Can a LX200 10" be mounted on a 8" Wedge?

[CoolhandJo]

I was wondering if it is possible to mount a Meade LX200gps 10" on a Meade LX200 8" Wedge?

[[1ponders]]

Unfortunately I don't think so. You may be able to mount it (if the holes line up) but the 8" wedge definately won't be sturdy enough for the 10"

[astroturf]

I considered buying an 8' meade wedge for an LX90 10" which is lighter than your LX200, it would have been about 1/3rd of the cost of an Ultrawedge
I was advised strongly by the supplier against it, apparently it will mount ok, everything lines up, but is totally frustrating to use owing to it vibratiing like a tuning fork, then there's always the doubt as to wether it can cope with all that weight
I managed to find one s/h (superwedge) after two or three weeks
if you can afford it, the Milburn is supposed to be the pick of the crop

Good luck
Bryan

[Merlin66]

I had an 10" LX5 for many years and started out with the "Std" wedge... soft would be a compliment! Yes, I did use it for a couple of years then upgraded to the HD wedge... like chalk and cheese... heavy solid rigid come to mind...
More recently, a couple of years ago now, I upgraded to a 12" LX200 and once again mounted it on a cut-down HD tripod ( an excellent solution!!)and a HD Meade wedge. Works well, but I've got to admit there's still some vibration. The weight of the 12" hanging on the end of the LX200 forks at 40degrees gives a nice(??!!)bounce; I have to be carefull how I move things and give it a chance to "stablise" before imaging/ spectroscope work. Not 110% but does work. The Milburn wedge is a solid piece of work, but the LX200 forks still cause vibration.
The best results I've had so far have been in Alt/Az mode... this works for me with the spectro as field rotation isn't an issue... much more "solid" no major vibration problems. ( balancing is 200% easier as well!!)
Would be interesting to compare stability between the LX200/ wedge and say a EQ6 GEM.....

[CoolhandJo]

Very informative. Definately will go the ultrawedge then. I would prefer not to have to polar align and maybe get a field derotator - but how can I am considering an ED80 mounted as a guide scope, but also want to use it for CCD sometimes. Can a meade field derotator be applied to the ED80 in this cas if it was mounted on the LX200 10"

[Merlin66]

The honest answer is I don't think its been tried!!
I did make up an adaptor which screws on the end of the ED80 drawtube and gives a male SCT thread, this allows me to use the flip mirror etc from the meade on the ED80.
It would be possible to fit the derotator to such an adaptor and plug it into the LX200 panel for the control signal. The LX200 could then adequately track on a central guide star.......interesting concept!!!

[[1ponders]]

It would be interesting to try, but because the ED80 would be "Off Axis" I don't think it would work very well.

[allan gould]

Short answer - NO. Been there tried it. You may as well suspend it with bungee cord as its not even good for visual.

[CoolhandJo]

Thanks for this. I will certainly not even atempt to bother! Looks Like I still need the Ultrawedge if I want to extend my CCD past 30sec!

[Merlin66]

I'm a little surprised by Allan's reply. Obviously the trials didn't work.
If the ED80 was pointed close to the centre of the field in the LX200. I would have thought the field rotation could have been cancelled??!!
Field rotation is dependent upon the observer's latitude and the Alt/ Az of the object being observed.
The attached article from PhotoInsight gives details.

[astroturf]

I think Allan was refering to the 8" wedge & it's instability

Bryan

[Merlin66]

OK! That would make more sense!!!