The system has a dovetail adapter that clamps onto the optional Losmandy Vixen-Series #VUP dovetail plate being used to attach an optical tube to a Vixen Polaris, Great Polaris, or Sphinx mount; a Celestron CG-5 or Advanced Series mount; an Orion Sirius or Atlas mount; a Meade LXD-75 mount; or any other mount using a Vixen-style dovetail. The dovetail adapter can be clamped on either the front or rear end of the 14” long #VUP plate, whichever is appropriate to balance the weight of the scope and accessories installed on the plate. A 2 inch long threaded stainless steel shaft projects from the dovetail adapter. A 2.5 pound counterweight threads onto the shaft.

By sliding the dovetail adapter back and forth along the V-Series dovetail, almost any optical tube and accessory load can be balanced in declination to reduce the strain of an unbalanced load on the telescope drive motors.

This counterweight can also be used to balance the weight of accessories on a fork mount system, similar to the #VWS counterweight system, but it does not have the same weight-balancing capacity as the #VWS due to its lighter weight.