I found it difficult to nail down the exact settings for the A1 and merlin.
Partly due to the fact that there are a few options on the cookbook.

After a lot of trial and error I've finally found what I believe to be the best settings for the A1 and merlin.

Locator pin in slot i

Weights- 1 mid and 1 finish on the middle of the spar.

The rest except for the start weight on the lower spar.

Set the arc out to widest.

Next the G-platz needs to be touching the bottom of the lens hood.

I wondered how this could be done and the answer is that you place the dovetail plate right at the back of the merlin (-3 or -4)

The vertical trimmer also needs to be almost at the very bottom.

After that its just tweaking.

I pulled the arc in a bit to make the drop time quite slow (2secs) and found this suited me a lot better. This resulted in very little pendulum effect.

This overall feels a lot more comfortable to hold as your arms dont have to be out as far therefor allowing for longer periods of use.

Hope this helps one or two of you.

I know I could have done with it!

Thanks Ger
I am going to try your settings. I did notice the extra weight of the Canon but the DVC was also a bit tiring if held for a period of time. I made a "poor man's" harness that works quite well at taking some of the weight. If there was a way of posting a picture I could post it so that others could make the harness.

Thanks, your settings work quite well. However I think my little Sony HDR HC1 is the best camera of the two for the Merlin. I may lose some quality and stuff but the HC1 "flys" beautifully on the Merlin with very little fatigue.