This particular telescope is rather heavy for its 72 mm aperture -- mostly because of the very heavy focuser it incorporates. The combination of heavy focuser, heavy star-diagonal, and heavy eyepieces pushes the balance-point back towards the eyepiece. Thus, this is a fairly extreme case in terms of fore/aft balancing. I've rotated the focuser a little to improve telescope clearance with the mount when aimed near the zenith. With scopes that don't present such an extreme fore/aft balance configuration, this precaution would not be needed.
The scope, as shown in one photo, is aimed almost vertically. It is actually the star-diagonal bumping against the top of the tripod that limits the rotation towards the zenith. Using a smaller 1-1/4" star-diagonal would eliminate this problem. The upcoming tripod quick-release will provide another solution -- along with other advantages. But even as pictured, the scope can be aimed very near the zenith.
The Hitch Hiker's compound-lever quick-plate clamp is very tight -- holding the scope quite firmly
Charles
- Hitch_Hiker_004.jpg (211.43 KiB) Viewed 1873 times
- Hitch_Hiker_005.jpg (132.85 KiB) Viewed 1873 times
