Balancing your scope and mount is very important. Typically I do this by hand moving the scope from one side to the other side, trying to find the tipping point. A couple of weeks ago, Walter, my astronomy collegue, send me a video from Cuiv, The Lazy Geek - see the video
In this video a clamp meter is used (with Ampere DC features) to measure the current (Ampere) when moving the scope up or down. When the current is the same for both directions, the scope would be balanced. If not, adjust the weight and measure the current again... and again.
So... does it work? To test it, I borrowed from Walter a clamp meter. It's a Chauvin Arnoux F205AC/DC. The test was done with my AZ-EQ6 with TAL200K f/8.5 including all camera's.
Results: the clamp meter is able to measure the current when the mount moves. There is a difference in current when the mount move up or down. The deviation is about 0,1-0,2A when the scope is out of balance. The deviation is reduced to 0,03-0,05A for a balanced mount.
Conclusion: it's possible to balance your mount & scope using a clamp meter. There is an error of about 0,03 - 0,05A even when the scope is balanced. For that reason I stay with my current workprocess balancing my scope by hand, finding the tipping point.
