Balance ? A odd thought

[todd8137]

Hi all here's my odd thought,balance now I balance the sct with the weights facing east and the scope on the left facing west

But when I image the moon or Jupiter the position of the weights is over to the west and the tube is on the right facing east ,

So should I balance the scope with the weighs to the west ,has that's the side they will be on when I do image with a dnk21 camera tracking and PA are very good ,align master,

Pat

[nmoushon]

Once its balanced, unless something is moved or added or removed, it is good to go. You are balancing it along a center line so once that is done it doesnt matter which side the weights/telescope are on.

[todd8137]

Once its balanced, unless something is moved or added or removed, it is good to go. You are balancing it along a center line so once that is done it doesnt matter which side the weights/telescope are on.

Thanks

Pat

[rob0971]

As far as I know, whatever is on the east side should be slightly heavy. This ensures the gears stay meshed & this improves the tracking.

[todd8137]

As far as I know, whatever is on the east side should be slightly heavy. This ensures the gears stay meshed & this improves the tracking.

Hex I have do do this for a while but when the mount flips you have to move the weight the other way to keep the weight on the gears

Pat.

[Bizibilder]

Balance should be the same on either side but often isn't  !  The cause of this can be things like an asymmetrically placed finder scope.  If you get perfect balance on one side of the mount and then flip through 180° you won't always get the beast to balance again.  If you take the finder (or whatever) off so your set-up is truly symmetrical in all directions (if you see what I mean) then you can balance on one side of the mount and flip over to achieve perfect balance on the other side.

[ollypenrice]

A good rule of thumb is to be east heavy in the northern hemisphere, with mounts showing backlash. If you have belt or friction drive then it probably won't matter, but the drive gear needs to be pushing on the wheel.

Olly