unsteady mount

peanutt20 · Guest

I bought an inexpensive reflector telescope for my daughter and myself recently. While I have had great success viewing Saturn and the moon, I quickly became frustrated when searching for other objects. I realized that no matter how careful I was adjusting the actual telescope position, the mount is wiggling on the tripod! Does anyone know how I can secure the mount better to the tripod? or at least shore it up some to help. I am about to give up!

AstroBoy · Guest

What telescope and tripod are you using?

Weights are often used to help stabilize a set-up, adding mass to dampen vibrations.

AstroBoy · Guest

Also, if your tripod has locking knobs, make sure they are locked *tight*.

Don't underestimate how much this can effect stability. Remember any tiny movement is going to be amplified according to the arc of the angle and the distance to the object. When an object is only 100 feet away, a movement of a fraction of a degree of arc may not be noticed, but scale that movement by a distance of millions of miles to the object!