DIY Pier

[niko]

$200 bucks at the steel fabricators and a few afternoons for some rough as guts welding and I'm almost there

[AndrewJ]

Gday Niko

Looks nice
Just for info tho, it would make for a stiffer assy if the gusset plates
were rotated 45deg so that they lined up with the bolt holes in the base.
That would remove a lot of the "possible" flexure.

Andrew

[traveller (Bo)]

Looking good niko,
When will you start digging
Bo

[jenchris (Jennifer)]

Put the bolt holes next to the gussets.
nice start

[niko]

will moving the bolt holes next to the gussets really make that much difference given that I intend to only use an ED80 or ED120?

cheers

niko

[Kunama]

Originally Posted by niko

will moving the bolt holes next to the gussets really make that much difference given that I intend to only use an ED80 or ED120?

cheers

niko

Really depends on the bottom plate thickness. Most of these piers are over engineered by a big factor, understandable with the old mounts from bygone years but the quality of the current mounts means that not much vibration is produced.

[niko]

thanks Matt - plate thickness is 20mm and the likelihood of getting more holes cut is unlikely unless there's a real and significant benefit

[AndrewJ]

Gday Niko

In your case, its probably not going to be a problem, just it is good practice to try and remove any areas of possible flexing, and bolt joles near the gussets removes a lot of "possible" flex at the base, as does eliminating rat cages if you can.
( And remember we are talking arcsecs here )
Most piers are over analysed anyway.
Unless you actually hit the pier, the only things that will affect it are
a) Ground vibrations
b) Possible resonances set up by the scopes drive when tracking

a) Is very difficult to deal with and b) requires a proper engineering analysis of the exact setup,.


Andrew

[niko]

Thanks for the comments guys. I'm pretty excited. Need to dig the hole now before my shoulder gets replaced and puts me out of action for a few months.. Site to be mutually agreed between the keen amateur astronomer and the cynical observer!