AZ GTI and wedge for portable imaging and visual set up?

[Adam J]

2 minutes ago, Shimrod said:

I came across the post again today while looking for counterweight options - it was the clutch that failed with a Mak 127 in EQ mode.

What exactly was the failure mode? Having taken it apart it's very simple and I don't see why it would fail due to excess weight. They normally strip if you over tighten them though. So I guess if you had to tighten it too hard due to the weight then it might strip the locking bolt.

[Space Oddities]

Regarding the counterweight, I've used the one from the Star Adventurer with a M8 to M12 adapter. However, I'm not a fan of this system, because the adapter sometimes stays screwed inside the mount... I even lost one already, I didn't notice it remained in the mount after disassembly, and probably fell in the grass somewhere!

Since then I have switched to an M12 headed bolt like this one, and I think it's a much better fit. No need of a thread adapter, and you can also chose the length to fit your requirements. The longest I could find in my hardware store was 280mm, which is just a touch longer than the one from Star Adventurer, to give you an idea. It cost me about 6€.

The rod is about 12mm wide, so you can mount many kinds of counterweights, although I'm not sure the ones with 20mm inner diameter will work... I got a pair of these, they're the cheapest I've found and having 2x1kg is very versatile, depending on what I'm mounting. But they're pretty hard to find these days. Alternatively, this 1kg weight or this 2kg one should work fine with a M12 shaft!

Hope that helps  

[herne]

For counterweight I've been using a 1m M12 threaded rod cut to size with a hacksaw along with some large washers such as these (note they are not 1kg as stated, more like 0.5kg)  Washers are locked down by M12 nuts - use nuts with nylon thread if you really want to stop things moving.

For polar alignment I see some interesting DIY options (another here using Picatinny rails) but haven't seen any mention of mounting a polar scope onto a telescope rather than the mount (I did ask this in another thread but was pointed here).  If we can use a guidescope / camera + Sharpcap aligned with and mounted onto the main scope, why not mount a polar scope instead using a bracket such as this from William Optics (would probably need longer screws though) or this much cheaper option on eBay?

[Shimrod]

Whoops! Went to check the status of my order at FLO last night to discover that for whatever reason I must not have completed the order! Fortunately the mount was still in stock, and it gave me  the opportunity to add in a filter - it looks like I am going to miss the one clear night this week though so may have to wait a while to try it out.