Difference between revisions of "Build an Equatorial Wedge for Your Telescope"

{{fa}}Astronomy is a very popular hobby. Humans have been interested in the things they can see in the sky since before recorded history, and that interest shows no sign of abating. There are many brands and types of telescopes out there. The vast majority of affordable amateur telescopes that you can purchase come with what are known as "alt-azimuth" mounts. This means that the telescope's OTA (Optical Tube Assembly) can be pivoted up and down (altitude) and right or left (azimuth).<br><br>These are fine for visual observation and short exposure photography, but if you want to try your hand at astrophotography, you will need to mount your telescope on an equatorial (EQ) mount that allows you to align your telescope with the latitude at your location.<br><br>Upgrading your alt-az mount to equatorial can be expensive, though. Commercial EQ wedges will run you anywhere from $200 up. Equatorial mounts can also be expensive, particularly if they are computerized for "Go To" capability. Used ones can be obtained for less, but why buy one when you can build your own and learn something new in the process?<br><br>This article will walk you through the construction of a simple, fixed-elevation equatorial wedge. Most amateur astronomers observe the sky from the same place every night, so a fixed-angle wedge is all that is needed. This one, however, can  easily be modified to allow adjustment if you so desire.<br><br>The images depict a wedge for a [http://www.celestron.com/astronomy/celestron-nexstar-6se.html Celestron NexStar 6SE 6" Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope], but with a little ingenuity and some elbow grease the concepts can be applied to any telescope mount.

{{fa}}Astronomy is a very popular hobby. Humans have been interested in the things they can see in the sky since before recorded history, and that interest shows no sign of abating. There are many brands and types of telescopes out there. The vast majority of affordable amateur telescopes that you can purchase come with what are known as "alt-azimuth" mounts. This means that the telescope's OTA (Optical Tube Assembly) can be pivoted up and down (altitude) and right or left (azimuth).<br><br>These are fine for visual observation and short exposure photography, but if you want to try your hand at astrophotography, you will need to mount your telescope on an equatorial (EQ) mount that allows you to align your telescope with the latitude at your location.<br><br>Upgrading your alt-az mount to equatorial can be expensive, though. Commercial EQ wedges will run you anywhere from $200 up. Equatorial mounts can also be expensive, particularly if they are computerized for "Go To" capability. Used ones can be obtained for less, but why buy one when you can build your own and learn something new in the process?<br><br>This article will walk you through the construction of a simple, fixed-elevation equatorial wedge. Most amateur astronomers observe the sky from the same place every night, so a fixed-angle wedge is all that is needed. This one, however, can  easily be modified to allow adjustment if you so desire.<br><br>The images depict a wedge for a [http://www.celestron.com/astronomy/celestron-nexstar-6se.html Celestron NexStar 6SE 6" Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope], but with a little ingenuity and some elbow grease the concepts can be applied to any telescope mount.

== Steps ==

== Steps ==