I agree that it is very finicky… It seems to be very sensitive as to whether the Mount is exactly vertical or not. I screw a couple of threaded extension rods into the bottom of the mount and screw them into a small Slik Tripod or an Able table mounted on top of a tripod. I take care to make sure that the rods are as close to vertical as possible and drape the bitter end of the Kestrel lanyard over the vane boom, moving it in and out to get an exact balance with the Kestrel installed in the cradle. Pretty sure I bought the extension rods from BHP and that they are treaded 1/4“-20 TPI. See attached pic for my Able table set up.
Regards
JHC