AZ-GTi counterweight

[Ags]

I have had the AZ-GTi for a few days and I have been very impressed by how stable and accurate it is. I will put it down as one of my more successful astro purchases.

I want to try out the mount in roughly EQ mode to reduce field rotation while doing EEA, but for that I will need a counterweight shaft and weight. Can anyone suggest a suitable product I can buy? I did ask Teleskop Service and they said they had nuthin'.

[Cornelius Varley]

 

[Gfamily]

The Star Adventurer shaft and counterweight should work for £20

https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/skywatcher-1kg-counterweight-shaft-for-star-adventurer.html

[Ags]

AZ-GTi thread is M12 and Star Adventurer is M8.

Edited July 5, 2019 by Ags

[knobby]

Hi Agnes, a long M12 bolt works well, or the Star adventurer weight with an M8 to M12 adaptor is what I'm using.

[Stu]

I'll check when I get home, but I think it was an EQ1 bar and weight that I bought from Astroboot. Works well.

[Panda Alvin]

If you do go for the M12 bolt option, I would suggest buying the "coach" variant with a short thread, and between 200mm - 300mm in length.
This is because the socket eats almost 30mm of the bar and the mount battery compartment blocks another 90mm.

As for counterweight, TS do sell one that fits on the 12mm rod. 
https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p10277_TS-Optics-Counterweight-1-kg-for-counterweight-rod-with-10-12-mm-diameter.html
I own one and it works OK, but the quality I got from them was below average in my opinion (maybe I am just picky). 

Edited July 5, 2019 by Panda Alvin
Fixed numbers

[Steve Clay]

48 minutes ago, knobby said:

Hi Agnes, a long M12 bolt works well, or the Star adventurer weight with an M8 to M12 adaptor is what I'm using.

Knobby, where did you get the m8-12 adapter?

Cheers Steve

[Stu]

This is what I have...

[fireballxl5]

I use my old EQ1 bar and CW, works well 🙂

[knobby]

On 05/07/2019 at 17:45, Steve Clay said:

Knobby, where did you get the m8-12 adapter?

Cheers Steve

In the end I had to get one of these

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/M6-M8-M10-M12-REDUCER-ZINC-THREADED-BAR-ROD-STUD-CONNECTOR-METRIC-THREAD-/361107093087 and a short piece of M12 stud to make it work.

I'll post a pic later if it helps.

[Steve Clay]

1 hour ago, knobby said:

In the end I had to get one of these

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/M6-M8-M10-M12-REDUCER-ZINC-THREADED-BAR-ROD-STUD-CONNECTOR-METRIC-THREAD-/361107093087 and a short piece of M12 stud to make it work.

I'll post a pic later if it helps.

Thanks. I've ordered exact same from amazon.

Steve

[Gmx76]

Would this work for putting my counterweight bar from Starquest mount with 8mm wide thread in to the AZ-GTI?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Thread-Reducer-Thread-Repair-Inserts-A4-Stainless-Steel-Blind-Ended-5-Pack/224062432022?hash=item342b296316:g:vwkAAOSw05Ve-iy5

Thanks Greg

Edited October 7, 2020 by Gmx76
link

[Ags]

This is what I went for in the end: Explore Scientific dob counterweights with an M12 bolt. I did try a longer piece of threaded rod instead of a bolt but felt it vibrated too much.