I built a 2-D balance system for my LX-50 to allow me to balance the telescope with various photographic hardware attached. The system is made of an aluminum rail that attaches to the telescope, 1/2 inch diameter threaded rod 6 inches long, a wing nut, washers, and a set of weights. The entire system is very rigid and works very well. I painted the entire rail gloss black to match the telescope.
The rail is built from 1 inch square aluminum channel. The figure below shows what the rail looks like along with dimensions. The size is based on a 10 inch Meade OTA and would need to be modified for other size intruments. The rail attaches to the equipment mounting holes on the bottom of the OTA. The curved attachment brackets match the diameter of the 10 inch SCT tube and are made from 1 inch wide by 1/8 inch thick aluminum strips. Each strip was attached to the main rail with 3 #8 bolts. The strips were tapped to accept the bolts. Prior to assembly, locktite was added to the bolts to prevent them from loosening.
The ends of the main rail were trimmed at a 45 degree angle to make it easier to gain access to the bolts during assembly. A slot was cut into the side of the rail. This slot will accept a 5 inch long piece of threaded rod which holds the balance weight. The way that I made the slot was to drill a lot of holes down the centerline of the slot and then use a file to make the final slot shape. This took a bit of time, but worked pretty well.
The rest of the small parts I picked up a hardware store. I use a wing nut of the threaded rod to allow me to easily adjust the location of the rod on the rail. The figures below shows the parts used to attach the rod to the rail. In place of a washer on the inside of the rail, I use a piece of steel, bent into an L shape, with a width slightly smaller than the inside width of the aluminum rail. This does two things. First it provides a larger surface area to keep the rod from sliding and second, it spreads the loads out on the aluminum channel. The weights that I use were bought at local fitness store and are held in the correct location on the bolt using a nut and a washer on either side of the weight. These weights generally have holes that are much larger than the 1/2 inch rod that I use. To keep the weight from moving on the rod, I purchased plastic grommets with an ID of 1/2 inch.
