DIY wedge and Pier advice please

[icebergahed]

Hi 

Im planning on building a permanent pier in my garden with a wedge as i have a fork mount telescope(nexstar SE6).

So my plan.....

100x100 box section sitting 1200mm out of the ground.

200x200 10mm steel plate welded on top.

Aaaand thats as far as ive got. Ive seen various designs on the web for the wedge some more fancy looking than others..but what angle should this be set at? Is it exactly 51deg? (North London)

Every image ive seen where telescope is sitting on a wedge seems to face south which seems odd as i am use to seeing eq mount tube facing north.

Does this make it harder viewing on a wedge? If so should the pier be shorter?

 

Thanks

[paul mc c]

Here,as they say,one i made earlier,the fork actually point to the pole when on the wedge.It was adjustable to around 10 deg either way from my location.

 

[icebergahed]

2 minutes ago, paul mc c said:

Here,as they say,one i made earlier,the fork actually point to the pole when on the wedge.It was adjustable to around 10 deg either way from my location.

So with the fork facing the pole in your pictue, it would in theory would be facing south???

[Davey-T]

The forks point north when on the wedge, you can make one out of wood or metal as simple or as complicated as you like, main thing is making it solid enough.

It can be set to your latitude without any adjustment to make it simpler.

Dave

[paul mc c]

Yes that would be right......with a Meade LX 200  anyway,the control panel always faces north.

[paul mc c]

[icebergahed]

Should the angle for north london be 52deg exactly that i measure off a protractor?

[newbie alert]

If you have star walk,synscaninit  it will give you the latitude of your location from gps

[1parsec]

100mm box section is quite small for that height.  Stiffening ribs 1/2 way up the sides would needed.
But I would recommend using a much large section from the start. 
It'll give a more rigid set up and future proof in the event of a larger scope comes along 

[michael8554]

Are you wedge mounting so you can do long exposure imaging ?

If so your wedge alignment needs to be accurate to thousanths of an inch.

So 52degrees  is only a good starting point to be refined by drift alignment.

And the wedge needs to be built like a brick outhouse.

My metal Meade wedge looks rigid but I can fine-tune alt by turning the alt adjuster with everything locked down ie the wedge is bending.

Michael

[icebergahed]

1 minute ago, michael8554 said:

Are you wedge mounting so you can do long exposure imaging ?

If so your wedge alignment needs to be accurate to thousanths of an inch.

So 52degrees  is only a good starting point to be refined by drift alignment.

And the wedge needs to be built like a brick outhouse.

My metal Meade wedge looks rigid but I can fine-tune alt by turning the alt adjuster with everything locked down ie the wedge is bending.

Michael

Im looking to longer exposures, than i can currently get (20sec or so). My nexstar SE mount is neither accurate enough and my f6 sct is not the ideal design either. Just wanted to push the exposure time by another 10-20 sec of good light.

Im a bit worried of the viewing position when looking at the north. It seems the angled latitude plate comes towards you and the eyepiece is almost hitting the base. Seems like an uncomfortable position.

In comparison looking towards the south with the wedge seems more better orientated.

[icebergahed]

Why does this guy polar aligning with the tube facing the south????

Southern hemisphere?

[Davey-T]

Not sure what he's doing or where he's pointing in daylight.

Basically if you're in the northern hemisphere you have the wedge slope pointing north and the forks pointing north.

Yes if you have too much stuff hanging on the back of the scope it can hit the base but as you're on a wedge you can point pretty much straight up.

Dave

You can of course always build a pier with a sloping top.