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  #21  
Old 12-12-2013, 10:02 AM
johnnyjetski (John)
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Meru's pier build

Meru, That looks excellent.

Alistair could be right with the gussets. The heavy duty spacers are a great idea too.

Well Done!

John
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  #22  
Old 14-12-2013, 08:42 AM
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Meru (Michael)
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Thanks John, yes I think in hindsight I'm glad I went with the spacers rather than just bolts.

I'm curious to know why gussets would be a bad idea Alistair? I don't see how it could affect the rigidity in any negative way? I haven't added them yet
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  #23  
Old 14-12-2013, 04:04 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Meru View Post
Thanks John, yes I think in hindsight I'm glad I went with the spacers rather than just bolts.

I'm curious to know why gussets would be a bad idea Alistair? I don't see how it could affect the rigidity in any negative way? I haven't added them yet
Hi Meru

I meant not adding them would be a bad idea.
If you are adding them then it's fine

alistair
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  #24  
Old 14-12-2013, 05:27 PM
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Hi Meru,
Re powder coating your pier. I tried in vain a month or so back to even get a quote from powder coaters out in Eastern Melbourne. The only one who did reply was Mark Smith from multi coat. Minimum charge is $82.50. I wanted a 1.5 metre aluminium tube for a refractor I was building done. He replied too late for me as I painted it myself. I rang emailed several places….at least he replied, but he took nearly two weeks.
Good luck
Matt
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  #25  
Old 16-12-2013, 03:43 PM
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*Slaps forehead* sorry Alistair I read your post wrong, yup I'll be adding some. However with 16mm thick steel and the SHS pier column almost as wide as the mount's diameter, I don't think they would really make any difference. I suppose it's the same as the rat cage idea, theoretically yes but practically no. But I'd rather overkill

Thanks for that Matthew, damn that's bad news. I still haven't looked into it yet but with that long of a wait time and difficulty reaching anyone I best start soon. I suspect with December shutdown approaching I might have to wait till next year. Do you think painting it would be sufficient? Or go for a coat?
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  #26  
Old 16-12-2013, 04:12 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Meru View Post
I suppose it's the same as the rat cage idea, theoretically yes but practically no.
I think neither adding gussets nor avoiding "rat cages" have much to do with the load bearing ability of the pier, or its resistance to bending under load. Rather, they improve its dynamic properties, like its propensity for resonant oscillation – sometimes called "pier-induced bad seeing"

Cheers
Steffen.
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  #27  
Old 29-12-2013, 03:48 PM
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Hi all,

Hope everyone has had a very good break and christmas That's a good point Steffen, never thought about it like that. I suppose I was too fixated on the structural strength rather than it's dynamic properties. My friend has added two gussets to each face on the base plate (I think it's 100mm on the base plate and 150mm on the pier column). I dont have any pics unfortunately yet but I will soon!

In the mean time I finally started the dig. I managed (LxWxD) 600x600x400 in about an hour and a bit before I gave up I plan to make it 700x700x500 before commencing the pour Took some pics but honestly so many you can take before it just... looks the same Got the usual "So who you planning to bury?" from everyone thanks for reading!
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Last edited by Meru; 29-12-2013 at 08:37 PM.
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  #28  
Old 13-01-2014, 07:03 PM
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Meru (Michael)
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Buzzing in with an update,

Pier is almost done! Should be home by the end of the week. Attached are some pics of the adapter plate being made up and other misc items. Can't wait for it. I have also found a place from a colleague who gets her car parts treated, seems like it shouldnt be too expensive to get the pier coated. I will wait for the pier before I get a quote and take it from there.
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  #29  
Old 15-02-2014, 10:40 AM
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Hi guys,

It's been ages but another update yet! The pier was finished a few weeks ago and man was that thing is huge!! It was very much oversized for my needs, very happy and impressed with the workmanship and quality All up it costed me $220 which is dirt cheap I will take some pics of it soon. It still needs to be coated or galvanised, a colleague at work recommended coburg plating as she gets all of her car parts done there and said its pretty good. I might take it there this week.

In the mean time I have decided to concrete the entire area surrounding the pier so dug up the ground to suit. All up it's about ~0.25m^3 which equals roughly 25 bags of 20kg premix concrete I rang up a few places and their minimum was 0.4m^3 delivered for $230, if I did it myself it would run about $150. So might just do it myself
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  #30  
Old 16-02-2014, 05:10 PM
johnnyjetski (John)
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Meru's Pier Build

Well done Meru....That is dirt cheap $220. No such thing as being oversized for your needs Meru. Bigger the better.... : )

Look forward to the pics.

Regards, John
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  #31  
Old 29-04-2014, 08:14 PM
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Hi guys!

Thanks John, yes for the price it really was cheap Another update now! It's all done! I widened my slab so it's now 0.4m^3 and I found Vicmix to have a very good price, it was ~$160 for the concrete. I also decided to pour the bolts in too rather than drilling. I made a template of the pier's holes on wood & some metal sheet and used them to keep the bolts aligned during the pour. I rested them on the rebar and used wooden blocks to level the rebar/bolts.

I know that the wooden blocks and metal sheet may disintegrate over time and leave cavities but I think the slab will hold up fine now time to paint the pier and start imaging!
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  #32  
Old 03-09-2014, 07:57 PM
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Meru (Michael)
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Hi everyone,

Very excited to *finally* chime in again. I painted my pier with cold gal (yes, I'm lazy) and last week got around to installing it and using it. Getting the bolts in the concrete to match up was a bit difficult, in the end resorted to gently using a hammer to move them into position. Hardly scientific I know I also purchased a heavy duty BBQ cover from bunnings as a cover.


Having a pier is by far the best thing anyone can ever get in this hobby, if you're into astrophotography First night I used Alignmaster to get to within an arc minute or two and got 2min unguided easily. I imaged two targets over three nights, and spent another two nights faffíng about with the pier and automating my capturing. Over those nights the pier held PA well and was able to pack up & it was great being able to go from zero to imaging in 20min, and vice versa.

Most useful feature is that the top plate separates from the pier. So during period of known rain and/or overcast I can simply remove the top plate with the mount attached. This way when I put it back on, the mount is very close to good PA and needs minimal adjustments.
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  #33  
Old 08-09-2014, 06:02 AM
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strongmanmike (Michael)
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That looks great Meru! Solid looking pier. Much better than having to setup and polar align every night! Happy imaging!

Mike
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  #34  
Old 08-09-2014, 06:34 PM
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Thanks Michael! Yes it makes such a big difference, just need more clear nights now
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  #35  
Old 09-09-2014, 09:52 AM
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Looking great Meru,
I thought you are living in the city? Can't resist the "dark" skies of the burbs heh?
Bo
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