As I wanted to try my luck at astro imaging the altitude azimuth (alt/az) mount of the LX200R wasn't particularly suitable on its own as my images would suffer from image rotation (see my Telescope mounts section to read why). Because of this I bought a Meade 8"LX200R basic equatorial wedge to help counteract the rotation of the Earth.



The Meade 8"LX200R basic equatorial wedge is the cheapest wedge that I've found. It's only meant for the 8" LX200 so you'll need a beefier one if you've got a 10" LX200 or larger. It's of a lighter construction than more expensive wedges but then they cost at least three times the price. It's not as sturdy as more expensive wedges so if you manage to knock it during imaging it'll vibrate more than the more expensive versions. But then again if you knock any wedge when you're imaging it'll ruin that exposure. So, if you don't knock the scope/wedge and it's sheltered from the wind then this wedge is fine.



The main disadvantage with the 8" basic wedge is the locking mechanisms. As with all wedges it uses bolts to lock the wedge in latitude (up down) and azimuth (left right). The basic wedge only has an adjuster for latitude (pictured above), and adjustments in azimuth have to be done by tapping the wedge clockwise or anti-clockwise). With this relatively lightweight wedge, I found that when I was polar aligning the scope, as I tightened the bolts to lock the wedge in latitude and azimuth Polaris would move quite a way off centre in the eyepiece. If you need an accurate polar alignment then this can become a little tedious, although I began to work out how much and in what direction Polaris would move as I tightened the locking bolts. To help a little I bought some nylon washers to fit in between the bolt heads and wedge body. The nylon washers slip a little when tightening the bolts and therefore don't move the wedge off centre as much as when using the metal ones. In the end after a fair few attempts I managed to guess where to place Polaris in the eyepiece using the wedge and then tighten the locking bolts and in turn bring Polaris into the centre (ta da!). However, if you're only doing visual observing or you're imaging and using a guide scope (and guide camera) then accurate Polar alignment really isn't an issue.



Pictured above is my 8" basic wedge that is for sale if anyone's interested).



I'm now using an Astro Engineering MegaWedge Pro (pictured above) that I picked up second-hand for a good price. It's far more heavy duty than the Meade 8" basic wedge and has adjusters for latitude and azimuth ( I still get the same problems as before when tightening the bolts but to a lesser extent. I found accurate polar aligning difficult with both of these wedges but now that I can autoguide (with a guide scope etc) it really hasn't been an issue.




Pier



I've now got everything set up in an observatory so I've done away with the tripod (well put it in the loft) and put the scope and wedge on an Astro Engineering Standard Observatory Pier (pictured above). Studs are fixed into the concrete base that the pier is secured to. The main advantage of the pier is that it takes up less floor space than a tripod. Also, the azimuth adjuster of the MegaWedge Pro fits to the pier which allows relatively fine adjustments.