A number of braces have been devised over the last few years to stabilize the Meade Standard and Super wedges. This modification is mostly for photography or for those of us annoyed by harmonic vibrations. In use this has proven to greatly reduce the vibrations in the wedge and tripod. The only caveat is it works best when the legs are as collapsed as possible. If you like to set up the tripod with the legs greatly extended, this will not completely reduce the wedge wobble.
Here's my version.....
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Brace lower end detail. The
rod ends used are high precision (that means they have no slop in the ball
joint to housing) units. The variety found at most hardware stores
are not tight enough of a tolerance for this purpose. Expect to pay
$8US to $12US each for these rod ends. One end of the brace has a
left hand thread and the other is right hand thread, this allows adjustment
without unfastening the brace from the tripod.
Yes, the clamp started out life as a 2 1/4" muffler clamp! This clamp will hardly mar the finish on the tripod leg casting and will not distort the casting. A strip of thin aluminum or plastic could be wrapped around the casting to protect the finish, but it could induce some flex in the attachment, negating the whole endeavor. Note the use of the chromed acorn nuts, you'd think I owned a Harley! Actually it was a Beemer.....
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