(Click the banner above if you do not see a navigation menu to the left)
Equatorial Wedges and Accessories
Meade 8" Equatorial Wedge
This is the standard Meade wedge for all non-LX90 8" SCTs. It comes with three standard mounting holes, a latitude adjuster, compass, and bubble level. It also comes with an azimuth adjustment to allow you to rotate the wedge without picking up the tripod, helping with polar alignment.
| Description | Item # | Price | Add to Cart |
| Meade 8" Equatorial Wedge | MWEDGE | $149.95 |
Meade 8" Equatorial Wedge with LX90 Adapter Plate
This wedge will carry any Meade 8" SCT as well as the new LX90 using the included adapter plate. Your LX90 mounts to the adapter plate using the single mounting bolt. The adapter plate then allows you to mount your scope on the equatorial wedge with three included knobs. All other Meade 8" SCT's attach to the wedge in the conventional manner using three knobs.
| Description | Item # | Price | Add to Cart |
| Meade 8" Equatorial Wedge with LX90 Adapter | MWEDG90 | $169.95 |
The Ultrawedge is one of the best engineered equatorial wedges on the market. With heavy duty reinforcements it provides a rock solid platform for your Meade 7"-14" LX200 or 10"-14" RCX400 series telescope. The Ultrawedge is the new, upgraded version of the Superwedge.
| Description | Item # | Price | Add to Cart |
| Meade Ultrawedge | MWEDGEU | $499.95 |
LX90 Adapter
Plate
This adapter allows you to attach your LX90 to a standard Meade 8" or 10"
wedge.
| Description | Item # | Price | Add to Cart |
| Meade LX90 Adapter Plate | MLX90WA | $54.95 |
Meade #1220 Field De-rotater
Meade LX200GPS telescopes may be operated in the altazimuth mode (i.e., without polar alignment) for all visual applications and for photographic or CCD imaging exposures of up to about five minutes' duration. Most LX200GPS owners use their telescope in the altazimuth mode the great majority of the time. During longer photo or CCD exposures in the altazimuth mode, however, an effect called field rotation becomes evident.
Simply put, even if the telescope is perfectly guided on a central star during a long exposure, stars at the edge of the field appear to rotate about the field center during the exposure. As a result, stars away from the field center appear as small concentric arcs on the film, rather than starpoints. This effect, which in no way relates to the accuracy of the telescope's computer or internal alignment, occurs on all altazimuth-mounted telescopes, whether large observatory telescope or LX200GPS, and is caused by the telescope not being polar aligned.
Field rotation with an LX200GPS (or with their predecessor LX200 models) can be cured with the simple addition of an equatorial wedge. The wedge enables precise polar alignment, negating all field rotation. Alternately, the optional #1220 Field De-rotater may be attached to the rear cell of any 7", 8", 10", 12", or 14" Meade LX200 or LX200GPS model, simplifying field operation of the telescope, since no wedge is required. With the #1220 De-rotater attached to the telescope's rear cell, other accessories (T-Adapter, Off-Axis Guider, etc.) can in turn be threaded to the #1220 unit.
The #1220 is easy to use! Just align the LX200GPS telescope as usual, using the GPS alignment procedure or one of six other available alignment procedures, and, automatically, signals are fed through one of the RS-232 ports on the LX200GPS control panel to the Field De-rotater, causing it to rotate at the correct speed and precisely counter the effects of altazimuth-induced field rotation. The #1220 Field De-rotater is powered through connection with the RS-232 serial port.
| Description | Item # | Price | Add to Cart |
| Meade #1220 Field De-rotater | M1220 | $395.00 |
Celestron NexStar 5i/8i Wedge
Upgrade your NexStar 5i or 8i with this wedge for long exposure astrophotograpy, which is essential for long exposure astrophotography. The wedge allows you to tilt the telescope so that its polar axis (R.A. axis) is parallel to the earth's axis. The angle of tilt will depend on your latitude when the telescope is level. The angle between the horizon level and the polar axis will equal your latitude when the telescope's axis is parallel with that of the Earth's. Once properly mounted and adjusted on the wedge, the telescope is equatorially mounted and it can now track objects as they move across the sky. With built-in azimuth and altitude adjustment controls for easy polar alignment, this wedge has a 25-90° latitude range. Used on either NexStar 5i or NexStar 8i, it weighs 8 lbs.
| Description | Item # | Price | Add to Cart |
| Celestron NexStar 5i/8i Wedge | CWEDG58 | $179.95 |
Optical Tube Mounting Rings
Typically used for mounting optical tubes to a GEM mount. Hinged, Felt lined, Clamp-Style rings allow you to easily reposition the OTA for proper balance and eyepiece position. Available in 4 sizes (90mm, 136mm, 176mm, 230mm). Sold in Pairs.
| Description | Item # | Price | Add to Cart |
| 90mm Ring Set | STRSET90 | $22.95 | |
| 136mm Ring Set | STRSET136 | $28.95 | |
| 176mm Ring Set | STRSET176 | $32.95 | |
| 230mm Ring Set | STRSET230 | $39.95 |
