How do you resolve tracking issues with an altazimuthal mount?

Question

I put the large weight on the tripod, but not the small one because I don't know how to use it. I aligned the axis with polaris, but the telescope became unstable when I raised it too high. Polaris was very high in the sky, and the telescope seemed to stop resting on the mount as much as it needed in order to be stable. It wanted to fall (around the declination axis?). When I moved it much away from the mounting axis, it seemed more inclined to fall along the declination axis, too. The declination axis stop screw didn't hold the telescope well when it was off the mount axis. The ascension axis seemed to turn easily in one direction and harder in the other direction. The weight seemed to get in the way with the tripod legs when looking close to the horizon, so I moved it up, but the pole which it was holding onto got in the way when I went lower, thus getting in the way of tracking and moving the telescope to find objects.
How do I resolve these issues and what is going on?

I read the intructions, but for a novice astronomer, they might as well be written in Greek. I learned a few things, but they are a little cryptic and they didn't clearly address any of the problems which I am having right now. Plus, it's kind of hard to read in the dark, when I'm trying to make it work right. I learn much better in the field than in the "classroom" anyway.

I agree that it is a German equatorial. As you can see, I get terms mixed-up sometimes. I am in Houston, TX. I agree that I don't know how to work the weights for proper balancing.

Answer 1

First, it's always a good idea to set everything up in daylight at least once so you can see what's going on.

If this is a German equatorial (sounds like it from your description), you have to balance the telescope around both axes. You need to adjust either the position of the telescope in its mounting rings, or the position of the mounting plate in the mount head so that the scope is balanced. You balance around the right ascension (polar) axis by adjusting the counterweight position. If it turns hard in one direction, it may be unbalanced there too.

I can't quite see where your counterweight arm hits the tripod, unless you're far south, but here's some animations of GEM motions that might help - http://www.astronomyboy.com/eq/

Answer 2

The best way is to find someone who knows. Are there local astronomy clubs in your area?

I am not sure what kind of mount you have. Your title says altazimuthal, yet your description sounds like you have an equatorial.

An altazimuth mount has one axis vertical (pointing at the zenith, not polaris) and turning around it changes the azimuth (the direction where the telescope points).
The other axis is horizontal and turning around it changes the altitude (the angle measured from the horizon).

An equatorial mount has one axis which is to be made parallel to Earth's rotation axis. You do that by pointing it to polaris. Turning around it makes it possible to counteract the effect of Earth's spin (i.e., to follow a fixed point -- like a star -- in the sky).
The other axis points to the celestial equator. Turning around it changes the declination (the angle north or south of the celestial equator).

Some people are able to use an altazimuth mount as if it were an equatorial by turning the vertical axis and point it to Polaris. However, if your telescope has an altazimuth mount and was not designed to be changed over to an equatorial, you would try to shorten one leg of the telescope (the leg on the north side) and that would make the telescope a lot less stable. The effect of counterweights (needed to counter the off-side weight of the telescope) could cause the whole thing to fall over the short leg.

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Assuming that yours is an equatorial:

The altitude of Polaris should be the same as your latitude. If you live at latitude 45 degrees north (Greenwood NS, Montreal QC, Green Bay, Saint Paul Minneapolis...), then Polaris should be 45 degrees above the horizon.

The problems that you describe (wanting to fall over, screw not holding the position, more difficult to turn one way than the other) all describe problems associated with bad placement of counterweights.

In almost all telescopes, there is always one orientation where the counterweight gets in the way. It may be a different direction for different telescopes. On some telescopes, if you know that you will observe in that direction, you can mount the telescope tube backwards so that the tripod 'thinks' you are observing in the opposite direction.

Answer 3

Read the instructions.
I for one cant help you but if you gave more details:type and manufacturer......etc some one else may be able to......