A new era starts

[RugbyRene]

Well, it's been a long time coming but thanks to getting some landscaping work done and encouragement from my wife, I finally have myself a pier.

It is a PIER 2000 from Testar which sits on a lump of steel reinforced and anchored concrete, which sits on a bedrock of sandstone. This thing ain't going nowhere.

Anyway, a few trips to Bunnings later and she's all finished. Well almost. I have to figure out where some cables and 12v plugs will go but she's ready to be used.

Rene

[Derek Klepp]

Fits into to garden Beautifully.Should also offer some good Solar viewing as well.
Derek

[RugbyRene]

Yes we have a very ‘challenging’ garden. Lots of sandstone, very little flat land so this was the best place for it and it worked out well.

[alan meehan]

exhalant pier and colorful surroundings

[5ash]

Nice landscaping but I see a multitude of trip hazards at night. How are you going to cover it ? Is this going to be the start of an observatory?

[Peter Ward]

You do realise you've reduced the rigidity of the system to that of the 3/4" risers in the "rat cage"?

Levelling of the EQ head is nice, but not necessary. I'd rather have the stability provided by the full pier's diameter.

[RugbyRene]

It's actually quite easy to walk around. Been living here form 12yrs so know the garden like the back of my hand and I have a headlamp to help.

It's covered with a Geoptik telescope cover and a Matador BBQ cover (mainly for aesthetics as the Geoptik is gold). It's not the start of an obs. This is it as the land is not the best for building an obs.

Rene

[RugbyRene]

The setup is perfectly stable. The "rat cage" as you so rudely call it (thank you by the way), is not for levelling. It's an iOptron pier adaptor for SW EQ6 mounts that is bolted to the pier. It doesn't move. And since I've used it, I've had better guiding.

Rene

[Peter Ward]

It's what they are commonly called........nothing personal :).....while it may work, Young's modulus looks to have been ignored by the designers.
The rigidity of a system is defined by it's smallest component.

[RugbyRene]

No offense taken.

And no worries about the rigidity of the adapter it's screwed in tightly. Since I've been using it, my guiding has been great (the best ever) so until that changes, I'm happy with it.