East/west-heavy scope.

[Guest Tuomo]

I keep it simple. How much east/west heavy scope? Should scope fall towards heavier side, or is it then too much(unbalanced)?

[steppenwolf]

Assuming this is to take up backlash, the easy way to remember is that the side that is rising should be very slightly heavy. So, if the weights are on the rising side, after balancing, slide them 1 to 2 centimetres or so away from the mount. If the telescope is on the rising side, after balancing, slide the weights towards the mount by 1 to 2 centimetres. It does not require much offset to achieve the result you want.

[iapa]

2 hours ago, steppenwolf said:

Assuming this is to take up backlash, the easy way to remember is that the side that is rising should be very slightly heavy. So, if the weights are on the rising side, after balancing, slide them 1 to 2 centimetres or so away from the mount. If the telescope is on the rising side, after balancing, slide the weights towards the mount by 1 to 2 centimetres. It does not require much offset to achieve the result you want.

Always wondered about how much 'heavy' we needed.

I've always let it 'just' start to sink on the heavy side.

Will ty going for a 1" shift next time - I had a lot of drift the other nigh and this may be the solution - not heavy enough 

[ollypenrice]

51 minutes ago, iapa said:

Always wondered about how much 'heavy' we needed.

I've always let it 'just' start to sink on the heavy side.

Will ty going for a 1" shift next time - I had a lot of drift the other nigh and this may be the solution - not heavy enough 

Imbalance does not combat drift, it combats backlash. The result of backlash is often a 'barbell' effect with single stars looking something like this: 00. The mount spends most of its time at one side or the other of backlash, creating a stellar image in both those positions. Often the two stellar images overlap and if the backlash is short it will look like slight trailing.

Olly

[Guest Tuomo]

4 hours ago, steppenwolf said:

Assuming this is to take up backlash, the easy way to remember is that the side that is rising should be very slightly heavy. So, if the weights are on the rising side, after balancing, slide them 1 to 2 centimetres or so away from the mount. If the telescope is on the rising side, after balancing, slide the weights towards the mount by 1 to 2 centimetres. It does not require much offset to achieve the result you want.

VERY nicely explained, thank you! I have always thought term "east/west heavy scope" was bit vague, but now that you explain it like that it is WAY simplier. 

[steppenwolf]

30 minutes ago, Tuomo said:

VERY nicely explained, thank you! I have always thought term "east/west heavy scope" was bit vague, but now that you explain it like that it is WAY simplier. 

My pleasure!

[ollypenrice]

2 minutes ago, steppenwolf said:

My pleasure!

My standard explanation to guests has just been modified and credit will go where it's due, kind Sir!

Olly

 

[Freddie]

The even easier way to think of this is forget about which side the scope is on and which bit is rising,  just move the weights slightly to the east. Sometimes that will be towards the mount, sometimes away but that doesn't matter, just forget everything, all you need to remember is  "move the weights east"