Our newly constructed Questar Wedge has arrived! Uploaded 5/24/13
 As part of an ongoing project to make our newly acquired 1960 Questar more usable on a frequent basis, I constructed an adjustable equatorial wedge for the cassegrain-Mak scope to permit proper polar alignment on a very stable heavy duty astronomical tripod. This is my own design, and incorporates a few unique features to make it more usable. Here are the exciting details:
Click on images to enlarge to full size! 
  Side view of the scope on the new wedge. The wedge is set for 56 degrees tilt, which is the co-latitude for our 34N location. This angle leans the scopes polar axis back to point toward Polaris so the clock drive motor will keep the stars motionless in the field. You can see the adjust bars on the sides to allow +/- 10 degrees of tilt adjust for all latitudes in North America.
  Underside of the wedge plate. The one inch hole is for the AC plug to enter. Just below it is the large black knob that is the bolt that holds the scope in place with its 1/4-20 base mount thread. The hinges are super heavy duty steel door hinges capable of supporting hundreds of pounds on a steel entry door. On the base, a 1/2-13 nut attaches it to the base plate of the Meade SCT tripod. I would eventually like this to be a large threaded knob or wing nut.
  Operator side view. Note the three shallow pockets on the tab on the base that is for holding oculars. They are 1.5" diameter and lined on the bottom with laminated quality rubber. Also note a VERY critical item - the two white delrin pegs just below the base of the telescope base. This pair holds the scope in the exact position while you are busy putting the bolt on the bottom to hold it in place. Dont want to drop anything now do we...
  Final view on the Meade 8/10" SCT heavy duty tripod. Polar aligned and ready for action! I actually did observe the Sun with a full aperture solar filter right after this shot was taken. So wonderful not to have to worry about a shaky tripod ready to fall backwards anymore!
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