QUESTAR COUNTERWEIGHT

Ever since the introduction of the Questar telescope in 1954 countless owners have attached cameras or other heavy devices (binocular viewing attachments, etc.) onto the Axial Port of the telescope and pointed it up to the heavens, or onto a bird nest, or over to a neighbors home to capture images. The Questar itself is so compact and light weight that any load attached onto the rear of the telescope tends to pull back on the instrument and this imbalance perpetuates any vibrations that might be introduced by handling the telescope: focusing, releasing a camera shutter, or even the vibrations from the mirror slap or shutter of an SLR camera. In order to relive the stresses of imbalance on the Questar Fork Mount or a tripod Company Seven recommends the use of the Questar Counterweight.

Right: Questar Counterweight & Brace (34,780 bytes)
Click on the image to see enlarged view (127,942 bytes).

The Questar Counterweight consists of a flexible sheet of lead lined material with a lightweight Brace. The Counterweight has hook and pile fabric so that the weight can be wrapped around the Lens Shade or Barrel of the telescope. In order to keep the Counterweight in place, to keep the weight with Lens Shade from retracting when pointing up, or falling off when carrying it about in the field, the set is provided with a lightweight rigid Brace. The Brace has hook material on the tapered end, and a hole precisely cut at the wider end. The hole in the Brace allows one to attach the Brace on the telescope and hold it in place by threading an eyepiece through the hole, or even by threading the entire Eyepiece Holder through this hole.