Dobsonian Mounts

[russ]

As you move around the sky the EQ can get itself snagged, the motors hit the mount etc. Also you can find yourself in a situation where the scope is very low but the weights are miles in the air. So to avoid this you flip the scope over on its back. This will mean the eyepiece is now in a difficult position, so the tube will need rotating. During this whole process it's likely the balance will be lost too. Sorry not very well explained and sounds worse than it is. It's no big deal really.

[gareththegeek]

So do you mean that the weights will only need to adjusted if you rotate the tube in its rings? And by flip over on its back do you mean rotating in RA or DEC? Hehe I am thinking of building a miniature lego EQ mount to play with so I can get my head around it

[russ]

Flip it over using the dec axis. And then move the RA by 180deg to place the tube on the opposite side. The tube will now be higher than the weights. Not sure why but this can throw off the RA balance, which means moving the weights slightly.

I'm confused now, i have 14 drawings of an EQ mount in different positions on my deskpad. Trying to work it out in my head but well and truly confused myself.

[gareththegeek]

Haha, glad I'm not the only one!

Thanks for the help, it'll be a while before we buy a new scope anyways so I have time to mull it over...which is good because I am more indecisive now than ever!