How much "Sky" is worth putting in a peir?

[KenNo2658]

I'm seriously thinking about putting in a peir, just outside our back door on our deck. I currently have a 2005 model Nexstar 80 and am getting a little peeved at how long the vibration of any sort of adjustment takes to settle. I have never taken it anywhere, only ever used it out on the deck in the same spot. I have towns to the East and West that give me a bit of polution but the house blocks most of it to the West. South I would have great veiws above around 36 degrees if it wasn't for a couple of trees up against the deck. Mind you, those two trees do tend to drop branches regularly and are not natives. I might be able to put up an argument that they should go!:)
The light to the east isn't too bad, on a clear night it pretty well stops at 20 degrees. North is nice and dark except for one skinny tree that really doesn't look well!:confuse3:

So my question is, is that enough sky to go to the trouble of putting in a peir?

If I had that sort of mount, I would certainly use it!

Comments please?

Ken

[ballaratdragons]

Hi Ken,

you sort of answered it yourself - "If I had that sort of mount, I would certainly use it!"

Compare that statement with how much you use your scope now, or how much it shakes now.

Sounds worth it to me :thumbsup:

Gee, pity about those sick trees.
You better put them out of their misery :lol:

[GrampianStars]

Have you a wooden deck :question: If so FORGET it will make no difference. The pier needs to be isolated from your movements.
Can be doe though remove heaps of deck sink a peir and put back the deck making sure not to touch the peir. :thumbsup:

[KenNo2658]

Yeah, Its a wooden deck mate, but I want to make my own pier and sink it into the ground under it. I even have permission to cut a hole in the deck to do it! Six inch square steel tubing, filled with concrete is the plan. Got a mate who runs an engineering business who can machine up an adaptor plate for me.;)

What do you reckon if I go that way?

Ken

[GrampianStars]

All Good :thumbsup: I used round tubing 4ft in the ground. You only need to fill the concrete up to the deck height.(keep mass low)
Also drill a hole in the pier and run some cable up the inside for power.
extension lead cable works good as its flexible.

[KenNo2658]

Good point about the power! I hadn't thought of that! Thanks!

Ken

[michaellxv]

Hi Ken,

I also have a Nexstar 80gtl and was wondering are you also planning on getting a new mount to put on to the pier? A lot of the vibration is in the mount itself, it is only made of plastic after all.

You could start with the pier and replace the mount later as long as you factor that into your plans.

[KenNo2658]

I actually spat the dummy tonight and stripped the thing down and tightened everything up, and loosened off the focuser. Cured just about all my problems! Still planning on the pier but it may not be the 80 I put on it!

Ssshhh! Looking over my shoulder!:scared:

Ken

[michaellxv]

Maybe i should give that a try.

[KenNo2658]

Yeah, I should have done it ages ago! But I don't know much about scopes so I've been too chicken. Tonight I got so peeved off with it, I didn't care whether I stuffed it up or not! Give me a Defibrillator or ECG machine and I wouldn't hesitate, but scopes worry me! Probably should have more confidence in myself.

Give me a PM if you want to know what I did and how I did it! Worth the effort. The blasted thing even aligns now!

Ken

[michaellxv]

I can get it to align 'ok'. It's the tracking that sucks. For visual it's ok, but as soon as you want to put a webcam in it needs constant attention and correction.

As it's no longer my main scope I am a bit more prepared to have a tinker with it now. It I stuff the mount then I have an excuse to get a new one ;)

[KenNo2658]

:eyepop::lol::lol::lol:;):thumbsup:

That was my thinking! Pity I fixed the thing instead! Now I have to find another excuse!!

Ken

[KenNo2658]

Well it looks like I'll be putting a CPC 800 on that pier! Won it on E-Bay tonight. No tripod but since I am only likely to use it at home, putting it on a pier solves that problem, and for $1059 it seemed like the cheapest way to get an 8" Goto.

I'll still need a wedge, but that can wait. Got lots of planetary shots to get before I go for the deep space stuff. Not that I won't be having a look at that stuff!

Ken

[mikerr]

Hi Ken I'm new here.
With the pier,consider filling the above ground section with a damping medium. Dry sand mixed with bean bag pellets to stop it clumping.
Don't forget to cut a decent sized hatch low down in case you want to empty it and experiment with other fillings.

You could have a wedge fabricated at the same time as you make the pier.

Rgds

Mike

[The_bluester]

I really wish I did not read this thread as I am now seriously considering putting in a pier for my cpc925, a good time to fabricate a wedge for it at the same time.

[GrampianStars]

Good one Paul :lol:
I had just the peir n' deck for over 12months before I built an Observatory over it. :thumbsup:

[KenNo2658]

Welcome Mike. I've been thinking about getting the wedge made at the same time, but it will be quite a bit more complicated than a simple leveling adaptor. Don't want to stretch the friendship too far too fast, and I'm not in a rush for it.

Ken

[KenNo2658]

Do it Mate! I picked up my CPC 8 today (Don't tell the LV club!! Nothing but cloud tonight!! Supermoon too!!) and took it out to align the finder. Just sat it on a bench and it's already more stable than my old Nexstar!! I think I'm in love!! Dying to get the peir in, but that's gonna have to wait for a few weeks. I'm tied up at least for that long!

Ken

[The_bluester]

My biggest problem is that it is hard where I am to put in a pier somewhere reasonably close to the house (For access reasons, I am NOT carting a 25kg scope across muddy paddocks in winter) that does not cop too much stray light from the road (We are on 44 acres in a wedge but there is a sweeping corner on the point of the property so headlights pretty well sweep the place from corner to corner and next to the house is about the only place where understorey shrubs would help protect my night vision) and still give me a decent patch of sky to look at.

I think if I decide to loose everything pretty well from about twenty or so degrees west of the zenith then I could put in a pier next to the garage (At the eastern end of the house) and get sky from about fifteen degrees above the horizon to twenty odd degrees west of the zenith in almost any direction.

Maybe I should just do it. It would be nice to be able to get right up close to the scope on a chair without getting tangled in the tripod legs. And I could even (Eventually) build an observatory around it and bring in power from the garage. How civilised would it be to be able to boil a kettle and brew up a cuppa without even going inside!

[KenNo2658]

Just do it Paul! The sky cleared a bit around 9:30 so I took the beast out to have a look at the Supermoon. Even with the moon filter, it nearly blinded me! Reckon I could have just about lit a fire with it! Just sitting on a bench but tracking like I have never seen before. My poor old Nexstar 80 ain't in the hunt anymore! Of course, the wind and any movement on the deck had it wobbling all over the place, but it gave me a very good idea of what it will be like on a peir!:thumbsup:

It also sounds like you have much better "Sky" than I do! The house cuts out just about everything to the west, and the town and power stations generate a lot of pollution to the east, while the half roof and trees cut just about everything out to the south. But, Like Ballaratdragons said very early on in this thread, I answered my own question! If I have a peir out there, I will certainly use it! Any half chance of a sky clear enough to see something and I'm gonna be out there!:) If you feel the same way then?:shrug:

By the way, just in case I haven't mentioned it before, I LOVE this scope!!!

Ken

[ZeroID]

Hey Paul, Re your stray light problem. Why not put your pier in the best possible site for sky views then make up some simple light shields, black plastic over a pair of frames or something for the time being. One day you will probably put an ob over it all and cut out the low level stuff. I would say it was more important to get your best sky coverage first then find solutions to the light. With 44 acres to choose from I'd be thinking a bit long term although you can move or make another pier one day if it comes to that.

[The_bluester]

Really, to get the best skies, I need to set up a long way from the house. I can probably do that if I really get keen enough but I would have to pinch a bit of paddock and build an observatory of sorts so that the scope could remain out there most of the time. Lugging it a couple of hundred meters across muddy paddocks in winter is not an attractive thought. If nothing else I would stand a fair chance of upending myself in the mud and doing damage to the scope.

In one spot if I built a proper observatory with walls tall enough I could block out most light from the road, but them I loose the horizon. I reckon I could get myself views down to about ten or twenty degrees off the horizon in nearly all directions out in the paddock.

I think if I go ahead I may be best though to just set up a pier near the house to begin with, then look at building a shed with a roll off roof after that. Biggest problem is vehicle traffic around the house though, if I put it too far from the garage someone is likely to reverse into the pier!

[GrampianStars]

I used a garden cart for over a year as my Obs is out in the Alpaca paddock :lol:
You can get em from the big "B" or "M" warehouse or knock up a quick one from scrap wood

[The_bluester]

Hmmm. Making the decision harder! If I used the paddock with the best views it is still a bit far (COuple of hundred meters from the house and through several paddocks. But I could possibly justify an obs in the next one closer, still gets views down to the horizon in most directions and with an observatory like yours, I could lift the wall height up high enough to block car headlights to a large degree.

But the option to have it next to the house is still nice, access to amenities and so on. Decisions, decisions.

[ZeroID]

You don't really go down the horizon. The air is far too thick there and turbulent. Most of my viewing is above 30 degrees and preferably higher. I find a good view to the SCP is far more important as everything revolves around that and evntually it will be a better position.
I have no view to the east, blocked by trees but the CBD glow is there so I don't care. My views are Sth and west with some northern and NW sky for zenith. A decent portable mount is a good start, even in an ob. If I can get my imaging technique down to half way decent I will probably look for an EQ5 or HEQ5 Pro second hand. My cruddy GEM is driving me nuts and I have a useful location in the back yard but I suspect I'd need to move it for some situations.