I'm just about to finally order my GM-8 and was wondering about
counter weight recommendations.
I'm putting a M603 on it. It's weight is speced at 12.5 lbs on ITE's
site. Markus, with his usual saracsm assures me his 6kg (13.4lb)
weight is correct, and I've been told by one who has weighed it that
it is 13.2lbs *including* the dewcap which is supposed to be about
2lbs itself. So taking the worst case scenario (Markus's weight) of
13.4lbs + 2lb (dewcap) + 1lb (2" diagaonal estimate) + 1lb (eyepiece)
= 17.4lbs. I'm also going to use the G-11 saddle plate which is about
1.25lbs heavier than the standard saddle plate (although very close
into to the axis so shouldn't add too much torque). So I have a total
of about 18.5-19lbs
I'm also thinking of putting my 80mm f6 piggyback and it weighs 6lbs
including 2" diagonal and eyepiece.
I was looking at adding another 7lb weight, but I'm not
sure how much extra leverage the counterweights get being further out
from the RA axis compared to the scope so I don't know if 7lbs would
be enough or if I should get the 11 lb weight.
Anybody with these kinds of OTA weights on the mount who can give
some suggestions?
TIA
P.S. Has anybody seen the GM-8, G-11, and GP-DX dovetails? If so
could you give me some idea of the relative sizes of the cross
sections (i.e. is the G-11 2x the size of a GM-8 for example). I'm
trying to get a handle on how much more weight the two Losmandy
dovetails are going to add compared to the standard GP-DX dovetail
that comes with the M603.
