help needed! How do I balance my Dobsonian mounted reflector

I bought a 6.25" reflector on a dobsonian mount last year. Unfortunately at low angles ( eg viewing Mars the the moment) it loses its position very quickly. Any ideas would be VERY welcome!! Thanks..
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Hello Brendan, i don't have a dob myself, but these 2 links should provide some help, with one, you can even buy a 'balancing ring' for $19 -
home.att.net/~hoying/

www.starizona.com/basics/baldob.html

Keith.....

Hi Brendan,
I don't own a dobsonian myself either but here is one suggestion which i reckon should work but I've never tried it myself. Hopefully though, you may find it food for thought.
First, level the tube i.e. put it horizontal. From what your saying, I guess that it won't stay in that position too long cause it's off balance and one end will fly upwards. Get a strip of lead and stick it onto the end of the tube that flys up into the air off balance. Now re-balance your tube. How does it balance now? Is it now off-balance too much the other way now? If so, cut a small bit of the lead off and try again. By trial and error this should help to balance it up. I'd use insulating tape for this trick if I were you cause you may need to peel the tape off and reapply it again and again in order to fine tune it.
Now, depending on how sensetive your mount is, this may be all you need to balance it. However, if it's very sensitive you may find a knock on problem. Once the problem is solved horizontally, rotate the tube into the vertical position. Does it stay in the same position? If not, then let us know. There's a simple way around that but i won't trouble you with it just yet. Give what I said above a try and I think it should work. By the way, keep the top of the tube closed for this. Last thing I want to hear is someone discussing the finer points of lead crashing down tubes onto primary mirrors.
This is a cheap-and-cheerful method which I hope will work. There are of course other more expensive ways and methods around this.
Also, some people here have constructed their own dobs (which is a great achievement) so they might be able to offer other suggestions.
Anyways, hopefully the above makes sense. If not, let me know.
Michael

I have a DTG 6.25", if yours is the same then the tube is connected to the stand by a square box of wood with two rings on either end that sit in to the mount. There should be skrews on the wodden box, loosen them slightly untill you ca nslide the ture up and down, whne you have it well banaced tighten them again and bob-s your uncle! If it is not a similar mount ot that then I guess the lead is the way to go.

Bart B.,
IFAS Webmaster.