I'm having considerable weirdness as far as RA is concerned. When balancing
the 'scope, does RA need to be "loaded" to one side or the other?

Here's what I've seen:

With the 'scope *perfectly* balanced, it seems to drive WEST too fast. Last
night, I did a series of 1 min. exposures without guiding to see what gives.
With RA in balance, the stars are consistently trailed. Gradually adding
weight to the EAST fork arm seemed to help. Successive 1 min. exposures
would alternately look good and then slightly trailed. Questions -

Should the 'scope really be loaded EAST?

If so, how much? (I stopped at ~1.5lbs)

If not, has anybody seen anything similar?

I suspect balance because everything was working fine for unguided 1 or 2
minute exposures before I started added weight in the form of guide 'scope
etc.

Bob
http://www.usit.com/rfreeze
(~36N/~84W)

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