[ChrisM]

Despite a forecast for rain, it was dry enough to open the shutter last night after having just fitted the new wedge and bolted on the telescope. I was keen to check the new aluminium wedge's "raw" alignment, especially since I have not slotted the mounted holes yet, and am hoping not to have to file too much out....

Anyway, I centred the eyepiece on Spica (not too much else visible), and with a mag of about x270, it drifted only quite slowly, such that after 20 minutes, it was about halfway across the FoV. Then the sky clouded in.

Compared with the trial wooden wedge, I have beefed up the all-thread that connects the new aluminium one to the steel pier to 3/4". The final result is quite rigid, such that if belt it with my hand, there is only what I would call high frequency vibration, and it dampens down in less than one second. (Total pier height above-ground (concrete + steel) is a little over 3 metres.) The red steel pipe is 275 mm diameter with a 6 mm wall thickness. It is not sand-filled, as I wanted to minimise mass towards the top of the tall pier. The steel pier is fixed on top of a 457 mm dia RC pier.

A few pics below of the set-up.

Cheers, Chris