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I've read a fair bit about people who say it's better to make it "East-heavy" to prevent gear-backlash.
I'm getting myself confused reading about it..... Can I confirm if the diagram below is correct? That this "East-heavy" practice basically means making the PUSH side heavier? So regardless if the Scope is east or west of the meridian, the Push side should always be slightly heavier?
Will this make the motor work harder if it has to push more?
Ok. So easiest way is whichever is on the East side is heavier, regardless scope or weight. Now I understand better why is called East heavy. Or whichever is the pushing side
Correct. You see the RA worm cannot be perfectly meshed with the RA ring gear, there is a bit of backlash to prevent binding.
If the system is east-heavy, the RA worm is "pushing" upward and counter-clockwise, thus maintaining contact between the RA worm and ring gears at all times.
If the system is west-heavy, as the RA worm turns, it loses contact with the RA ring gear and the mount "falls" a tiny fraction of a millimeter until it hits the RA worm again. This "falling" results in jumps in the RA tracking speed, worsening the periodic error by approximately a factor of 2 (I have measured it, on 3 different mounts).
