I’ve always wondered about your RULE #1 and that PARK-3
is assured to be a completely “stable safe position”.
Aren’t you assuming that the telescope is “counterweight heavy” in
the first place?
What happens if the OTA is slightly heavier, and a robin lands on it while
one is distracted, momentarily attending to something else?
I find it more reassuring to get some rope and at least
tie the counterweight bar from both sides, as you would a horse’s
bridle, to something solid like a picnic table, just to make sure
“Murphy’s Rule” doesn’t override Rule #1.
At least Rule #1 protects the RA worm gear teeth from
being racked in a runaway, as they might in the other orientations.
