Truss tube center of gravity.

Started by ZWAY2B, 07/14/2004 10:10PM
Posted 07/14/2004 10:10PM Opening Post
I have a mostly completed Truss scope assembly that came from an abandoned project and it is for a 16 inch mirror. I want to use this a the start for my 16 inch F5.5 thin plate glass mirror that is in the figuring stages and I need help/advice on how to balance this scope. Is there a good formula or software available to help me sort this out. The rig I have is big and bulky and I want to modify it to be more light weight and low profile. The mirror cell and the upper cage are real nice but the rocker box and mirror box and mirror box are huge and heavy.

Help please.

Thanks Dave
Posted 07/15/2004 01:59AM #1
I wrote an equation in Mathcad 5.0 equating the two ends in terms of the unknown balance point. It involved weighing and measuring everything, but FIND nicely returned a value that turned out to be darn close to the actual balance point. The main question I wanted to answer before cutting the tube to length and splitting it into two pieces was whether it would work on an existing mount.