Almost 10 years later this is still one of the best videos explaining how to use the wedge with celestron, thank you!

6 years out, and this is still the best video for using a wedge. Thank you! Excellent job.

Hi. Im Jimmy from Puerto Rico and after 9 years of the release of this video it was very helpful for me today september 21/ 2021. Thank you very much

You are an amazing teacher. I hope you get back to this channel and post more tutorials because it is very helpful. Thanks! Steve

You're the only one on KZfaq that made a complete comprehensive video on this complex subject. Thank You! It really help for my set-ups with the celestron se.

I have used this wedge for a long time now and it works fairly well for me. Thanks for watching, Clear Skies!!

Awesome job of making star gazing process easy for us beginners! Have had my Celestron 6SE for couple weeks, have had some limited success gathering video of Jupiter/Saturn. Your videos are very easy to follow, not too technical. Now if these windy cloudy nights would just go away...thanks again for taking the time to help all of us just starting in this wonderful hobby, Kelly

Excellent explaination set-up video this is the best i could find bravo and thank you

Thank you for taking the time to make this video! Despite it being years old, it is still by far the best explanation I’ve found yet , and alignment using a wedge finally makes sense! Peace!

I agree with others. This is the best step-by-step video I have seen.

Thank you so much. I will begin making my wedge this weekend. You are truly a legend. Clear skies to you too.

11 years. Watched this on 09-17-2023 in Arizona USA

Not sure if you even read these comments, but thank you for the video. Helped me figure out what I was doing wrong using my homemade wedge.

Hello Baltier2705, I just wanted to say thank you for the videos. I bought my first telescope, an 8se, and have used your videos to help me learn the intricacies of my new telescope. The precise detail of how to polar align is unparalleled. I also used your video on DIY wedge to make my wedge. Again thank you.

Thank you for this video. Polar alignment is now perfectly clear to me.

This video helped me back into astrophotagraphy. Never managed to polar align before last night. I finally managed long exposures :) Thank you Baltier!

So helpful. Now I get how the wedge and polar alignment works! Thank you.

I’d like to thank you a lot for this video very accurate! I’m now able to polar align my wedge to North Pole!

Really enjoyed the presentation very thorough.

This is great. Thank you for making and sharing your video. It answers a lot of questions. The stars Vega, Castor, Algorith... are pretty easy to find and get used to. 45 minute accurate guiding? Absolutely amazing. Thanks for going the extra steps. Think of what Galileo, Tycho Brahe, Kepler, Copernicus, Hubble! would think if they saw your telescope.

Enjoyed your video very much. Keep up the great work!

Thank you for the very interesting instructions.

Still watchig this amazing video for remember how I start with my telescope.. Thanks teacher , you are the best. (Aguante Balt)

Well done! Thank so very much for a basic start.

Great Video, Ive owned a Nexstar GPS 8" and currently a 11" Edge HD deluxe, and HD pro wedge,. yours is the first and only video that Ive found that helps anyone with a wedge, learn how to set-up and learn the terminology of polar, meridian, wedge alignment, ect..the written instructions in the Celestron user manual don't explain, "in diagrams the way they should" or "with the hand controller" the long process of doing this..again, Thank you, for your help..PS this video is 4 years old, are you still involved in astronomy, let us know how your doing :)

Thanks for this Tutorial, very informative, and spot on instruction.

Excellent instructions, i have successfully done in the 1st attempt with the help of this video, Thank You.

Cada vez que dejó un tiempito mi telescopio, regreso a este vídeo y siempre me salva. Un saludito desde California

Thank you for such a helpful tutorial!

!Buenisimo Baltier,muy claro, se ve que le haces al bricolaje con todo! muchas gracias. todo es poner en estacion el teles ( latitud, y apuntar lo mas proximo posible al norte o al sur segun seab el caso ) y el objeto permanece en el ocular aun con el mas modesto de los motores. saludos

such a useful video. thank you so much for making it.

Nice video. I learned quite a bit.

Sweet I found it on your channel, Thanks again

Nice video. Gracias from Spain.

Thanks man, this really helped!!! I have the CPC11 and recently installed the Celestron HD wedge, I got a little help the first time setting up (I am a hands on/visual kind of learner), but that was more than a year ago (family matters) I have recently been searching and searching the web for some help with the set up procedures.... great job demonstrating .... the steps were there but... just little confused on them. I have done a walk through on my scope while watching you several times now and feel pretty comfortable doing it in the dark now; just gotta wait on these clouds to get out of here now.

Great video. My 6SE is from about 2010 so I don't think I have the same software version that you do. The shots of the sun are incredible too. I check it out all the time and have only ever seen about 4 spots. Thanks for putting this out. I just got a wedge and am looking forward to getting some pictures with it. I'm in Kentucky so no too far from you.

Thank you for this really easy to follow video..

Great info, thank you!

Very Useful!!! thank you bros!

Many thanks for this video.you explained it very well and clear well done pal 👍👍👍

Very well, thanks from Germany. May God bless you, and your family. p.s. and your dog as well. :) good job

Thanks for this great video. I got confused with Celestron user manual, from the beginning I was doing the alignment with EQ North. Best regards from Panama, Central America

ottima spiegazione .... GRAZIE

Great Job! One practice I encourage with any telescope or mount is to install the finderscope and align it optically to the telescope before commencing any kind of polar or sky alignment (or always check it if already installed).

Gracias , muy educativo. Intentare lo de la montura ecuatorial, esta genial !!!!

Really helpful. Thanks

Muchas gracias por tu comentario y por ver mi video. Me complace saber que esto le ayuda a las personas. Suerte!

Thanks, is very usefull this video, I'll begin making my wedge this weekend

Great job !

This is really great! Thank you so much!

Really enjoyed the video. I have recently purchased an 8SE and I am getting use to aligning it for visual use. It very easy to align. However I do want to start looking at Astrophotography and its nice to see it being demonstrated without huge EQ mounts being involved. Would also like to see some DSO'd you have taken pictures of. keep up the great videos!

Nice video!

Awesome help, thanks very much :)

This was pretty good. Hope you're still watching our comments here...

Well done, sans dog. Nice explanation.

Si se ve de buena calidad, pero hubiese preferido hacer uno como el tuyo si la base del telescopio no hubiese sido tan pesada, de hecho el wedge es solido pero muy pesado, no creo que lo pudiese levantar y manipular como tu haces en los videos. Mover el tripod es dificil ahora, ya que tiene el wedge encima , por que desarmarlo implica un paso mas en el setup. Asi que estoy sacando musculos. jajaja. Te repito, el tuyo cumple la funcion , exactamente igual, y es un orgullo que tu lo hiciste y bien

Muy buen video y explicacion, sin duda me ayudo para aclarar algunas dudas. Thank you!

Great video. Currently (03/23/17) the Starsense Polar Align routine has a 'bug' and SkyPortal and SkySafari doesn't support Polar Align. So what I do is an EQnorth align and polar align using the Nexstar +HC plugged in to AUX2 of my Evolution (in mount arm) with the HC cradle clipped to the carry handle (so cable won't foul wedge). Then once the wedge/tripod is polar aligned, I switch off, plug in Starsense camera to AUX1 then Starsense HC to AUX2 (replacing Nexstar +) then do a Starsense auto-align, which I find is vastly more accurate having added 10 additional alignment points. This compromise works well until Celestron fix the Starsense polar align routine.

Great video, thanks!!. I have the very same telescope and I want it to know how to improve the time on astrophotography :)

Very good vid

thanks you have made it realy easy for me to aline my telescope,,,if i uaed an auto guide scope would i still need to do a precise alinment. many thanks

nice job

This was an excellent instructional video. Do you have a written procedure that I can use when I'm in the field and out of wifi access? Also, do you have written plans for the wedge?

Thanks for the encouragement. I will soon make a video on how to use an autoguider both expensive version and cheap version. Thanks for watching, Clear Skies!!

Thank you! (I have the 8SE with a Celestron wedge.)

I'm not sure I understood the comment but thanks any ways. Thanks for watching and commenting. Clear Skies!!

This is nice video, i try this when it get's darker. Thank you Baltier2705

very good!

Hi Jose! Well done for trying to explain that one! It's a long process! I actually understand it better now. It's good to see someone actually put the wedge on and set it up from the start. I am interested in the NexStar 6SE also. Do you have any photos online (I mean still photos, not videos)? I like the videos!

Worked perfect. Necesite hacer update el hand control, ahora todo esta ahi. Thanks a lot.

Dejame decirte que me siento contento por ti de que hayas adquirido un wedge, hasta siento algo de envidia de la buena. Me imagino que es el HD wedge de Celestron. Anyways, la calibracion del GO TO se hace despues del alineamiento final, porque todos los pasos del video se hacen sin la camara. Despues de apagar y encender el telescopio y alinearlo por ultima vez, entonces ya le pones la camara y haces una calibracion del Go TO para que el telescopio considere el peso de tu camara. Clear Skies!!

Seguis con el telescopio??? Todavia guardo tus videos y cuando pasa un tiempo y los saco de nuevo, tus videos me siguen ayudando. Espero que estes bien.

Thanks for the video I’m in Australia so I assume I point to the South Pole and raise my mounting platform to my latitude (my mount has a graduated bar and built in wedge) take my latitude from 90deg and set that on the adjustment rod ,and proceed from there. I’m not sure if the graduations have been corrected but I guess I’ll soon find out .thankyou again John👍

Hello Mr Baltier, First, thank you very much for yours videos where I have found great and helpful information. I am planing to buy a Nexstar 8se but I have read several reviews about the backlash it has when using the hand controller, Is that a big issue for astrophotography?, Is that a normal problem with that kind of azimutal mount?, if so, what is the best way to fix that?, I will use a webcam camera. Thank you in advance for any comment in this matter. Clear sky?

Great video, can't wait to try that. I have a next star evolution 8 inch. do you know if I can use the same procedure? Also i might suggest making a shorter version of the video might get you some more views.

Gracias Balt, pensaba hacerlo asi, pero el hand control no me da la opcion de POLAR ALIGNMENT, sino EQ NORTH ALIGNMENT, (Supongo que sera lo mismo para el caso) y luego si puedo ir a ALIGNT MOUNT, con eso no hay problema, asi que intentare asi apenas deje de estar nublado aca el Los Angeles, o tal vez me vaya el fin de semana para Arizona donde los cielos son espectaculares y solo lo tengo a 3 horas. Enormemente agradecido por tu tiempo, tu ayuda y tu consistente amabilidad. Gracias Balt.

"seal the deal" made me LOL. That's what i'm trying to get to. But prep is key! Last night I went out with my new Canon camera and my Celestron 6SE and planned to do my first "Wedge align" as described in both the Celestron wedge manual and Celestron telescope manual. Well, there is no Wedge Align option in the Utilities menu! It's called Mount Align and it's under the Polar Align menu (as you showed here). My NexStar 6SE version info says 5.25.4320 for the hand control. The actual Utilities menu on the control differs from the manual that came with it in a few places. If you've done any video addressing practical issues with slewing the scope with a lot of gear attached to the back, e.g., power cable going to a camera attached to an T adapter, maybe with a Barlow ... how to set things up so you can slew around the sky a good amount without banging against the mount or catching a cable on something.

Muy bueno!

I think adding an autoguider would probably help extend the exposure times up to at least half a minute for the brighter DSOs. However, another issue is also with the OTA itself. At an FL of 1500mm, tracking errors are magnified, and shooting at f/10 would require extended exposure times. An f/6.3 reducer could somewhat address this problem, though.

Hello and thanks , Would you happen to have a vid on how to build that homemade wedge ? really appreciate it if ya do, lots of things here that I been having issues with my telescope, Keep up the Good Vids

First of all, thanks for watching my videos and for your nice comments! And yes, you can use this wedge for a 56º location, that's if you make it adjustable. If you want to make a permanent (not adjustable) wedge, then you will have to lift the board on which you put the telescope to a 34º related to the horizontal base. I hope this helps and have clear skies!!

From the hand held, is there a setup to say your mount is ALT-az or Equatorial mount when having a wedge, then you perform NCP alignment then two star alignment?

Celestron should hire this guy lol.

been looking at your videos, by the way there great. i have a question, i bought my celestron 5i it asks me at the end of my alignment if i want to( save my location) how do that, and if I do how do I go back to it? thank you for your help

Brilliant video buddy, do you or anyone else know if this same process can be used to polar align the 4SE or is this a no go, I've read in a lot of places that this scope can't really be used for astrophotography due to it not being possible to accurately polar align it and therefore you can't complete long exposure times. Thanks

buen video amigo ,que pasa si no se hace el ultimo paso la ultima alineación y nada mas lo usamos cuando está lista la alineación polar? sirve para astro fotografía?

Hola Jose! Soy de México! Y quisiera saber si no tienes este tutorial en español! Poseo un nexstar 4se en el cual ya viene incluido con la montura el wedge, pero no se como alinearlo con la polar y no entiendo mucho el inglés aun! Me seria de gran ayuda si pudieras subir este mismo tutorial en español! Ya que he visto que lo hablas! Saludos desde México Jose!

great explanations etc.. but I do have ONE question?? why Wood?? doesn't wood expand and contract? and isn't that an issue for a presie-aligned telescope?? if it happens to be a bit humid for a few days, wouldn't the wood expand? etc. or cold nights freeze in ice etc? just curious? i'd think concept is awesome.. just not sure if i'd use wood? vs something that wouldn't expand and contract? IMO..

Hola Balt. Dejame decirte que estoy bien feliz porque, luego de buscar bastante, he logrado encontrar tus videos y ver que puedo hacer astrophoto con my querido 6SE. Tienes planos del wedge? Yo hice un diseno de uno muy basico, pero el tuyo esta genial. Una pregunta: Que tan bien se comporta con este wedge? Asi no sera necesario cambiar a una montura ecuatorial? Un abrazo y gracias por tus explicaciones..

Hola! Muchas gracias por las explicaciones. He construido mi cuña ecuatorial para el Nexstar 6se y creo que hago todo correcto, queda alineado para el ocular y en los softwares se puede ver que se mantiene alineado, fijo en el lugar por largo tiempo. Sin embargo, al fotografiar con suerte puedo lograr 30 segundos. Qué podría ser? Es necesario una cámara guía para mayor tiempo? O es otro el problema, he pensado que debo ajustar el backlash. Agradeceré mucho tus comentarios.

Hi Baltier, really good job! do you think I can use it for my celestron 127 SLT? and do you have the plans / drawings for copying this wedge? THanks a lot

There is something confusing me. You say point the wedge and telescope to north. But the telescope cap was facing the mount or wedge when you started slewing? Is this correct.

Hy my friend, i have been trying do a polar align without sucess. I m in shout i did all Steps to align, afete align mount the Scope slew a very estranhe position. The polar display shows: Azm : -99• 08' 47'' Alt: -46• 46' 18'' I have a nextar 8se evoluition Whit a wedge of celestron. Any information I'll be glad to you. Thank you Ricardo

Are you able to tell me how you made the wedge? I would like to make my own.

Great video. I noticed that the bolts holding the mount have something like a knob to help when attaching. What did you use for this. Just finished my wedge and need something like this.

I have a meade ls 8-inch telescope. I want to build this equatorial telescope. I want to make special pier and wedge. to be applied? motor and mechanical gear systems it resistant? Thanks.

My goto mount is Azimuthal. Is there a way I can make my scope guide by the equatorial system?

just an ordinary comment passing through liking your willingness :)

I gave trying to align my 5SE, it has the wedge plate in built, but it did not allow me to move the mount assembly in the horizontal plane. In the end i went out and bought the new Celestron Advanced VX EQ mount, and polar align is now so easy... I also found that the 5SE could not handle the weight of a DSLR camera so well

What I don't understand exactly is, the initial inclination of the wedge. I live in latitude of approximately 39. Some sites suggest this should me measured from the rear bottom not from the supposed vertical position as you suggest (and then lower the wedge 39 degrees). What's is the correct????