My DIY Barn door wedge for Meade ETX 60AT

[njasmin]

Nothing Special here, just wanted to share. Big thanks to the Weasner website for all of the ideas. Made this out of things lying around the house in a relatively short amount of time. 

Parts I had already:

Left over pole from a 14' satellite I inherited when i purchased my house(EXTREMELY hard to come by  )

Left over section of 4' landscaping timber

Scrap wood

1/4" washers and wing nuts with bolts

Parts I had to buy:

2 turnbuckes $5 each

2 - 1/4" - 20 threaded eye bolts $1 for both

2 - Narrow utility hinges - $3 for both

Process was simple in theory but the hardest part was hammering the landscaping timber into the existing pole with a sledge hammer. Once that was done i cut the damaged top off(from the hammer) and leveled a small sheet of wood as a permanent base to the timber. Assembled the wedge than made the azimuth adjustment out of 2 bolts and a drill lol. I also drilled 2 small holes in either corner for rough alignment. Just built it today so i wont know how it is until I try it, I should be fine with the adjustable angle and the base being level. Telescope fits like a charm on it with the eye bolts and it suits my need as the actual stand is extremely sturdy! A plus is that the wedge portion can be removed and set on a table in the event of travelling, leaving a small beer holding table behind - not bad for under $15. I do plan to paint at least the column and the leveled table as these will permanently be exposed to the Florida elements. Thanks for wasting your time - I mean...reading    

[happy-kat]

great project