Wixey digital angle
gauge
Wixey/Allendale Electronics +44 (0)1992 450780 —
£26.95
Your first thought may be why on earth I should be including this
neat little angle measuring tool in a review of astronomical
equipment. But think again — particularly if you own a Dobsonian or
a telescope mounted in an alt-azimuth configuration and are looking
for a cheap digital setting circle system. Used in conjunction with
a hand-held computer or PDA running planetarium software, this
little gizmo will soon help you point to objects by giving you the
altitude of your telescope's tube. (Admittedly you'll need to sweep
a little in azimuth, but there are digital compasses available
too!)
So how does it work? The Wixey digital angle gauge is a small (50 x
50 x 32mm), self-contained unit with a built-in LCD display that
measures the inclination of the surface upon which it is placed to
an accuracy of 0.1°. Its base contains three powerful magnets, so
if your OTA is made of a ferrous material like a lot of
Sky-Watcher's, the Wixey will stick anywhere on the top of the tube
where it's convenient to view. The picture shows it mounted on a
Skyliner-300P, a Synta-made 305mm f/5 Dobsonian.
The Wixey is calibrated right out of the box to measure angles
relative to horizontal, so you don't have to worry about levelling
the base of your telescope in order to read the altitude of your
tube accurately. I regularly use a Palm Zire 72 PDA running the
fabulous
Astromist software and found when used in
conjunction with a Wixey-enabled Dobsonian it was a great way to
get a rapid fix on one horizon coordinate. With a little judicious
sweeping in azimuth you can soon find your target.
So where can you get one of these amazing little devices? An eBay
search for "Wixey digital gauge" will quickly find several, or you
may contact
Wixey or
Allendale Electronics directly.
