Dob & Wixey question

[Bobby1970]

For those of you that use a Wixey with your dob. Do you zero it on the base (horizontally) before attaching it to the scope? Obviously the more level the base the more accurate the Wixey will be? Am i right in saying this or have i missed something?

[Rapallokid]

Hi Bobby,

I use this on my 12" Dob. I level the wixie on a known level surface, ie one i have tested with a spirit level. It is the mantle of a fireplace out of interest.

When it is attached to the scope it then shows the level of incline.

I also modifioed the bolt that holds the 2 parts of my base together and added a digital angle guage. This works in conjunction with the wixie to give easy go to info ( once you have set the it on polaris ( good to 1 degree)

Hope that helps.

Rapallokid.

[sunshine185]

Here's what I do ( credit to knobby, thnx m8! ) get polaris in ep, find polaris coordinates on skEye, yesterday it was 53.9 degrees alt. Put wixey on ota and turn on, wixey was 53.6 so I zero wixey then lower ota so wixey reads -53.9, then I zero wixey again. Now when I raise ota to 53.9 polaris is in ep and now the wixey is synched to skEye. Everything I searched for last night was pretty much bang on.

[Carbon]

I also use the Wixey to fine level my dob base. At whatever angle the Wixey reads while mounted on the scope (say 45 degrees) I rotate the mount gently and make sure it keeps the same reading or as close to it as it goes around.

[Bobby1970]

Thanks for the replies everyone. Had my first proper outing with the Dob last night. I found that i just used the Telrad and some maps i downloaded off the net. Worked a treat.