@@angstrommanagement3016 haha yeah the more I read the more confusing it gets. Turns out there are 4 steps to do, according to Celestron's knowledgebase (and just makes it very confusing): Rough Align, EQ North (or South) align, Polar Align, and then another EQ North Alignment. And it makes sense that your video is one of about three about this out there. Taking it out tonight to see if I can get it to work, or if it'll become a $300 doorstop.
@@randytalley7177 I will suggest one thing that will eliminate a lot of headaches here, and that getting a Starsense auto align camera, it has been the one accessory from celestron I will never do without..I even bought another to put on my Williams Optics scope with Celestron AVX mount, and it works with all Celestron mounts or Nexstar scopes..It also has its own handset with the settings for an auto align using a wedge built right in! It isnt cheap, but it basically made the difference for me between selling my c8se because alignment was a pain in the arse, and keeping it, and aligning in about three minutes using auto align while I sit back and have a scotch lol www.celestron.com/pages/starsense-technology
Thank you for providing one of the clearest and most informative setup guides regarding the wedge I've come across. This really helped explain everything such as proper install, the use cases and where the wedge falls into the product line. Looking forward to getting started and providing back to the community in the near future. You've been an inspiration.
Absolutely the best video on how to install one of these ever !!! I just watched one, and they didn't do half the things you did, installing theres! .. so, glad I found this one. will save me a lot of time now LOL
Nice video. Just ordered a new SE8 and eventually will get the wedge. Just to clarify, the knobs in front are for fine aligning the wedge with Polaris and not just with the north facing leg.
Happy to help Karl, once you get the polar alignment and three star as usual but with Wedge EQ turned on in the telescope menu, it is a breeze and has improved my imaging I do with the c8 due to much less correction on the dec axis!
Great video. I have a equatorial mount on order and can't wait to install it. I will be referring back to this very same video to install it when it comes. Just got my Nexstar 8 SE Baby today and it is raining, but high winds are pushing it out and may be able to star gaze in about an our. Thanks for your instructions. I will recommend your video to others.
Cheers Dave! All my kit is in the post, ready for me to do this exact set up when it arrives. Your informative film will make things a whole lot easier i'm sure! Subscribed! 👍
Well thank you very much Dave. I was fortunate enough to be able to buy a very cool telescope that has a wedge and I was not positive on how to use it. You confirmed my suspicions and it was very helpful thank you. Now i just have to find which star I use in the southern hemisphere. No Polaris down here. So i just checked apparently there is actually 😂 Sigma Octanis Or Polaris Australis. One step at a time here!
@@angstrommanagement3016 I watched as i was thinking of getting a wedge for my 6se but was a little daunted as to how to set it up and not knowing what to do.....but you have sorted that with your video thanks very much 👍🏻 now to purchase a wedge all the best clear sky’s 🔭👍🏻
I just got the 6SE last month, and I normally travel to observe since putting it in my backyard is not an option. I'm supposing it'll be a 2 man operation if you're mounting the tube and mount entirely.
You can do it alone just take it slow and plan your moves, the wedge is heavy but that also stablizes the whole setup and it will really help reduce the star trails by greatly reducing the mount's declination movements, good luck!
Same. I’m looking at getting one too. Is wedge made by Celestron? Ive seen others on eBay that are replicas for one third of the price but unsure if they’ll be okay?
Attach a guide scope and small 2MP camera, Telrad, electronic focuser, dew shield and dew heater and a ZWO ASI thermo-cooled camera on that OTA and it gets _really_ heavy. I am pushing the limits of the mount, or are actually slightly over but the mount handles it just fine.
Hi! Your video helped me to decide to buy a wedge, thank you! Do you have any problem clearing the mount because the camera size when the telescope needs to point near north (or the azimuth if without the wedge)? I'm trying to choose a camera, but any cooled camera plus the 105mm spacer because the focal reducers seems that will conflict with the mount.
I use a Canon DSLR on this scope and without the wedge I have to make sure during the tracking it wont hit the base when imaging straight above(which is the best for good seeing) but when I added the wedge it seems like it doesnt happen as often because the whole scooe and mount are tilted. Now I can image straight above and it nevers hits the base during tracking. Cheers! 🙂
This mount normally has both Azimuth and Altitude motors - and its program would be expecting to control the altitude motor in that normal mode. Is there something you do to tell the mounts program - that it is in wedge mode?
Hello. Very informative video. Thank you for explaining. I see you also use starsense. I haven't yet been able to get a alignment with starsense auto and the wedge. I have tried multiple times. Can you share any tips around that?
In the handset menu for the Star Sense hand control is a setting which you need to set to wedge align "yes" or "on", it will walk you through each step and works very well once you do it a couple times! Its also critical to have a level tripod, the mount index lined up and a good polar align. Good Luck!.
@@angstrommanagement3016 thank you. I do the option setting properly. I didn't follow the mount/tripod align procedure as systematically as you did. I follow this next time step by step and respond. Thanks again!
Hello , thanks for doing this Video . It was very informative . I am thinking of getting a Wedge for my Nexstar Mount and cannot find any useful information on the Net . I see you have a Starsense Camera . Do you control everything through the Hand Controller or do you use the SkyPortal App on a phone or tablet ? I would really like to see this Setup go through a Wedge Starsense Calibration . There seems to be some initial fine tuning which is unclear . Time for another Video maybe ?
I do everything with the hand controller, and use Stellarium on my iphone for finding and viewing targets, Ive never uses Sky Portal..yet. :D Thanks for watching!
yes thats a pretty important step, you point the forward leg north and level the tripod using the small bubble on the wedge,, then adjust the left and right knobs in the wedge uaing the viewfinder on the scope to center Polaris, Celestron has a great easy align step by step in the literature that cones with the wedge to make it super quick..takes me about 2-3 minutes once the tripod is level, clear skies!!
Very good video. Thanks! I'm planning go for a 8SE and this can replace a much more expensive EQ mount, with the advantage that if I go out for some pure visual observation walk around I don't need to setup an EQ mount (latitude, north/south), or carry extra weight, I can just use the AltAzim mount, but when going for photos, the EQ is there! It is a significant investment, though, almost 1/4 of the whole telescope and mount (not cheap). BTW, what are the results WITHOUT a guide scope or auto guider? Are they really necessary for 1 minute exposures?
Nice video! I’m debating between buying the wedge and the vx mount. Was it worth the buy? Did you see major difference on the photos? Would you recommend it and do you know if there’s a difference between adding a wedge to the mount and an actual equatorial mount?
if you are serious about AP and want the better imaging setup, I suggest the AVX ...it is a better mount and will track more accurately than the fork arm of the Nexstar...the two are similar in setup and operation with star sense but the AVX just tracks much smoother, clear skies!!!
I have a question, I have a Celestron Nexstar SE 8 and bought the wedge for it, I am trying to align it but am having a problem with knowing where the meridian is. It says "Find the meridian", I know that the meridian is an imaginary line in the sky but how many degrees from the horizon is it? The zenith is at 90 degrees from the horizon so is the meridian at 45 degrees? or higher? Can you explain the best and easiest way to align to polaris in layman's terms for us newbies. I would appereciate it very much. Thank You, Linda Franklin
the meridian is a line from north to south poles perpendicular to the equator...instead I use this procedure: first find your latitude and set the wedge adjustment to that exact number (mine is 28.55) then what Ive always done is first level the tripod very carefully, next point the scope at the north sky to the index mark and set the tripod front leg roughly pointing at polaris, I then make sure polaris is within my camera view by adjusting the entire top part of the tripod(not the legs) to the left or right until Polaris is centered in the camera view....if it is too high or low in the frame, adjust the wedge latitude not the tripod...Polaris alignment is now complete, then place the telescope 90 degrees from its current position to the index position facing the high southern sky then if you dont have a starsense auto align, follow the directions on the celestron manual or website for a three star alignment after setting the wedge align(all c8se handsets have this option) in the handset to wedge align "ON". Now...If you have the star sense auto align accessory the handset has a simple procedure to align with that in the handset telescope menu labeled wedge align. I would always suggest anyone who owns any celestron telescope to buy the starsense, it will save you a lot of hassle and is the singlemost important accessory you can add to your setup. Its not cheap but it makes the whole process much much easier...good luck!
you may want to go to this link and follow the procedure first then you will see exactly how its done and you can adjust your own process after perfecting this one www.celestron.com/blogs/knowledgebase/how-do-you-polar-align-using-an-alt-az-mount-with-a-wedge
thanks! yes its always necessary you can level the tripod, point the front leg at Polaris, then center Polaris in your camera view ising the left to right adjustments on the wedge to make it quick! good luck!
How much longer can you take exposure pictures by using the wedge ? Thinking about buying one together with the starsense autoguider when it comes out.
My experience was I went from 30 or less to 45-60 max, what it does best is reduce the corrections needed so that you throw out less frames when stacking, I still do just 30 seconds though, and then just take more frames that way and it works great because I can use more frames. And that Star Sense...it is sooo nice to use it aligns so accurately and quickly, I have one on each of my telescopes and wouldnt ever want to live without it🙂Highly recommended!
Could you please make a video demo of using / setting up starsense with the wedge. It’s got me confused and not much out there on it. Thank you. Great video!
Great informative video. I have ordered a wedge for my 8se and was hoping someone had a video. The only question I have is it looks like you mounted your tube upside down on your fork. The tightening knob is on the bottom of my rail. It looks like when you would put your tube to the index Mark's it's going to be upside down. Thanks
You know thats a good question..honestly if I start it out on the index facing properly it has always aligned perfectly..so Im guessing the star sense and the mount communicate based on the star sense image and it goes from there...I can see how it would mount both ways, and thats just how Ive always had it...hope its working for you, its made a difference for me and well worth the money! Thanks for watching!
hello I bought i wedge saw your video. everything lines up but the center pin doesn't fit flush to the tripod. so there's a gap.between the wedge and the tripod. is that normal
@angstrommanagement3016 ok on the bottom of the wedge in the center there's a pointed pin that sits on the base of the tripod. on the top center part of the wedge there's a slot for a straight slot screwdriver.. I had everything lined up and screwed all three in it still there's a gap. I had to return it 1 of the centering screws was bent and stripped.
it works pretty good for DSO, (although with the Celestron 8se DSO isnt really its best use) it lessens the tracking movements a bit so you can go up to a minute or so, for planetary it works the same way, extends the exposure length to about a minute before stars start elongating, but with planetary often thats not a problem due to the stars being almost invisible, all in all, it helped me shoot longer exposures for Orion and the larger nebulae to gather more light for better results, and definitely helped with planetary, which is truly the Celestron 8se's best use. Cheers!
The wedge is never as good as if you put your scope on a good astrophotography GEM mount. The motors are not precise enough for long exposures. FOR EAA you dont even need an EQ mount as you can do live stacking so can do it on a budget. If you get serious about astrophotography you need a good GEM mount though. You cannot do serious astrophotography on a wedge, EAA yes, but not long exposure decent astrophotography, sure will get good results, but not up to a decent GEM mount will give you. I am INTO EAA and as long as its a goto tracking mount does not need to be on a wedge or EQ mount as your basically using the camera in near real time like you would use a video camera and viewing live stacked through sharpcap.
all true statements, the wedge just makes a alt/az mount correct less and that means less trailing and subsequent shaking...I found it improved my AP results by about 15 seconds but the GEM type mount will always be more stable and track better than the alt/az, this video wasnt a effort to convince people it was the solution to long exposure AP, but a how to and why video whereas viewers who dont want to spend the money for an all new mount and more to improve upon the rig they already have within a budget.
should polar alignment be done with the polar scope? or with the starsense does it do it automatically? is the pursuit faithful? could you show us some photographic examples with related shooting data? THANK YOU.
I dont use a polar scope I just level the tripod...set the scope perpendicular to the index point...this points the scope at Polaris roughly...then point the one leg at Polaris, then using the viewfinder on the dslr Polaris is always close to center then I adjust as usual left to right, then go into setting on the handset and click wedge align option in the telescope menu...then set the scope to the index point parallel to the mount base and activate Star Sense Auto or Manual (your choice) to align, thanks!!!
Also...All my shared images are on Angstrom Management on facebook, I use two different scopes...all the moon images are taken with the Celestron8, thanks!
Hey Dave, got a quick question or two. My equatorial mount is supposed to be coming this week and I have the StarSense like you, actually the same exact setup as you have in this video. When you start Starsense, does the OTA need to be horizontal or facing up or facing North level to the ground or what? It took me quite awhile to get the Starsense working as it should to begin with, so I would like to know your tips and tricks to just go out and go through the alignment procedure and not have to waste time trying to figure out how to get it aligned. I got tired very quickly of trying to align the scope with out the Starsense, but after installing it and figuring it out, I sure don't want to have to go through the same relearn procedure again. Your input would be very much appreciated. Also, I have purchased a low end svbony camera, sv305, and plan to modify it to add a peltier fan system to it to keep it cool. In essescense turning a cheap camera into a better camera. You mentioned that at certain angles, you have better longtime exposures of the camera. I would really like to know what you were referring to. I actually saw my first Nebula the other night and it was Bodi's Nebula. After that I turned to Orion's Nebula, but was more impressed with Bodi's. Any thoughts of what settings I might set my camera to to get some nice exposures?
Hey Sam, First Ill say if you have starsense installed and working without the wedge, youve avoided quite a bit of work already. And Im sure since youre already using starsense, youve switched the handset from the standard C8se handset to the one that comes with starsense. Onto the process... Celestron has a decent menu on this process of using the wedge but it leaves a lot of folks feeling confused so heres my trick. First...level the tripod as best you can. Set your latitude roughly to the number of where your location is using the "ioptron polar scope iphone or android app".for instance..my location is 27.54N. At this point the the flat base of the wedge is roughly facing polaris. Then slew the scope so that it is perfectly parallel (inline)with the fork arm, with the scope pointing at polaris roughly. I made a small mark on my fork and scope rail where it is very close if not perfect and it works everytime. Polaris should appear in the eyepiece somewhere if youre close. Then while observing polaris through the eyepiece, begin by using the two opposing azimuth knobs to adjust the wedge left or right until Polaris is in the center of the left to right axis in the eyepiece. Then while again observing polaris through the eyepiece, adjust Polaris to be in the center of the eyepiece view to the up and down axis using the latitude knob which should already be set fairly close for your specific location.(using the ioptron polar scope phone app) These adjustments are very slight, and you want to make sure you do them very slowly, and keep the latitude knob slightly tight so it doesnt move a lot or too easily on you during this process. This will align Polaris in the center of the eyepiece as best you can. You can also use your camera to do all this on the laptop screen when you have that setup instead of an eyepiece. Now your scope is pointing at polaris and is perpendicular to the base of the wedge. Tighten the knobs in place. Now, look at the index marks (little arrows)where the tube and fork arm connect, slew the scope away from polaris to the south until you align align the index marks on the scope and the fork arm. This will place the tube facing angled slightly upward to the south and it will also be parallel with the base of the mount, and as such, this will also be parallel with the wedge base. Then go to menu > telescope> set up > wedge, then select wedge ‘ON’. Once the wedge is on you can begin the auto alignment procedure with your scope. Before hitting autoalign start Check your information: Make sure that your time, date, location, and time zone is all correct. Any error inputting the information can result in a poor alignment. (Menu, time and location, view mod time/location).Once this information is double checked you are ready to begin your alignment procedure. Now as youve already been doing go to the align menu and simply use starsense auto and just let it do its thing..it will recognize the wedge and adjust automatically for it in the process and you should find your scope perfectly aligned after running this auto alignment. After I align, I always choose a bright star Im familiar with and just goto that to make sure the alignment is good, and my focus is close to optimal....then continue onto imaging whatever you have chosen after that quick check...now and then I have found targets will be off a bit in the screen of my laptop, so I can know where to look for targets as I goto and adjust accordingly to center them using the handset. A couple tips for reference: Once youve got this setup working and have proven it accurate..mark your tripod legs with sticks or pencils where they are so this is all easier later when setting up next time. I then use little PVC rings I cut off of 2 inch PVC set 6 inches down into the ground so that the tripod legs always are in the same spot, but not sticking up so much I hit them with the lawnmower..lol...this will never be perfect but will help you always get the tripod within a very close placement before continuing your setup. I always leave my tripod, wedge, and scope assembled and carefully move it in and out of the house each time I use it..if you take your time this will save you headaches of disassembling and reassembling everything each time you go out for the night....I even will cover my setup with a clear plastic tarp over a soft blanket if it isnt going to be rainy or damp out, and have left it outside for a couple weeks at a time..this makes going out each consecutive night so much quicker. Just be sure to keep an eye on the weather and just run auto align when you go out again and youre all set. I personally have the celestron GPS time date accessory which mounts on the tripod leg and does all this automatically, but its really pretty quick and easy if you dont have that piece yet...one word of advice..its super critical to make sure you set the time and date right, and especially check the daylight savings time setting and make sure it is on or off according to the current daylight savings time you are in..either yes-or-no in the menu. Later, if you find youre getting clouds here and there, after youve perfected this auto alignment process, you can try using the starsense manual align, which lets you select four points in the sky where there are no clouds or very dense stars to dodge any clouds or trees that may be making auto align not work so well. I have trees all around my yard so I use this process of starsense manual everytime, and can even align sometimes before dark if the milky way (dense stars) is located in my area of view...the starsense is that sensitive and accurate. All the best of luck, and you can always reach me here if you have more questions..Im happy to help! :D
Also to note..when I didnt have the wedge, I always pointed my OTA north and aligned the index marks on the OTA and the fork arm(level to the ground basically) before starting the alignment.
If you mean me, I dont use facebook, but you can find most of my images on Instagram @angstrommanagement1 and any videos I make will be here on youtube, thanks for watching and the sub! :D
Can't wait to apply the simple, straight-forward instructions when my wedge arrives in a few days. Thanks for taking the time to make this video.
just be sure to follow the handset for wedge align and youll be golden!!!😊
@@angstrommanagement3016 haha yeah the more I read the more confusing it gets. Turns out there are 4 steps to do, according to Celestron's knowledgebase (and just makes it very confusing): Rough Align, EQ North (or South) align, Polar Align, and then another EQ North Alignment. And it makes sense that your video is one of about three about this out there. Taking it out tonight to see if I can get it to work, or if it'll become a $300 doorstop.
@@randytalley7177 I will suggest one thing that will eliminate a lot of headaches here, and that getting a Starsense auto align camera, it has been the one accessory from celestron I will never do without..I even bought another to put on my Williams Optics scope with Celestron AVX mount, and it works with all Celestron mounts or Nexstar scopes..It also has its own handset with the settings for an auto align using a wedge built right in! It isnt cheap, but it basically made the difference for me between selling my c8se because alignment was a pain in the arse, and keeping it, and aligning in about three minutes using auto align while I sit back and have a scotch lol www.celestron.com/pages/starsense-technology
Thank you for providing one of the clearest and most informative setup guides regarding the wedge I've come across. This really helped explain everything such as proper install, the use cases and where the wedge falls into the product line. Looking forward to getting started and providing back to the community in the near future. You've been an inspiration.
awesome, it works great and is super sturdy..great product, all the best!
Thanks to you I get my wedge installed and with high confidence I can tell you thank you very much.
Thanks for this introduction. I'm a newbie. Your directions really helped put everything in perspective with the wedge. Thanks!
My pleasure! It was a bit daunting for me at first but worked out well, thanks for watching!!!😎
Absolutely the best video on how to install one of these ever !!! I just watched one, and they didn't do half the things you did, installing theres! .. so, glad I found this one. will save me a lot of time now LOL
awesome Frank thak you and have a blast, it helps a lot with tracking deep space!
Nice video. Just ordered a new SE8 and eventually will get the wedge. Just to clarify, the knobs in front are for fine aligning the wedge with Polaris and not just with the north facing leg.
yes, thats what you do once youve got a rough setup, its so easy!! Good luck!
Thanks for the easy to follow directions and explanations. Ordered my wedge and you’ll be talking me through my install when it arrives.
Happy to help Karl, once you get the polar alignment and three star as usual but with Wedge EQ turned on in the telescope menu, it is a breeze and has improved my imaging I do with the c8 due to much less correction on the dec axis!
Great video. I have a equatorial mount on order and can't wait to install it. I will be referring back to this very same video to install it when it comes. Just got my Nexstar 8 SE Baby today and it is raining, but high winds are pushing it out and may be able to star gaze in about an our. Thanks for your instructions. I will recommend your video to others.
excellent Sam, the C8 will not fail to exceed your expectations, its a fine instrument!
Cheers Dave!
All my kit is in the post, ready for me to do this exact set up when it arrives. Your informative film will make things a whole lot easier i'm sure! Subscribed! 👍
Well thank you very much Dave. I was fortunate enough to be able to buy a very cool telescope that has a wedge and I was not positive on how to use it. You confirmed my suspicions and it was very helpful thank you.
Now i just have to find which star I use in the southern hemisphere. No Polaris down here.
So i just checked apparently there is actually 😂
Sigma Octanis
Or Polaris Australis. One step at a time here!
I always wondered how you do it down under lol! cheers and lots of luck with your endeavours!!!
Many thanks. I have the wedge already. Just waiting for the scope to arrive.
youll be kicking ass soon, its a great setup, so easy once dialed in, best of luck!
Great video no astro jargon just nice and simple instructions to follow as it should be top job 🔭🤗 5 *****
thanks!! I have enjoyed using it for lunar imaging, cheers!
@@angstrommanagement3016 I watched as i was thinking of getting a wedge for my 6se but was a little daunted as to how to set it up and not knowing what to do.....but you have sorted that with your video thanks very much 👍🏻 now to purchase a wedge all the best clear sky’s 🔭👍🏻
@@Neil-clare remember too you dont need the heavy duty wedge with a 6se the standard size will work good too! :)
Great video - I will be playing this when I finally get to set up my telescope! Cheers!
all the best for your new endeavour, feel free to reply here with any question if need be, cheers!
@@angstrommanagement3016 Thanks!
Instructive and helpful. Thank you.
Thanks, Happy Sky Watching!
good stuff @Angstrom. Love the candor.
Thank you very much from Spain
my pleasure
I just got the 6SE last month, and I normally travel to observe since putting it in my backyard is not an option. I'm supposing it'll be a 2 man operation if you're mounting the tube and mount entirely.
You can do it alone just take it slow and plan your moves, the wedge is heavy but that also stablizes the whole setup and it will really help reduce the star trails by greatly reducing the mount's declination movements, good luck!
Excellent video. Looking at a wedge for my Evo 8. Thanks!
My pleasure, it has helped a lot!
Same. I’m looking at getting one too. Is wedge made by Celestron? Ive seen others on eBay that are replicas for one third of the price but unsure if they’ll be okay?
Attach a guide scope and small 2MP camera, Telrad, electronic focuser, dew shield and dew heater and a ZWO ASI thermo-cooled camera on that OTA and it gets _really_ heavy. I am pushing the limits of the mount, or are actually slightly over but the mount handles it just fine.
I ended up for that same reason using my C8 for lunar only and now use a WOz73 for deep space, Cheers!
Thank you, now I need that xD
Big Thanks!!!
Best luck with imaging and viewing!!!
Thanks. This should be helpful!
Hi! Your video helped me to decide to buy a wedge, thank you! Do you have any problem clearing the mount because the camera size when the telescope needs to point near north (or the azimuth if without the wedge)? I'm trying to choose a camera, but any cooled camera plus the 105mm spacer because the focal reducers seems that will conflict with the mount.
I use a Canon DSLR on this scope and without the wedge I have to make sure during the tracking it wont hit the base when imaging straight above(which is the best for good seeing) but when I added the wedge it seems like it doesnt happen as often because the whole scooe and mount are tilted. Now I can image straight above and it nevers hits the base during tracking. Cheers! 🙂
thanks dave
hope it goes great for you!
This mount normally has both Azimuth and Altitude motors - and its program would be expecting to control the altitude motor in that normal mode. Is there something you do to tell the mounts program - that it is in wedge mode?
Just set to equatorial mode
yes, in the menu you set the alignment to wedge
Cant wait to see some pictures, could you put a link into the wedge for us ?
all the images taken with this setup can be seen on facebook Angstrom Management, thanks!!
Hello. Very informative video. Thank you for explaining. I see you also use starsense. I haven't yet been able to get a alignment with starsense auto and the wedge. I have tried multiple times. Can you share any tips around that?
In the handset menu for the Star Sense hand control is a setting which you need to set to wedge align "yes" or "on", it will walk you through each step and works very well once you do it a couple times! Its also critical to have a level tripod, the mount index lined up and a good polar align. Good Luck!.
@@angstrommanagement3016 thank you. I do the option setting properly. I didn't follow the mount/tripod align procedure as systematically as you did. I follow this next time step by step and respond. Thanks again!
@@KapilKumar-bj5kp Im sure youll do great! best of luck!!!'
Hello , thanks for doing this Video . It was very informative . I am thinking of getting a Wedge for my Nexstar Mount and cannot find any useful information on the Net . I see you have a Starsense Camera . Do you control everything through the Hand Controller or do you use the SkyPortal App on a phone or tablet ? I would really like to see this Setup go through a Wedge Starsense Calibration . There seems to be some initial fine tuning which is unclear . Time for another Video maybe ?
I do everything with the hand controller, and use Stellarium on my iphone for finding and viewing targets, Ive never uses Sky Portal..yet. :D Thanks for watching!
Don't you need to polar align it very precisely ? How is that accomplished ?
yes thats a pretty important step, you point the forward leg north and level the tripod using the small bubble on the wedge,, then adjust the left and right knobs in the wedge uaing the viewfinder on the scope to center Polaris, Celestron has a great easy align step by step in the literature that cones with the wedge to make it super quick..takes me about 2-3 minutes once the tripod is level, clear skies!!
Have you thought of having Hyperstar of Reducer to this setup?
I did for a bit but then got a Williams Optics Z73 so now I use this one for Orion and the Moon mostly, Hyperstars are expensive lol
@@angstrommanagement3016 You can get way more light with this aperture than a refractor. All you need if Hyperstar and good mount. My plan is.
Very good video. Thanks! I'm planning go for a 8SE and this can replace a much more expensive EQ mount, with the advantage that if I go out for some pure visual observation walk around I don't need to setup an EQ mount (latitude, north/south), or carry extra weight, I can just use the AltAzim mount, but when going for photos, the EQ is there! It is a significant investment, though, almost 1/4 of the whole telescope and mount (not cheap). BTW, what are the results WITHOUT a guide scope or auto guider? Are they really necessary for 1 minute exposures?
Ive never used a guider on my C8 I usually just do 30 sec exp max and stack a whole bunch of them.🙂
Nice video! I’m debating between buying the wedge and the vx mount. Was it worth the buy? Did you see major difference on the photos? Would you recommend it and do you know if there’s a difference between adding a wedge to the mount and an actual equatorial mount?
if you are serious about AP and want the better imaging setup, I suggest the AVX ...it is a better mount and will track more accurately than the fork arm of the Nexstar...the two are similar in setup and operation with star sense but the AVX just tracks much smoother, clear skies!!!
I have the Advanced GT mount for mine. The wedge seems like a kludge to me.
Thanx!
I have a question, I have a Celestron Nexstar SE 8 and bought the wedge for it, I am trying to align it but am having a problem with knowing where the meridian is. It says "Find the meridian", I know that the meridian is an imaginary line in the sky but how many degrees from the horizon is it? The zenith is at 90 degrees from the horizon so is the meridian at 45 degrees? or higher? Can you explain the best and easiest way to align to polaris in layman's terms for us newbies. I would appereciate it very much. Thank You, Linda Franklin
the meridian is a line from north to south poles perpendicular to the equator...instead I use this procedure: first find your latitude and set the wedge adjustment to that exact number (mine is 28.55) then what Ive always done is first level the tripod very carefully, next point the scope at the north sky to the index mark and set the tripod front leg roughly pointing at polaris, I then make sure polaris is within my camera view by adjusting the entire top part of the tripod(not the legs) to the left or right until Polaris is centered in the camera view....if it is too high or low in the frame, adjust the wedge latitude not the tripod...Polaris alignment is now complete, then place the telescope 90 degrees from its current position to the index position facing the high southern sky then if you dont have a starsense auto align, follow the directions on the celestron manual or website for a three star alignment after setting the wedge align(all c8se handsets have this option) in the handset to wedge align "ON". Now...If you have the star sense auto align accessory the handset has a simple procedure to align with that in the handset telescope menu labeled wedge align. I would always suggest anyone who owns any celestron telescope to buy the starsense, it will save you a lot of hassle and is the singlemost important accessory you can add to your setup. Its not cheap but it makes the whole process much much easier...good luck!
you may want to go to this link and follow the procedure first then you will see exactly how its done and you can adjust your own process after perfecting this one www.celestron.com/blogs/knowledgebase/how-do-you-polar-align-using-an-alt-az-mount-with-a-wedge
and remember...you can avoid nearly all of the steps after rough polar aligning by getting a starsense(highly recommended)
Is that the heavy duty wedge on heavy cpc heavy duty tripod?
its the heavy duty wedge on the stock Nexstar tripod that comes with the Celestron 8se, thanks!
@@angstrommanagement3016 Thank you. I have Evolution 8” EdgeHD and wasn’t sure if I should get the heavy duty wedge or standard wedge.
@@torchboxthats a real nice scope... Id definitely make sure you go heavy...Clear skies! :D
Good video. Do I still have to go through a polar alignment process?
thanks! yes its always necessary you can level the tripod, point the front leg at Polaris, then center Polaris in your camera view ising the left to right adjustments on the wedge to make it quick! good luck!
The altitude adjustment doesn't look like 28 degrees? It looks close to 45!
its 28.6 where Im at the image was before I set it properly maybe? it does look like 45 lol
Hi, i live at very low latitude, just 3 degree above the equator. Can this wedge set to this latitude? If it can wouldnt it be a bit tippy?
it will be almost straight up but you can adjust the telescope tube to account for the weight easily, good luck!
How much longer can you take exposure pictures by using the wedge ? Thinking about buying one together with the starsense autoguider when it comes out.
My experience was I went from 30 or less to 45-60 max, what it does best is reduce the corrections needed so that you throw out less frames when stacking, I still do just 30 seconds though, and then just take more frames that way and it works great because I can use more frames.
And that Star Sense...it is sooo nice to use it aligns so accurately and quickly, I have one on each of my telescopes and wouldnt ever want to live without it🙂Highly recommended!
Could you please make a video demo of using / setting up starsense with the wedge. It’s got me confused and not much out there on it. Thank you. Great video!
Great informative video. I have ordered a wedge for my 8se and was hoping someone had a video. The only question I have is it looks like you mounted your tube upside down on your fork. The tightening knob is on the bottom of my rail. It looks like when you would put your tube to the index Mark's it's going to be upside down. Thanks
You know thats a good question..honestly if I start it out on the index facing properly it has always aligned perfectly..so Im guessing the star sense and the mount communicate based on the star sense image and it goes from there...I can see how it would mount both ways, and thats just how Ive always had it...hope its working for you, its made a difference for me and well worth the money! Thanks for watching!
vital point that no-one adequately explains.
hello I bought i wedge saw your video. everything lines up but the center pin doesn't fit flush to the tripod. so there's a gap.between the wedge and the tripod. is that normal
there should be no gap, try to matchup the three screws and tighten, not sure what pin youre talking about
@angstrommanagement3016 ok on the bottom of the wedge in the center there's a pointed pin that sits on the base of the tripod. on the top center part of the wedge there's a slot for a straight slot screwdriver.. I had everything lined up and screwed all three in it still there's a gap. I had to return it 1 of the centering screws was bent and stripped.
@@raywinkle1024 aww darn, thats a bummer, when you get it let me know how it goes, all my best!
How does the wedge perform for planetary imaging and can you do DSO images with it.
it works pretty good for DSO, (although with the Celestron 8se DSO isnt really its best use) it lessens the tracking movements a bit so you can go up to a minute or so, for planetary it works the same way, extends the exposure length to about a minute before stars start elongating, but with planetary often thats not a problem due to the stars being almost invisible, all in all, it helped me shoot longer exposures for Orion and the larger nebulae to gather more light for better results, and definitely helped with planetary, which is truly the Celestron 8se's best use. Cheers!
The wedge is never as good as if you put your scope on a good astrophotography GEM mount. The motors are not precise enough for long exposures.
FOR EAA you dont even need an EQ mount as you can do live stacking so can do it on a budget. If you get serious about astrophotography you need a good GEM mount though. You cannot do serious astrophotography on a wedge, EAA yes, but not long exposure decent astrophotography, sure will get good results, but not up to a decent GEM mount will give you.
I am INTO EAA and as long as its a goto tracking mount does not need to be on a wedge or EQ mount as your basically using the camera in near real time like you would use a video camera and viewing live stacked through sharpcap.
all true statements, the wedge just makes a alt/az mount correct less and that means less trailing and subsequent shaking...I found it improved my AP results by about 15 seconds but the GEM type mount will always be more stable and track better than the alt/az, this video wasnt a effort to convince people it was the solution to long exposure AP, but a how to and why video whereas viewers who dont want to spend the money for an all new mount and more to improve upon the rig they already have within a budget.
Hi how did the pics turned out, I’m about to purchase a Celestron Telescope and considered an Alt Az mount with wedge.
I found it best for planetary and Lunar..it makes a great image with a dslr..cheers!
Paul you can view all my shared still images on facebook Angstrom Management page, thanks!
should polar alignment be done with the polar scope? or with the starsense does it do it automatically? is the pursuit faithful? could you show us some photographic examples with related shooting data? THANK YOU.
I dont use a polar scope I just level the tripod...set the scope perpendicular to the index point...this points the scope at Polaris roughly...then point the one leg at Polaris, then using the viewfinder on the dslr Polaris is always close to center then I adjust as usual left to right, then go into setting on the handset and click wedge align option in the telescope menu...then set the scope to the index point parallel to the mount base and activate Star Sense Auto or Manual (your choice) to align, thanks!!!
Also...All my shared images are on Angstrom Management on facebook, I use two different scopes...all the moon images are taken with the Celestron8, thanks!
better of for astrophotogrphy with a GEM mount. the Evo 9.25 would be better for a wegde, much stronger tripod
true true...Ive kept the wedge equipped C8se nowadays for primarily lunar and planetary, and now use an AVX with phd2 for astro, cheers!
@@angstrommanagement3016 dont need a wedge for planetary abd lunar photography, an alt alz mount works.
Hey Dave, got a quick question or two. My equatorial mount is supposed to be coming this week and I have the StarSense like you, actually the same exact setup as you have in this video. When you start Starsense, does the OTA need to be horizontal or facing up or facing North level to the ground or what? It took me quite awhile to get the Starsense working as it should to begin with, so I would like to know your tips and tricks to just go out and go through the alignment procedure and not have to waste time trying to figure out how to get it aligned. I got tired very quickly of trying to align the scope with out the Starsense, but after installing it and figuring it out, I sure don't want to have to go through the same relearn procedure again. Your input would be very much appreciated. Also, I have purchased a low end svbony camera, sv305, and plan to modify it to add a peltier fan system to it to keep it cool. In essescense turning a cheap camera into a better camera. You mentioned that at certain angles, you have better longtime exposures of the camera. I would really like to know what you were referring to. I actually saw my first Nebula the other night and it was Bodi's Nebula. After that I turned to Orion's Nebula, but was more impressed with Bodi's. Any thoughts of what settings I might set my camera to to get some nice exposures?
Hey Sam, First Ill say if you have starsense installed and working without the wedge, youve avoided quite a bit of work already.
And Im sure since youre already using starsense, youve switched the handset from the standard C8se handset to the one that comes with starsense.
Onto the process...
Celestron has a decent menu on this process of using the wedge but it leaves a lot of folks feeling confused so heres my trick.
First...level the tripod as best you can.
Set your latitude roughly to the number of where your location is using the "ioptron polar scope iphone or android app".for instance..my location is 27.54N.
At this point the the flat base of the wedge is roughly facing polaris.
Then slew the scope so that it is perfectly parallel (inline)with the fork arm, with the scope pointing at polaris roughly. I made a small mark on my fork and scope rail where it is very close if not perfect and it works everytime.
Polaris should appear in the eyepiece somewhere if youre close.
Then while observing polaris through the eyepiece, begin by using the two opposing azimuth knobs to adjust the wedge left or right until Polaris is in the center of the left to right axis in the eyepiece.
Then while again observing polaris through the eyepiece, adjust Polaris to be in the center of the eyepiece view to the up and down axis using the latitude knob which should already be set fairly close for your specific location.(using the ioptron polar scope phone app)
These adjustments are very slight, and you want to make sure you do them very slowly, and keep the latitude knob slightly tight so it doesnt move a lot or too easily on you during this process.
This will align Polaris in the center of the eyepiece as best you can. You can also use your camera to do all this on the laptop screen when you have that setup instead of an eyepiece.
Now your scope is pointing at polaris and is perpendicular to the base of the wedge.
Tighten the knobs in place.
Now, look at the index marks (little arrows)where the tube and fork arm connect, slew the scope away from polaris to the south until you align align the index marks on the scope and the fork arm. This will place the tube facing angled slightly upward to the south and it will also be parallel with the base of the mount, and as such, this will also be parallel with the wedge base.
Then go to menu > telescope> set up > wedge, then select wedge ‘ON’. Once the wedge is on you can begin the auto alignment procedure with your scope.
Before hitting autoalign start Check your information:
Make sure that your time, date, location, and time zone is all correct. Any error inputting the information can result in a poor alignment. (Menu, time and location, view mod time/location).Once this information is double checked you are ready to begin your alignment procedure.
Now as youve already been doing go to the align menu and simply use starsense auto and just let it do its thing..it will recognize the wedge and adjust automatically for it in the process and you should find your scope perfectly aligned after running this auto alignment.
After I align, I always choose a bright star Im familiar with and just goto that to make sure the alignment is good, and my focus is close to optimal....then continue onto imaging whatever you have chosen after that quick check...now and then I have found targets will be off a bit in the screen of my laptop, so I can know where to look for targets as I goto and adjust accordingly to center them using the handset.
A couple tips for reference:
Once youve got this setup working and have proven it accurate..mark your tripod legs with sticks or pencils where they are so this is all easier later when setting up next time. I then use little PVC rings I cut off of 2 inch PVC set 6 inches down into the ground so that the tripod legs always are in the same spot, but not sticking up so much I hit them with the lawnmower..lol...this will never be perfect but will help you always get the tripod within a very close placement before continuing your setup.
I always leave my tripod, wedge, and scope assembled and carefully move it in and out of the house each time I use it..if you take your time this will save you headaches of disassembling and reassembling everything each time you go out for the night....I even will cover my setup with a clear plastic tarp over a soft blanket if it isnt going to be rainy or damp out, and have left it outside for a couple weeks at a time..this makes going out each consecutive night so much quicker. Just be sure to keep an eye on the weather and just run auto align when you go out again and youre all set.
I personally have the celestron GPS time date accessory which mounts on the tripod leg and does all this automatically, but its really pretty quick and easy if you dont have that piece yet...one word of advice..its super critical to make sure you set the time and date right, and especially check the daylight savings time setting and make sure it is on or off according to the current daylight savings time you are in..either yes-or-no in the menu.
Later, if you find youre getting clouds here and there, after youve perfected this auto alignment process, you can try using the starsense manual align, which lets you select four points in the sky where there are no clouds or very dense stars to dodge any clouds or trees that may be making auto align not work so well. I have trees all around my yard so I use this process of starsense manual everytime, and can even align sometimes before dark if the milky way (dense stars) is located in my area of view...the starsense is that sensitive and accurate.
All the best of luck, and you can always reach me here if you have more questions..Im happy to help! :D
Also to note..when I didnt have the wedge, I always pointed my OTA north and aligned the index marks on the OTA and the fork arm(level to the ground basically) before starting the alignment.
My SE4 has the rod for polar align on tripod. is this something different or does it do same thing?
Same thing
What's His Facebook Page. I'm in Alabama.
If you mean me, I dont use facebook, but you can find most of my images on Instagram @angstrommanagement1 and any videos I make will be here on youtube, thanks for watching and the sub! :D
@@angstrommanagement3016 Ok Thanks. I'm Gona buy that wedge I have the Celestron nexstar 8 se telescope.