JMI Wheelie Bar

[Goldy]

G'day all,

I'm looking for a new or used JMI wheelie bar to suit the Meade field tripod (10" LX200 GPS ACF).

Cheers,

Goldy

[floyd_2]

Hi Goldy,
I was going down the JMI Wheelie Bar path for my 10" LX200GPS a couple of months back. I even considered buying a second hand one from eBay USA at the time (although that one seemed to have crooked levelling screws).

Rather than importing one, I ended up making the same thing from a big triangle of 20mm MDF, reinforced from underneath. I put my own levelling bolts at each corner just out from where each tripod foot was located.

If it isn't raining when I get home from work, I'll take a few photos if you're interested in taking the plunge and doing it yourself. I managed to make mine out of spare timber. I also had a set of wheels just a tad larger than the ones that JMI uses as standard, so I put those on directly under where the tripod feet are located. All up it hardly cost me a cent. If you were to buy the timber / wheels etc I'm guessing that you might be up for perhaps $80. I made the levelling bolts from standard threaded rod, nuts to match and 6 square steel plates.

The whole setup works a treat, and once the levelling bolts are screwed down onto the ground, it's rock solid. Just have to get around to painting it now.

With the money that I saved by not importing the JMI version, I had a nice slush fund to put towards my autoguiding setup.

Dean

[Goldy]

Hey Dean,

Yeah, I thought I'd stick my toe in to test the waters first. The prices I've heard about to buy one new will probably push me down the DIY path but I thought I'd give it whirl.

I'd love to see some pics, and anyone else who may have a home made one to show off is quite welcome. I might open up a new thread in the projects area to get a few ideas, I couldn't find anything related there.

Cheers,

Goldy

[floyd_2]

Hi Goldy,
I took a few photos for you this morning before work.

Dean