Telescope balancing

[Lee_P]

Howdy,

I've been reading up on equatorial mounts, and the importance of balancing your OTA by sliding it in the rings. However, my short-tube refractor is... well, short, and there's almost no room for it to move. Will it be impossible to balance with a heavy DSLR on the end?

 - Lee 

[peter shah]

Balancing is very important, if you have a heavy duty mount then you will get away with it, but on a smaller mount you will need to find a way. Shorter focal lengths are more forgiving............ you could always get yourself a long dovetail plate and find your centre of balance via the dovetail and mount.

[Lee_P]

Thanks for the reply, Peter. Do you know if the long plate here would work? http://www.firstlightoptics.com/dovetail-bars/skywatcher-dovetail-mounting-plates.html The holes seem to be placed more sensibly than on the medium model...

[peter shah]

You could always drill a new set of holes on the plate. The scope rings dont have to be at the ends of the plate, you will then be able to balance it on the overhang if you need to.......first thing you need to do is find the centre of balance of the scope (with the camera attached) measure it then decide which plate you need.