{"id":401,"date":"2026-06-05T19:35:34","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T19:35:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/welcome-11e05dc.netsolhost.com\/?page_id=401"},"modified":"2026-10-16T21:53:59","modified_gmt":"2026-10-16T21:53:59","slug":"counterweights","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/petersonengineering.com\/?page_id=401","title":{"rendered":"Counterweights"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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405 New Meadow Road
Barrington, Rhode Island 02806\u00a0 USA<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Questions?\u00a0 Contact us at:
\u00a01-401-245-4068<\/a>
\u00a0 info@petersonengineering.com<\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tReturn to Meade product listing<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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2 Unique<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Meade Telescope Counterweights<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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EZ Balance On-Axis Counterweight
2-Pound Azimuth Battery Compartment Bias Weight<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Why balance your scope?\u00a0 A balanced telescope will track more smoothly.\u00a0 Also, the drive motors and drive gears used in SCTs are quite small.\u00a0 An unbalanced scope will lead to excessive wear on the drive train with early life failure of motors and gears.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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the EZ Balance Counterweight<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Many SCTs are very nose heavy.\u00a0 Especially when equipped with a dew shield or a long focal length piggybacked secondary telescope., This is the situation that the EZ Balance is designed to correct.\u00a0 This simple but unique 3.3 pound counterweight has a thin flange that fits between the telescope backplate and the EyeOpener (or the manufacturer\u2019s supplied visual back).\u00a0 It fits all 10\u2033 through 14\u2033 Meade and Celestron SCTs, from early models to current versions.\u00a0 It does not fit the RCX series scopes.\u00a0 And it does not fit 8\u2033 scopes.<\/p>

The EZ Balance has 2 unique features:<\/p>

First, it is on-axis.\u00a0 (Centered on a line that runs through the center of the tube).\u00a0 Unlike rail mounted counterweights, if you don\u2019t have any heavy accessories (such as a large secondary telescope)\u00a0 attached to the top of the optical tube the scope will stay in balance regardless of the\u00a0 orientation of the tube, and regardless of whether it is mounted on an Alt-Az or Polar type of mount.\u00a0<\/p>

Second, it locates much further to the back of the scope than is possible with rail mounted counterweights.\u00a0 This provides far more leverage than rail mounted counterweights, reducing inertial loading on the drives when slewing.\u00a0 (If you have a heavy off-axis piggybacked telescope you will still need to position a rail mounted counterweight opposite to the secondary scope but typically, because of its extreme rear positioning, \u00a0you will achieve all axis balance with significantly less off-axis counterweight when also using the EZ Balance.)<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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\"balance<\/figure><\/div>
\"balance<\/figure><\/div>
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Do you need this counterweight?\u00a0 Loosen your declination clutch.\u00a0 If your scope is nose heavy you can roughly simulate the effect of the EZ Balance by hanging a 3.3 pound weight from a string wrapped around the scope\u2019s visual back.\u00a0 You may still have a slight imbalance, but if this reduces the overall amount of unbalance in your system you\u2019ll want the EZ Balance.<\/p>

The counterweight has a protective covering on the back of the casting to prevent scratching of your telescope\u2019s backplate.\u00a0 The counterweight is easy-on easy-off, so it can be readily removed to keep weight to a minimum when carrying your \u2018scope.\u00a0 No screws or rail systems are required.<\/p>

$48.99 plus postage\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Order below\u2026\u2026\u2026…<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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2-Pound Azimuth Battery Compartment\u00a0 Bias Weight<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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The prime reason for Meade\u2019s big SCTs being equatorially mounted is to facilitate astrophotography.\u00a0 In the equatorial mode, these scopes will not track with precision unless the drive gears are positively engaged.\u00a0 This flexible lead weight fits into the battery compartment in the scope\u2019s left fork arm, causing the scope to tend to rotate to the east.\u00a0 Since the scope is slowly tracking to the west, the drive gears are positively engaged.\u00a0 The image to the right shows the flexible weight installed into the battery compartment before the cover has been replaced.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Proper drive engagement is desirable at all times, but is critical for successful imaging.\u00a0<\/p>

The west (right) fork arm in Meade\u2019s big SCTs is a bit heavier than the east (left) fork arm due to the drive being in the right hand fork arm.\u00a0 In equatorial mode this out-of-balance condition causes the scope to try to swing toward the west.\u00a0\u00a0 As a result, the drive gears are holding the scope back to the east rather than pushing it forward to the west.\u00a0 You are depending upon gravity to actually drive the scope, and the friction in the system makes this a very \u201ciffy\u201d thing.<\/p>

It\u2019s easy to test a scope\u2019s azimuth balance.\u00a0 When the azimuth drive is unlocked, gravity may rotate the scope to the west.\u00a0 But bearing friction is present and the scope may not turn freely without a gentle push.\u00a0 Giving the scope a gentle nudge to the east might cause the scope to turn a small amount east.\u00a0 But giving the same gentle push toward the west will cause the scope to rotate quite a bit further.<\/p>

No one but a beginner would consider operating these scopes with \u201cC\u201d cells as they have a very short life and once their peak charge is gone the scope can operate erratically.\u00a0 In this modification, the battery holder is unplugged and replaced with a flexible heavy mesh bag containing lead shot.\u00a0 This bag of shot will mold itself into the space left by the battery holder.<\/p>

$24.99 plus postage\u00a0 \u00a0 Order below\u2026\u2026\u2026.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Note: although we use a PayPal hosted shopping cart you may pay with any credit card<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Order 3.3 Pound EZ Balance Counterweight \u00a0 \u00a0$57.99<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Ship within USA
<\/strong>$57.99 + $9.65 postage =\u00a0 $67.64<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Ship all other countries
<\/strong>$57.99 + $67.25 postage =\u00a0 $125.24<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Order 2 Pound Azimuth Bias Weight \u00a0$24.99<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Ship within USA
<\/strong>$24.99 + $9.45 postage =\u00a0 $34.44<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Ship all other countries
<\/strong>$24.99 + $48.95 postage =\u00a0 $73.94<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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405 New Meadow RoadBarrington, Rhode Island 02806\u00a0 USA Questions?\u00a0 Contact us at:\u00a01-401-245-4068\u00a0 info@petersonengineering.com Return to Meade product listing 2 Unique Meade Telescope Counterweights EZ Balance On-Axis Counterweight2-Pound Azimuth Battery Compartment Bias Weight Why balance your scope?\u00a0 A balanced telescope will track more smoothly.\u00a0 Also, the drive motors and drive gears used in SCTs are quite […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"elementor_canvas","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-401","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/petersonengineering.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/401","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/petersonengineering.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/petersonengineering.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/petersonengineering.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/petersonengineering.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=401"}],"version-history":[{"count":27,"href":"https:\/\/petersonengineering.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/401\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":901,"href":"https:\/\/petersonengineering.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/401\/revisions\/901"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/petersonengineering.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}