Mounting the optical tube

[LSainsbury]

Hi,

Oh yeah - another question I had regading my scope - I can't believe the optical tube is just held on the mount using a dove tail and one screw.

What's the reason for that?

And how do I know it's balanced and alligned correctly?

[brantuk]

It's all you need with that scope - the ota is really very light and stays in place with one screw.

Also - with an AZ mount - you only need to balance it front to back in line with the mount. You should find the mirror is roughly one third of the tube length back from the mount fixing - and the remaining approx two thirds is ahead of the mount. The motors shouldn't be straining to move it. The only thing to align is the finder with the tube. Do this in daylight on a distant object - center it in the eyepiece and then in the finder and you're aligned.