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Pier design
Inspired by the other "Permission granted" thread in here.
I pretty much have a free hand in being allowed to put in a pier, all I have to do is decide where to put it. I would probably have no issues getting a roll off shed past the minister for planning as well.
My question is a bit more scope specific. I have the CPC925 and I observe primarily visually. The ALT/AZ setup is very good for visual and I am aiming to keep it that way, even if I install a pier. Being able to just walk up with the scope, plonk it down, do up three bolts and be mounted up ready to go has too much appeal to loose, but I want to be able to retain the factory tripod too for observation away from home so remounting the scope is not an option.
I have been keeping my eye on the trader section here and elsewhere to see if I can pick up a secondhand tripod to remove the mounting plate and use it on top of a pier but no luck so far.
Has anyone seen any drawings/specs on the CPC tripod top plate? If I can manage to get a pier plate made that allows the same drop on/rotate until it drops into place/do up bolts simplicity I would be very happy. It would also allow for the use of the factory Celestron wedge if I decided in the future that longer exposure photography than is practical in ALT/AZ configuration is the go.
Has anyone else had success in pier mounting a CPC Celestron without major mods?
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