Wedge or New EQ Mount for LX90 12"?

[eye in the sky]

ive just checked the wedge pdf on meades site and it says its for an 8" only so dont buy that ion flux. I wouldnt want you buying something thats undermounting your scope.

its called equatorial wedge 8" scopes. It dont say that on the ebay advert it says its for 8 10 & 12". I wouldnt buy a new one at those prices just keep looking on astro bull n sell and the classifieds here. One will come along mine did. Just be prepared to travel a few miles to pick one up it will save you hundreds mate.

clear skies

[ionflux]

Many thanks for that eye in the sky, will skip that one and keep scanning the classifieds...;-)

[Davey-T]

Hi Dave,

Does making your own wedge require access to welding/brazing equipment? I would be observeing from the same location each time.

(BTW, your dog looks identical to mine) :-)

Seen a couple made from plywood .

Sadly dogs picture is in memorium as she died last new year after many years "helping" my observing

Dave

[LukeSkywatcher]

Whoa! Ollypenrice has nice images!!

Yes he does, so you can see why i trust him when he says not to bother buying a wedge.

[ionflux]

Seen a couple made from plywood .

Sadly dogs picture is in memorium as she died last new year after many years "helping" my observing

Dave

[ionflux]

Sorry to hear that Dave, I'd be devastated and miss mine putting her numerous squeaky toys and deflated footballs randomly around the tripod in the pitch dark!

Plywood? I'd be very nervous trusting my dubious woodworking skills to the job of holding the scope! :-s

[Dave-Ryan]

I've been using a 10" LX200gps for 8 years and considered getting a wedge for it a couple of years ago. But instead I picked up a second hand HEQ5 Pro and an ED80mm APO for imaging and use the LX200 for visual use and solar system imaging.

[Merlin66]

Luke, et al,

Olly does some wonderful work, I'm not knocking that....

The issue with the comparison is that the SCT's usually hanging on the fork mounts are f10 scopes...this is NOT the usual ratio's used for DSO imaging nowadays.

Where else $$$$/bang would you find a mount that can guide the weight of a Lx200 12" etc.

The SCT's have been around for decades and , not withstanding, the current climate of short f ratio imaging, have worked very well.

It really depends on what you want......

[ollypenrice]

Glad you like our pictures! My experiences with a 10inch LX200 and wedge were totally negative, with polar aligning a nightmare on the Meade Superwedge (nothing super about it, it is cheap nastiness all the way to Meade's bank account...) and awful response to the guider. I'm now GEM all the way, down here, running EQ sixes, a Tak EM200 and a Mesu Mount 200. Tom O'Donoghue also gave up trying DS with his 8 inch LX90. Several guests tell the same tale though some forummers have got LXs to do DS imaging. They usually sell them though...

Like Martin I would very much doubt that you'd get decent tracking from the 90 mount and at your focal length you'd need outstanding tracking, not merely 'good.'

And like Peter I would simply think again and go for a smaller imaging scope on a GEM. I'm 90 percent certain that you'd end up doing that anyway so why muck up a great visual mount in a potentially fruitless journey? I wish I'd kept our 10 inch in alt az for visual. Then it was a great setup. We do image here with a big 14 inch SCT-like scope, Yves' ODK, but it is on a Mesu Mount 200 and that can deliver the tracking with ease. Ken is right about the good value of big US SCTs but I personally won't go near them for DS imaging on wedges and I would never risk them with guests because the potential for disppointment is too high. Another imaging course provider once said to me, 'A Meade LX200 won't support an imaging course' and I entirely agree.

Olly

[r3i]

Tom O'Donoghue also gave up trying DS with his 8 inch LX90. Several guests tell the same tale though some forummers have got LXs to do DS imaging. They usually sell them though...

Yep, been there, done that. Used to have an 8" LX90 - great visual platform, but on a Meade standard wedge didn't get anywhere with imaging (though some of that was definitely due to my own inexperience at the time). Switched to an EQ6 Pro and imaging started to get a lot better.

[Davey-T]

Well I've never inflicted my images on the general public but I will have to dig some out to keep a balanced thread. If only I was better at processing them

I use 10" Meade SCT on wedge on 8" square steel pier and find no problem taking 10min subs guided with PHD.

Early implementation using plastic gears etc didn't do Meade any favours but they eventualy came up with a reasonable product for the price.(Shame its all gone PeteTong now)

The "flexure", if that's what it was , was caused by the unsteadiness of the wedge and scope on the tripod which was completely useless for imaging especially at prime focus.

Mounted on the the pier it is solid as a rock. I have had it all to pieces and rebuilt to try to improve the mechanics as much as possible, but people do this to their EQ mounts and think nothing of it.

A fork mount with a properly balanced scope is inherently much more stable than an EQ mount, the problem is not the design, more Meades implimentation of it, also I wouldn't go as far as a 12" as I think

that is definately a step to far for the design limits.

The obvious drawback is that the OTA and mount are custom made to fit and while you can remount the OTA you might have to wait for HEQ8 to put a 12" on.

The Handbook of Astronomical Image Processing has a picture of a homemade wedge used for imaging and there must be some others somewhere to look at , certainly the cheapest option.

Thats my 2p for what it's worth.

Dave

[ionflux]

Thanks All, this has been valuable advice.

Given the potential issues with a wedge for this size OTA, together with the restrictive f ratio for DSO imaging, I think I might just stick with visual on the 12" and consider an additional, smaller scope for DSOs in the future.

Cheers!