We have a Lesueur pier and wedge at our local public observatory with a 12"
LX200 on it. You don't mention the pier, but the wedge is designed to fit
the pier, with a collar underneath the base plate of the wedge that fits
into the top of the pier. So if you're planning a different pier, you may
need to get a custom version without the collar (they will do
customizations).
The way the collar is held in the pier is my only minor complaint. There
are three screws threaded through the pier wall near the top that press on
the collar. Loosening the screws allows the collar and wedge to be rotated
for az adjustment. It would be more solid if the holes in the pier were
slots, and there were threaded holes in the collar. Then the bolts through
the pier wall into the collar would clamp the wall between the collar and
the bolt head. This part of the design may have been changed by now (and
I'll be modifying ours soon), but we used to have a Meade metal dew shield
(a $200 waste of money that now sits on the floor and is useful only as a
storage place for our homemade flexible insulated dew shield, but that's
another story...). Once I bent over to pick something up in the dark and
managed to hit my head on the dew shield on the way up. I didn't hit it
that hard, but the az changed.
-John


>
>Has anyone had experience with the Astropier Polaris Wedge by LeSueur Mfg?
>I am purchasing a 14" LX200 and need a wedge that adjusts smoothly and is
>ridged for astrophotography. When I purchased a Meade superwedge for my
>10" LX200 some years ago it left something to be desired during polar
>alignment and took some customizing . I'd just asoon not go through that
>process again.
>Thanks Rick

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