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Paul_R
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 04/05/05
Posts: 1649
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Re: Intelliscope questions--on balance...
05/19/08 09:22 AM
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I've used and owned several dobs and the best engineered ones (Discovery, Starmaster, Plettstone, etc.) had no problem with balance and staying put with or without eyepieces! (With one Discovery dob, we had to add some extra felt pads to achieve that balance, but once done, no more fuss.)
And I used 1.25" eyepieces and 2" eyepieces with these scopes-- from a tiny 8mm RKE to a 2" 32mm and heavier eyepieces combined with barlows! Even with one of the heavier combos with the longest leverage arm, a 10mm Pentax with 3x barlow sticking way out, the scopes stayed put when you removed the eyepiece/barlow. It's really a treat observing that way.
Now admittedly, I wasn't using Nagler hand-grenades or Ethos  ... we were below 2 pounds. I guess I've been spoiled. No brakes, no counterweights, no more DIY "projects", and no puttering in the dark!
Thanks for the info about the brake. That should be a help to many CN members retro-fitting their scopes or using the really BIG and HEAVY eyepieces! For those building their own dobs, one feature that can help is using a large cradle with large outside bearings. It means that if you've miscalculated weights or if your finder or eyepiece set changes, you can reposition the tube to achieve a universal balance point for your particular equipment. (I'm talking about sliding the tube ONCE during the daytime to get to the right place--you wouldn't want to have to reposition the tube for each eyepiece change!) Such a design also means that you can change your mind later if you prefer a different eyepiece orientation--just rotate the tube in the cradle. Quite cool!
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