From: "Jerry B. Hillman" 
To: 
Reply-To: "Jerry B. Hillman" 


To all the engineers,
I am building an equatorial mount for my 10" scope designed after a
German Equatorial Mount.  This is not an original design, I am copying one
in a telescope making book.
My question, how do you balance the tube.  I have counterweights (15 pounds
on an 18" shaft) but the tube only balances if the declination shaft
is horizontal or vertical. I know this is related to the fact that the axis
of rotation (polar axis) is offset from the center of gravity.  I just
don't know if this is normal for this type of mount or if I have done
something not quite right. The tube balances on the declination axis of
rotation okay. The book doesn't clarify this.
Any comments are welcome.
Clear skies, Jerry

--- BBBS/NT v4.00 MP