Counterweight Mount, Meade ETX Telescope

A series of mounts and adapters for counterbalancing a Meade ETX telescope in its fork mount. Proper counterbalancing should result in less tension required on the clutch locks and hopefully, longer life for clutch components and gears.

First is an adapter for attaching a small 1"ID barbell plate to a 1/4"-20 threaded hole. The picture shows a 1.25lb plate attached to the rear hole of an ETX-125. This plate alone is not enough to balance my ETX-125.

Next is a rear cap that accepts a 1/4"-20 screw. The 1.25lb plate was too heavy and too large in OD to allow the telescope to be pointed straight up. I'm going to try using stacks of large fender washers on the cap for fine tuning while the 1.25lb plate stays on the underside of the OTA.

I can use different caps set up with the correct weights for each of the eyepieces and cameras that I use.