Milburn, Mitty, Meade or custom wedge?

[coldspace]

Has anyone had any experience with these?

I want to throw my 12 LX200R scope onto a wedge next year.
I have been hearing mixed feelings about the Meade wedges, the super wedge is a no go but the Ultra wedge may be better?

The Milburn delux is 1 inch thick so flexture issues should be OK?
They work out about the same landed here with the high Aussie dollar as getting the Meade wedge.

Another way will be getting one made and welded up, but I will check costings on this compared to buying one.

I will be looking at mounting it permantly onto a heavy duty sand filled steel pier in the observatory.

Whats the best wedge to get? and before anyone say's get a GEM I wll be sticking with the fork mounted scope for the medium term so will need to look at a wedge.

Thoughts or experiences on these or the Mitty wedges compared to say the Meade version will be appreciated.

Regards Matt.

[CoolhandJo]

I have a meade ultrawedge. Had it mounted for about 12 months. Absolutley no problems with it whatsover. Have a 10inch LX200 gps and I get very little movement. The only thing I would say is that the wedge knobs do not have a locking mechanism. So when you go permanent (like mine is) you may need to use a clamp (I did) to stop accidental bumping movement. The wedge is very sturdy.

[citivolus]

I used to have the Milburn wedge, but do not have others to compare it to. I most definitely didn't ever have a complaint about how sturdy it was :)

[turbo_pascale]

I have a Milburn wedge, and it is one heavy duty item (and HEAVY being the operative word there).

Unfortunately, I have no point of comparison, not having used anything else.

I have found it to be more than adequate, and any problems I have with my imaging are to do with my lack of skills in polar alignment and a raft of other things, not the wedge, which has performed well.

I had a very old one, and it had a few minor issues (rusting out bolts), which I resolved by emailing them, and orderd various upgrade parts (stainless bolts) with absolutely no issue in fitting them myself. I also upgraded to the brass AZ block (as recommended by them) as they found them to perform better. None of this is relevant anyway if you order a new one, as you'll get all of the bits that are now standard fare.

Turbo

[turbo_pascale]

Did I mention that they are also very shiny and pretty?

Turbo

[rogerg]

I have had the Meade ever since I bought my LX200 in 2000. It does the job fine. I do think it could be more sturdy, but I work with it.

The Meade has some backlash in it's adjustments, and flexure noticeable when un-tightening it to be able to adjust it, but you can easily compensate for all of that by simply taking note of star positions before and after adjustments, very easy to do you just have to think about it.

Because I think it could be more sturdy I have sometimes considered modifying it, adding extra cross bracing support and the like, and I have considered buying a Milburn, and would if one came up for sale at the right price.

I had a custom one made one time, but for the wrong latitude (doh! I was new to astronomy then! :rolleyes:). Custom is a cheap and sturdy way to go if you have a pier/tripod that you can adjust accurately, I think.

Roger.

[coldspace]

Thanks everyone for the feedback, I will take all comments on board.
The Meade ultra was design for the RCX scopes so is apparantly alot better than the old super wedge,
then again
the Milburn delux model looks like one nice piece of gear and would only cost about 100 bucks more than the meade delivered to me while the dollar is up, and its shiny:P.
oh decisions.

Regards Matt.

[hatman]

Hi,

If you need a top notch pier to put your gear on I know of a chap in Qld who currently is making Pegasus Piers and dealing through Ron at Sirius Optics. Lots cheaper than the Local Group ones too. Hear the same guy is also constructing a custom pier for a high end mount mount and OTA.

Well known astronomer but apparently secret at this stage.

Hope he posts some pics when done.

[coldspace]

Already got one excellent pier, thanks for the heads up.

Matt.

[coldspace]

Thanks again guys,
They are nice and shiny but I just ordered the black anodised delux version.

I did some more reading on C/N and the Milburn is the go.
I just been emailing Ken Milburn and just placed an order for the Delux version which is 1 inch thick and black anodised as well.
Its his flagship model and lucky me he had one in stock so I can get it straight away with out the usual 3 - 5 month wait :thumbsup:.
My 12 LX200R should look good riding ontop of this wedge.

Got to love this high Aussie dollar ATM :thumbsup:.Not much more than the Meade wedge, even with the $250US shipping cost.
Can't wait now.

Regards Matt.

[citivolus]

Congrats, we expect pictures when it arrives :)

[coldspace]

Sure, when it arrives I will post some pictures.
Can't wait now.

Matt.