Where to place right angled finder on C8 OTA

[festoon]

I guess this is a simple question to answer!!

I have a C8 OTA on a HEQ5 mount. I have just bought a Baader Standard Base finder shoe to fit on the OTA to attach my Altair 10x60mm right angled finder scope.

It appears I have screw hole pairs that I can use that are in 3 places around the perimeter back of the OTA. If you consider the vixen dovetail bar to the bottom of the OTA, then these positions would be a screw set right at the top, to the right, and to the left. The picture below is not my OTA but I wanted to use a web stock picture to illustrate what I mean

Is there a correct position to place the finder in terms of balancing the set up for equatorial use? The finder is quite heavy at 1kg. My gut feeling is to use the screw set right at the top, as that would keep the weight axis in a straight line from the counterweights through the OTA and through the finder scope. But in the picture, the left hand screw set has been used.

Do you have any advice as to if this is important and what I should do?

[Knighty2112]

You should be able to balance the scope OK regardless of which holes you use. The final position where you fit it is down purely to how your scope sits on your mount, which is then best to use whichever set of holes is more comfortable for you to use for whichever eye you use in the finderscope itself so your are most comfortable with it.

[John]

I tend to have my finders on the left hand side of the tube but thats just what I'm used to. You can put them anywhere that is convenient to you as Gus says.

[festoon]

Thank you for the replies John and Gus.

If the finder is placed to the side does that mean that you should re-balance depending on which side of the meridian you are observing?

[Knighty2112]

6 minutes ago, festoon said:

Thank you for the replies John and Gus.

If the finder is placed to the side does that mean that you should re-balance depending on which side of the meridian you are observing?

Don't do EQ mounts, but I believe for just visual work this is not a problem that requires balancing for which side of the meridian you are on, but may play a role perhaps in set ups that are used for AP, however the AP guys/gals can advise more about that if I am wrong here.  

[Mr Spock]

Here's the back of my C9.25.

Standard to the left, RACI to the right, and an ADM dovetail in the middle for mounting the 80ED.

[Peter Drew]

I mount mine to the right of top dead centre. At least with a RACI you can turn the diagonal round to suit different OTA positions. 

[festoon]

Thank you for posting the picture Micheal...thats a nice arrangement I have thought about putting my ED80 ontop of my C8 but when I planned it, the ED80 OTA seemed very long for my C8. I guess it works better on a C9.25

[festoon]

23 minutes ago, Peter Drew said:

At least with a RACI you can turn the diagonal round to suit different OTA positions.

Thank you Peter...yes you are right, this will help