A review of the APT Heavy Duty Wedge

I received my APT wedge on Wednesday, Feb. 25th, 2004. APT/Astro took great pains to insure it would arrive in excellent condition based on the packaging. It was enclosed in a heavy duty double wall cardboard box and surrounded with hot expanded foam padding and lots of bubble wrap. My first thought was "Man what a monster this thing is!". At 45 pounds, it's two thirds of the weight of the NexStar11. As a comparison the Celestron HD Wedge weighs about 15 pounds. I removed it from the box after carting the whole thing down to the observatory. I had already disassembled my Celestron Heavy Duty Wedge from the pier and set the two side by side for direct comparison photos which can be seen at http://www.intercom.net/user/shaffer/wedge.html . The difference is obvious. The thick plate used, the oversized bolts, and the precision jigged and welded construction will eliminate any possibility of racking and the fit of the various parts will insure a solid mount with no unnecessary movement. This wedge is rock solid.

The wedge is bolted directly to the pier/tripod naturally but here's where this wedge differs from the rest. The base is securely mounted but the basic wedge body itself pivots around the base which allows easy adjustment in azimuth, essentially a no tools setup. No more adjusting for drift only to see the star shift position when the bolts are tightened down. The Az motion is firm...really firm...but I suspect for the user who sets the system up more than once it will loosen up a little. The oversized adjustment knobs are a great help in making small adjustments. Having knobs on both the East and West side is also a big help. There is +/-10 degrees of freedom in the Az adjustment with a pointer on the base to show where you are. The Alt/Declination adjuster consists of a single stainless steel fine thread screw again with the same oversize knob. The pivot points on the Dec plate are pre-tensioned at the plant so no tightening or adjustment is necessary for them. I would assume the Az and Alt adjustment screws are the same size. The large size and fine thread makes it easy to tilt the Alt plate even with the NexStar11 and all my "goodies" on it. The motion is buttery smooth with no binding or undue pressure felt. The Astronomy Gods smiled on me as the forecast was for clouds the day the wedge arrived but they dissipated and I had a decent clear evening to polar align. I spent the evening tweaking the alignment and the ease of adjusting made for a pleasant experience which some know can be frustrating at times. Another thing I noticed while polar aligning was the much reduced vibration in the eyepiece when making the adjustments, another point for the quality construction.

There are two holes in the back of the base for use with 2" or 1 1/4" eyepieces and two supplied white plastic spool pieces. The spool pieces are for use with the smaller eyepieces and fit a little too loosely for my tastes but a little tape on the outer diameter will make them fit snugger. This is just a personal observation. Others may think they are just fine.

The wedge has all aluminum parts anodized or powder coated for durability and all the hardware is stainless steel for corrosion resistance. The color is a subtle maroon which I find is different and like but some have commented as being...a bit strange. It is not available in any other color so if you don't like it you are stuck with it or will have to paint it some color you like. Obviously painting it will void your warranty. I think it will make the wedge stand out at star parties and gatherings as a unique item, probably something that APT wants.

I come from a GEM background and the Celestron HD Wedge and APT are the first I've used since the NexStar11 is my first SCT. I have not personally used or seen other wedges like the Mettler, Milburn, Mitty, or UtiliWedge other than pictures on the web or reading reviews and descriptions. Based on the costs of these other wedges for a Celestron scope, the APT is a bargain. Since I own the Celestron Heavy Duty Wedge and have documented the problems with larger telescopes mounted on it, I can heartily recommend the APT wedge to anyone who is in the market for a wedge for their NexStar no matter what size scope you have. If you start with the smaller 8" and want to upgrade to the 11" some day then you will already own an excellent wedge to mount your new scope on.