Home Made Pier.

[Tandum]

I'm looking at putting a pier into the back yard. With a view to this and in anticipaction of my EQ6 arriving soon, I have already purchased an EQ6 extension tube -> http://www.skywatchertelescope.net/swtinc/product.php?id=118&class1=5&class2=501 Note that this image is upside down.

I'm planing to mimick this approach -> http://www.tungstentech.com/Articles/Astronomy/AstroPierConstruction/tabid/68/Default.aspx

Can anyone see a problem with this at all ?

[iceman]

I see a problem.. that I don't have one in my backyard!

Looks great. I'd love a permanent setup.. either a pier or a shed to house everything in.

[Tandum]

I want a pod out there .... :) This is step one :)

[leon]

I think you might get considerable vibration with that design, you need to go much wider with your anchoring points, have a double top plate and anchor to that, if possible of coarse.

But that is just MHO.

Leon :thumbsup:

[Tandum]

I thought to run 3 rebars instead of one and attach threaded bar to the top of each. I also note that one is too short, it needs to be a lot taller.

[madtuna]

brilliant! was looking at doing the same sort of thing with a spare g11 pier top I have.
Will keep the links as a reference.

Tah for posting this

[madtuna]

also where he did his pour in the cardboard tubing, I reckon if you did it in a dirty big chunk of offcut plastic plumbing pipe you could leave it on for neatness instead of daggy concrete.

[Tandum]

He didn't mix it right is all ,,, plus you could easily render it with mortor and paint it. It is pretty daggy, I wouldn't have posted it, but I'm glad he did. I was trying to figure out how to bolt this thing to a wooden pier made from 4 4x4 posts glued and bolted together.

Here's a wood pier -> http://netstreamsol.dyndns.org:8080/...ier/index.html (http://netstreamsol.dyndns.org:8080/astronomy/pier/index.html)

[madtuna]

Zane (astroboy) from Magellan observatory has some wicked piers made out of timber that have mounts from G11's to mounts that would hold up the hubble.
Very functional and sturdy with the bonus of being able to run your electrics up the middle

[Tandum]

Wood also has the advantage of screwing things into it anywhere.

That link does show that the base of this extention tube can be turned upside down so there may be life in the wood option yet.

[madtuna]

I'll test my crappy drawing skills and see if I can knock something up along the lines of what Zane did (with luck he'll chime in)
His was more like 4 elongated panels put together like how you would make a house of cards. Secured to a large base board and with a top that the pier head mounted to.

Therefore it was hollow not solid like the linked one.

[Tandum]

The one linked is plain old fence posts. Attack them with an electric plainer to make em square/straight and maybe plain a corner off each to pass a conduit down the middle?

I've read that wooden piers absorb vibrations better. Not to mention cheaper to make :)

[Ian Robinson]

I see a similar problem ....


I'd leave the forming tube on it , wont hirt and might help. I'd fill the tube gradually patting down adding H20 and then adding more when it soaks in and would probably run a power conjuit up the guts of it to a point below ground for later.

[Ian Robinson]

Back in the 1970s one of our members used an old railway sleeper (jarra I think) for his pier to put his 4" Unitron on top of. Worked a treat.

[MrB]

Fence post, love it, would be a nice rustic look.
Make sure there are no nails left over in that fence post before you hit it with the planer! :eyepop:

[Tandum]

New ones are like $8 each for shorties (1.8 meters) and they are treaded with copper arsnic so it's plobably wise to wear a mask and gloves while working with them. But once trued, bonded and painted they should be fine to handle :)

I'm sort of lazy, not real keen on mixing lots of concrete, even if it only involes adding water ...

[Ian Robinson]

Mixing concrete is for mugs and brickie's labourers .... I'd simply buy premix in bags and pour it down the hole up top maybe a 1/2 bag or a bucket full at at time (those big bags are bloody heavy and awkward to lift) , adding water as I go , to ensure it's pretty wet , with liberal poking with a bit of 2x2 to bed down until I reach the top.

That's how I did the fence posts for my side fence (one bag of quikset concrete per poll , it'll never blow down , unlike the old fence which looked like it had only concrete 2" deep - the builder about 50 year shouldn't have bothered , the only thing holding the fence polls up was clay and dirt).

[jinxsta]

Hi Robin,
I did the pier in the backyard job and love to use it as often as I can but make it as strong as you think is needed and then make it stronger because its easier to do it once then try and and make it stronger down the track.
heres a link to the one I put in http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=30434&page=2
And now I have added a heq5 pro mount to the top of it and its still rock soild.
Just a option for you to think about.

[Tandum]

Cheers, looks a lot neater with a tube wrapped around the outside.