Star Adventurer wedge modification

[Astrofriend]

Now the dark season has started for us who live in Sweden. Then we must have all our equipment in top condition.

I have one mini mount, the Star Adventurer, I'm very satisfaid with it. But you can always get it a little bit better. One small problem I have is that the altitude lock of the wedge slips. Maybe others of you also have this problem?

Here I have some photos and my attempt to get it better:
http://www.astrofriend.eu/astronomy/projects/project-star-adventurer-modify-wedge/project-star-adventurer-modify-wedge.html

I will test if my modifications work in reality next clear sky.

/Lars

[Dennis]

Looks good Lars - hope your test run is successful.:thumbsup:

Cheers

Dennis

[Astrofriend]

Hi,
Yes, the last testrun has been a succes. I replaced the second plastic washer also. Even that one with a thicker plastic washer.

Now I continue with the L-bracket, have replaced part of it with a big ball head.

Lars

[silv]

Hi Lars,

I know of a SA user in Germany on 52nd latitude who also fiddled around with the wedge due to slippage problems. I could imagine this happens with a certain weight of the imaging gear PLUS the required latitude setting - Stockholm being on 59th, the problem would be even more pronounced?
Here are pictures of his adjustments (from 2015 - maybe the design changed at Skywatcher since then?), basically he glued a few teflon (!) pads to gain more tension where you did it with an extra plastic washer. https://forum.astronomie.de/threads/beratung-skywatcher-star-adventurer.222464/page-2#post-1182539

The 2nd image is about the illumination thingy, not related to tension in fixating the wedge. If you want to translate the post, www.deepl.com/translate is a good choice.

I reckon your solution is the better one, looks more durable than several tiny pads.

[Astrofriend]

Hi Silv,
My solutions works better then it was from the beginning, but could still be better. In the future maybe I replace the whole wedge with some other design.

With 59 degree latitude there is a big problem with the polar scope, I must have the tripod very tall to be able to see in the polar scope. The tall tripod make it unstable. I have ordered some optical stuff, when I have tested them I will write about it if it's successful.

This is the latest astrophoto with my Star Adventurer:
http://www.astrofriend.eu/astronomy/my-astronomy-photo/open-clusters/m45-open-cluster.html

Little more stability from the wedge and more easily handling of the polar scope and it's perfect.

With the remote control by a smart phone of my Canon 6D I got a revolution, so easily to check if the lens is still in focus. Now I have learned that I must check the focus at least once per hour. Didn't know the temperature change of a photographic lens was that big. Set to f/4.

I wrote about that app in another thread, but here is the direct link:
http://www.astrofriend.eu/astronomy/tutorials/tutorial-canon-remote-control/page01-tutorial-canon-remote-control.html

All those things that make a successful night.

/Lars

[Astrofriend]

Hi,
I have made a test where I replaced the plastic shims with steel shims. Looks to make the wedge must more stable.

http://www.astrofriend.eu/astronomy/projects/project-star-adventurer-modify-wedge/project-star-adventurer-modify-wedge.html

Now I just have to find steel shims that are a bit smaller then the shims I used to do this test.

/Lars