any suggestions? Are heavier counterweights available? I know that the mount isn't the best but it's the only thing in my budget right now.

[rwilkey]

Hi Neil, have you been able to loosen the tube rings and move the telescope tube (OTA - optical tube assembly) up or down inside them? It is usually this action that gets it near to balance, and then to fine-tune move the counter-weights up or down everso slightly, or a combination of both. You certainly shouldn't need to buy extra counter-weights, to be honest the telescope is not worth the extra cost. I suggest perservering a bit to see if you can get it right.

[Schorhr]

Nice entry Level telescope, if it's too shaky, you could build a simple dobsonian Rockerbox mount for 3-5€ if the mount is troubling you (and get a smaller scope later or use a camera lens for astro photography on that mount) :-)

Good luck and lots of fun with your telescope.