By popular demand, drawings for the iOptron MiniTower Equatorial Wedge project I completed in 2010 August-September (see old blog posts: base, top, side, knobs)
Here's how the wedge looks like. It consists of a fixed plate that attaches to the tripod, two fixed side plates that bolt to the bottom plate, and a moving plate that tilts about 10 degrees. The wedge is designed so that the centre of gravity of the MiniTower is positioned straight over the middle of the tripod.
The extra 6mm hole in the side-plates is for an M6 threaded rod through the mount which should provide precise azimuth-adjustment. I did not complete this feature (for example a rotating nut in the fixed plate would be needed).
PDF drawings:
Hi
Please send me a full information how made this aluminum wedge
Tank in advance
Hi Roger,
These are aluminium plates that are cnc-milled to the correct shape, then drilled and tapped, and finally sanded and polished for finish.
Anders
Hi there i love the design.
please could you indicate the plate thicknesses you used.
Kind regards
Hi, I think around 12-15mm plate thickness will work well. Thinner around 8-10mm might work too, especially if you are mounting only DSLR cameras/objectives and not heavier telescopes. As this is an old project I don't have notes about the original specs, sorry.
Hi from India,
Very impressive. How can i get this wedge please provide the details. I have iOptron MiniTower Alt-Az mount and i want to turn it into an eq mount. Can you please provide the drawing file (CAD), so that i can start making one for me.
Thanks.
You can build your own wedge based on the PDF drawings I have published. Sorry I don't have any more drawings, this is an old almost 10 year old project by now.
Where are you based? If we get the original designers permission I might be able to help you with a design. I am based in South Africa.
Would this wedge be suitable for a Meade LX200 classic with beefed up specs, such as 20mm material thickness? I have checked hole centres and they appear to match quite well. If anyone has made something similar for their LX200 I would love to hear about it.
Hi Brendan, sorry for the late reply.
I think the LX200 is heavier/bigger than an iOptron MiniTower + a small telescope or DSLR + tele-objective that I have used with this wedge. I'd probably look at the dimensions of wedges designed for the LX200 and take inspiration from those if I were building one.
Anders
Hi,
I will be going to make the same EQ wedge & I am very thankful to you for providing all the details here. One more think I want to know is between what latitude this wedge will work.
I am at 28° 36' North latitude. Will this work at this latitude or I need to do some modifications?
Regards,
Vishal Sharma,
Stardust Astronomy