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12
Confirm that the lever is in the locked position. This is indicated by coloured bands above the lever.
When the green band only is visible, the lever is locked. If any of the red band can be seen, the
lever is not locked.
Install the remainder of the payload (lens, zoom and focus controls, viewfinder, prompter etc).
Stability
Balancing the head
Balancing the Vector 90 head achieves two objectives. Firstly, when a head is correctly balanced the op-
erator will need a minimum amount of even effort to move the head. Secondly, once balanced, the head
and its payload can be set to any tilt position and the head will maintain this position with ‘hands off’.
The graph (Fig 3) shows the range of load and C of G height that can be maintained in balance. The shaded
area of graph corresponds to those load/C of G combinations that can be balanced over the full tilt range.
The area to the right indicate the progressively reducing tilt range with greater load and higher
C of G.
Fore and aft balance
When positioning the payload it is important to be aware of the potential danger of an unbalanced payload
falling away suddenly. Before disengaging the centre lock, push in and turn the balance adjustment knob
(8) to its mid point setting. Depending on the payload weight, it may be necessary to increase or decrease
this setting to enable the payload to be correctly balanced fore and aft.
Balance the payload fore and aft as follows:
Ensure that the centre lock is engaged (see Locking the platform on page 13) and that the cam-
era and all accessories are fitted.
Turn the tilt drag adjustment knob (16) to its minimum setting.
Push in and turn the balance adjustment knob (5) to its mid point setting.
Holding the pan bar to steady the platform, disengage the centre lock (see Locking the platform
on page 13).
WARNING! When mounting the head on a tripod, it is possible to set the tripod legs so
that the centre-of-gravity of the tilted payload falls outside the footprint of
the tripod, leading to instability.
Use the mid-level or floor spreader to ensure that the tripod legs are
spread sufficiently so that the centre-of-gravity of the tilted payload
remains within the footprint of the tripod.
Secure the tripod with the tie-down hook or hang a suitable weight from the
hook.
NOTE: It is important that the pan bar(s) and all camera accessories (lens, zoom and focus
controls, viewfinder, prompter etc.) are fitted in their operational position before
balancing the head. Any equipment fitted or adjusted later will unbalance the head.
WARNING! Be prepared to prevent the head falling away suddenly. In the event of the
head falling away violently, increase the setting on the balance adjustment
knob (5).