For some time now I’ve been interested in astrophotography, but my camera hanging off the back of my scope was too heavy for the clutch. The camera just weighted everything down. The solution is to add weights to the tube. You can buy a super expensive kit, but why do that when you can slap together a junky version yourself for much cheaper?
I ordered 24” of Mini T-track which can fit a 1/4” bolt head. When it arrived, I measured (by eye) the mini t-track against the side of my scope. I cut it leaving a short piece (which will be used later) and the actual weight section. I marked the two holes where the screws on the tube were. These are the screws that will hold the t-track to the tube. I actually drilled with two bits. One just the right size for the screws to pass through, and then I used another larger bit to remove the material from the top of the T-track and countersink the screws a bit. What isn’t shown below is a larger hole made in the top of the T-track so that I can easily add or remove weights without having to take the track off the tube.
I unscrewed the two bolts from my scope tube along the bottom. The whole time praying I don’t get any nasties in the tube during this escapade…
As for the weights, I used some 2” long 1/4” bolts and a 100 pack of 1.5” fender washers as weights.
I honestly didn’t count or measure the weights out, I just made a couple larger stacks of washers and a couple shorter ones. I used standard 1/4″ nuts as lock nuts to hold them on, though I wish I would have sprung for a cheap T-track knob set like this one which would make them easier to move around with one hand while I’m aiming and wrestling with the scope..
That little left-over piece of T track was great for a top-mount for a camera. I drilled a hole in the middle for the tube screw and added a great little folding tilt mount for a camera.
I used a really short 1” long 1/4” bolt to mount it.
Now I can put a camera on top as well as having a camera at prime focus of the scope. This can be used as a guide camera with a tracking program like PHD2 or another DSLR to take some additional wider-angled and less zoomed pics.
UPDATE: to make the weights not look so janky, I added thumbknobs and 3d printed black plastic sleeves for them. You can find the 3d printer files here to make them yourself.
