Balancing The Telescope - Orion EQ-1 Equatorial Mount 9011 Instruction Manual

mounting accessories fasten to the two holes in the top
platform of the equatorial mount.

4. Balancing the Telescope

Once the telescope is attached to the equatorial mount,
the next step is to balance the telescope. Proper bal-
ance is required to insure smooth movement of the
telescope on both axes of the equatorial mount.
If you attach your telescope with a 1/4"-20 adapter, it
may not be possible to balance the scope precisely with
respect to the declination axis, because the telescope
cannot be moved back and forth as it can when tube
rings are used.
Assuming you will be using tube rings, we will first bal-
ance the telescope with respect to the R.A. axis, then
the Dec. axis.
1. Keeping one hand on the telescope optical tube,
loosen the R.A. lock thumb screw. Make sure the
Dec. lock thumb screw is locked, for now. The tele-
scope should now be able to rotate freely about the
R.A. axis. Rotate it until the counterweight shaft is
parallel to the ground (i.e., horizontal).
2. Now loosen the counterweight lock knob and slide
the weight along the shaft until it exactly counterbal-
ances the telescope (Figure 3a). That's the point at
which the shaft remains horizontal even when you let
go of the telescope with both hands (Figure 3b).
Retighten the counterweight lock knob. The tele-
scope is now balanced on the R.A. axis.
3. To balance the telescope on the Dec. axis (this is not
possible if using a 1/4"-20 mounting adapter), first
tighten the R.A. lock thumb screw, with the counter-
weight shaft still in the horizontal position.
4. With one hand on the telescope optical tube, loosen
the Dec. lock thumb screw (Figure 3c). The telescope
should now be able to rotate freely about the Dec. axis.
Figure 3a. Balancing the telescope with respect to the
R.A. axis by sliding the counterweight along its shaft.
Figure 3b. Telescope is now balanced on the R.A. axis. That is,
when hands are released, counterweight shaft remains horizontal.
Figure 3c. Preparing the telescope to be balanced on
the Dec. axis by first releasing the Dec. lock knob.
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